23 Comments

I already received my 40 mesh. I really do not want to purchase another strainer. Is it at all possible to use the 40?

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author

you can use it, but you’ll only extract some 5-8% of the bran, rather than 10-15%.

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Jul 16Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I find it quicker to sift with the 40 first and then the 50, so it’s helpful to have both. You can even stack the 40 on top of the 50 and sift through both if you’re careful!

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author

True! I do think there are uses for a 40, just not the one I had in mind for the 50.

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Jul 16Liked by Andrew Janjigian

If you’re doing a lot of flour definitely do the 40 first. Then do 50 or 60.

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Jul 16Liked by Andrew Janjigian

Yup, bought one! Where is the throwing party? 😀

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founding
Jul 16Liked by Andrew Janjigian

FWIW, no harm here. For some unknown reason, I bought both.

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noooooooo! just ordered a 40 mesh today! But it comes with a 60 mesh - will that work?

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author

60 might take out a little too much, but it will be closer to what you’d want. Too late to cancel? (Sorry.)

If you get it, I’d be curious to hear what extraction rate it yields. My finer sieve is 80 mesh.

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Tricky to cancel, and haven't seen 50s on offer- it's a little tricky here in Ireland to get any of these supplies. I'll let you know how the 60 works out.

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Perhaps you could appeal to Breadtopia, that for those of us who purchased the 40 mesh, we could get the 50 mesh with a 20-30% discount, plus the shipping. Certainly not their fault ..... but that might take away some of the annoyance.

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Jul 16Liked by Andrew Janjigian

Hi there. Breadtopia here with an evil plan to make you all keep your 40 mesh sifters that Andrew tricked you into buying to boost his Breadtopia stock.

Anyone who bought a 40 mesh sifter from us on Andrew’s recommendation who wants a 50 mesh instead can get the 50 mesh for $6 (instead of $11) if you agree to let our customer service staff sleep peacefully knowing they won’t have to figure out how to manage all those 40 mesh returns. IOW, keep your 40 mesh and we’ll sell you a 50 mesh for $5 off.

In all honesty, sifting with a 40 before a 50 really does work better (and faster) than trying to put fine flour straight from your grain mill directly through a 50 mesh which can take a while.

If you want to take advantage of this offer, please get in touch with our customer service at breadtopia.com/contact and send us the order number from when you purchased your 40 mesh sifter and we’ll send you a one-time use coupon code for $5 off a 50 mesh sifter.

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author

Thank you!!! Yet another reason I always recommend shopping with you for all of one's bread needs. I'll add this to the post itself.

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This is a clearly a conspiracy to boost Breadtopia sales. Andrew, you can level with us, how much Breadtopia stock do you have? 🤣

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Is your recommendation for the 50 mesh based on sifting store bought whole grain flour? I mill my own and have always used a 40 mesh, and depending on the type of grain it often sifts out more than 15 percent. I add enough bran back to meet the weight I'm looking for.

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author

It's based upon both store and home-milled flour. I heard from one person who mills on a Mockmill and bought the 40, and they got ~5% extraction. I do think you might be able to get away with using a 40, but a 50 is a much better choice for getting closer to 15% consistently.

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Would the amount remaining in sifter be dependent upon if the flour is stone ground versus steel roller?

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author

Yes, roller milled flours are finer and harder to sift. A 40 might work for stone-milled, but a 50 is still the best option.

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Jul 17Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I have 2 sifters without any markings. Is there a way to tell what the mesh size is? Thanks!

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author

Yes, you can measure it yourself. Put a ruler on the screen, parallel to a single wire, and shoot a close up of a one-inch area. Then blow up the image on your computer and count the number of wires. That’s how I confirmed mine was 50 (I got 49, but it’s close enough)

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I have 30, 40, and 60 - no 50. What do you recommend?

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author

50 is my preference, but I think 60 is the next best.

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Jul 18Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I had the same issue with no markings as to the size of the mesh on my sifters. Once I figured it out, I printed small labels that are water resistant with the correct sizes and stuck them on the side of each sifter.

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