I've rarely had problems with too much flour in a bread, since I just keep adding flour until it feels right. Actually with panettone and other high fat breads I stopped while the dough still feels wet and sticky and then knead it until it is manageable. But why have people stopped sifting flour before measuring it? I learned how to do that when I first started baking and I've always thought of it as a neccessary step before making cakes or cookies or breads or pies. The only recipe I remember that called for unsifted flour was brownies. I have a nice medium size sifter with a rotating handle, which is constantly on the counter. Sifting flour is useful for other purposes than just measuring it. I bought buckwheat flour at a historical mill and found sifting removed the large pieces of bran that had escaped the mill stone. Skeptic, usually recipes tell you whether to sift or not sift flour before measuring. Since it makes quite a difference, I'd pay attention to what the recipe says: 2 cups flour,sifted will weigh more than 2 cups sifted flour. That said, it never hurts to sift flour, as it aerates it; it's just a step most people forego these days. So keep sifting- PJH

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