What is a Flour Duster?

The flour duster for home use is a great way for adding flour, cornmeal, or even different spices into dough without imparting too much of the ingredient at once. If you look at a flour duster, the flour “container” resembles a small wooden top, lying on its side. Clamps on either side of the container also you to exert a little pressure onto the duster, releasing the flour or other powdered ingredients by rolling the top-like receptacle over dough or baked products to give just the right amount. You can also use the flour duster to create beautiful patterns by rolling in figure eights, concentric circles, or any other design you’d like.

If you bake frequently, the flour duster is a must-have kitchen tool. They’re inexpensive, with most models costing about $8-10 US dollars (USD). They may be a little difficult to find in a grocery store, but you’ll find many models to choose from in kitchen or baker’s supply stores, stores that sell cake-decorating equipment, and also many Internet stores. You may see these sold as flour wands rather than flour dusters in some locations.

To use the flour duster, you simply dredge the duster in the ingredient you wish to apply to your unbaked or baked good. It works best with finely powdered ingredients, but will work okay with granulated sugar or some coarsely ground grains like cornmeal. For instance if you’re adding cornmeal to the bottom of a pizza dough prior to baking, dredge the duster in cornmeal, and then roll over the bottom of the crust to get an even distribution of grains. You can use the flour wand after things have been baked to add cinnamon, cinnamon sugar, cocoa, or powdered sugar to baked goods, and if you roll these on carefully, you can make decorative patterns.

An alternative the flour duster is the mini-sifter. This looks like your standard tin or aluminum sifter but comes in a much smaller size. This may also be a great way to even disperse ground grains, spices or sugar onto dough or baked goods. You won’t be able to use it to make patterns, but it remains a good all-around tool for the kitchen.

You also may note when searching on the Internet, many industrial sized flour dusters. These are used in the baking industry in a variety of applications. They tend to be expensive, extremely large and impractical for home use unless you’re running a bakery from home. For commercial bakers, a large flour duster automates the process of adding flour to dough, reducing total time it takes to prepare many different baked goods.