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A whisk is a cooking utensil used in food preparation to blend ingredients
smooth, or to whip air in to a mixture. Most whisks consist
of a long narow handle with a series of wire loops joined at the end. The wires are usually metal, but some have plastic for use with nonstick cookware. Whisks
are also made from bamboo.
Whisks are commonly used for whipping egg whites into a firm foam (see meringue).
A makeshift whisk may be constructed by taking two forks and placing them together so
the tines interlock and make a cage. This orders of magnitude more effective (at, say, whisking egg whites) than using a single
fork.
Some whisks have different shaped loops. A wider, more tear drop shape, is commonly known as a balloon whisk. A longer, more narrow
shape, is often known as a French
whisk. A flat whisk (sometimes
referred to as a Roux whisk has the
loops arranged in flat successive pattern. A gravy whisk commonly has one main loop with another looped coiled around the main. A twirl whisk has one wire that is in a
spiral balloon shape.
The ball whisk is purported to
allow more aeration of the mixture. Instead of loops, a grouping of individual wires come out of the handle and each end with a
metal ball. Since there are no crossing wires, the ball whisk is much easier to clean than most other variants; and it is easier
to reach into the corners of a pan than with a conventional balloon whisk.
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