A whisk is a cooking utensil used in List of food preparation utensils to blend ingredients smooth, or to whipping (cookery) 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.
