Guide to Whisks: How to Whisk Properly

Whisking is a cooking technique that involves the continuous movement of a whisk through a liquid to aerate or incorporate multiple ingredients. Variations of a modern whisk, a long-handled tool with a series of thin metal wires, have been around since the seventeenth century, where cooks crafted whisks from bundles of twigs to whip eggs into a frothy cream. The modern whisk was invented in the mid-nineteenth century, but its glory would be short-lived. A few years later, the first mechanized whisk was patented by Ralph Collier in 1856, and the advent of hand mixers and stand mixers soon followed. Whisking by hand remains a great method for simple tasks like mixing pancake batter and beating eggs for an omelet.

There are three main ways to use a whisk: side whisking, circular whisking, and beating.

1. 1. Side whisking: Side whisking involves using a side-to-side motion with your dominant hand. Whisking side to side is the most efficient method because it creates shear force or forces that push the liquid toward itself.
2. 2. Circular whisking: This type of whisking involves looping your whisk in a circular motion with your dominant hand. Circular whisking is a useful method for preventing the edges of a sauce from burning.
3. 3. Beating: Beating involves whisking on the diagonal to lift liquid out of the bowl. This method effectively whips egg whites together, incorporating air molecules into the mixture, creating a fluffy result.

There are many reasons why you may need to whisk a liquid, including:

• Aerating egg whites: Whipping egg whites with a whisk performs two functions: It introduces air bubbles into the mixture and breaks up the egg-white proteins. The broken-up proteins then re-form around the newly introduced air bubbles to create a light, airy foam that you can use to make meringues, soufflés, macarons, and cocktails.
• Whipping cream: Whipping heavy cream with a whisk introduces air bubbles into the cream, and distributes fat molecules throughout the cream. These fat molecules act as a glue, helping the bubbles stick together to form a foam that you can use as an ice cream topping or puff pastry filling.
• Emulsifying fats and liquids: Whether you’re making a simple salad dressing or homemade mayonnaise, whisking is an important step in emulsification. Whisking breaks fats down into tiny droplets that can be dispersed throughout a water-based solution. The more vigorous the whisking, the more stable your emulsification will be.
• Distribute dry ingredients: Mixing dry ingredients doesn’t require the shear force of whisking, but the tines of the whisk can help redistribute ingredients more quickly than a wooden spoon.

Here are six common types of whisks and the best way to use them in your cooking:

1. 1. Balloon whisk: Balloon whisks are named after their rounded bulb shape. Large, with just a few metal tines, balloon whisks are good for whisking custards and for mixing batter in bowls. The balloon whisk is a typical, everyday whisk.
2. 2. French whisk: French whisks are narrower than balloon whisks, which allows the thin wires to get into the corners of a small saucepan when making béchamel, hollandaise, or any of the classic French sauces. An extra layer of tines helps aerate egg whites.
3. 3. Ball whisk: Instead of wire loops, this type of whisk has small spheres at the ends of the wires. They’re useful for reaching the edges of narrow containers, like measuring cups.
4. 4. Flat whisk: The flat whisk, also known as the roux whisk, looks like a flattened balloon whisk. This type of whisk is great for shallow pans, since you can angle the handle of the whisk closer to the edge of the pan. Use this whisk for any type of pan sauce, gravy, or roux-based sauce. This whisk also doubles as a slotted spoon.
5. 5. Coil whisk: Coil whisks, also known as spring whisks or spiral whisks, feature a spiral at the end of the handle that’s designed to be bounced up and down to beat eggs.
6. 6. Danish visk: Also known as a dough whisk, the Danish visk features a series of wire loops at the end of a wooden handle. Unlike other whisks, dough whisks are not used for aeration—they incorporate dough or batter ingredients with a minimal amount of overworking.

If you’re looking to perfect your whisking technique, here are a few helpful tips:

1. 1. Use your wrist. Using your entire arm to whisk ingredients together can be tiring. When whisking, keep your arm still and allow your wrist to do all of the work.
2. 2. The magic number is 80. Draw the number 80 with your whisk to reach every side of the pot. To perform this motion, move your wrist in a figure eight, followed by a circular motion (that resembles the number zero), repeating until the contents of your bowl are successfully combined.
3. 3. Use a side whisk. Side whisking is the most efficient whisking method and can reliably aerate egg whites and create stiff peaks with heavy cream. This technique pulls and pushes the liquid into itself from two different directions. To use this method, stabilize the bowl with your non-dominant hand, use your dominant hand to hold the whisk, and quickly jolt your whisk from side-to-side, without touching the bottom of the bowl. Continue this motion until your ingredients are combined or until your peaks are stiff.

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