Good things come in all shapes and sizes. Just like Whisks.

A Whisk is that metal thingy to beat eggs right?

Ahaha almost there. You are referring to a hand whisk, which is commonly made of metal. However, can be found in plastic and bamboo variants too, which is used especially for cooking with non-stick cookware. Additionally, it is not only for beating eggs. The purpose of a whisk is to mix, beat or incorporate air into batter or a mixture.

Why are there many types of whisks?

The various shapes and structures of the thin coils on a whisk, contributes to various textures of batter, which is used for specific purposes.

Balloon Whisk

Now you have probably seen the Balloon Whisk, which is shaped like – yes, a balloon. It is the most common type of whisk. You most probably even have one. (I hope you do) It’s balloon shaped coil is perfect for mixing batter in bowls because of the concave interior of a bowl. It is a go-to when wanting to mix ingredients or incorporate air into a mixture.

Suggested uses:

• Eggs
• Egg Whites
• Meringue
• Whipped Cream
• Other thick batters like pancake batter
• Mixing dry ingredients lightly when you don’t have a sift.

French Whisk

The French makes everything fancier, even Whisks. A French Whisk is a slightly fancier version of the Balloon Whisk. It has a more ‘sexy’ long wire coil. It’s well suited for mixing in deep, straight sides pans. Due to it’s ‘sexier’ slim shape, it is great for mixing sauces or other liquids compared to thick batters.

Suggested uses:

• Sauces
• Salad Dressing
• Custards
• Pancakes

Cage Whisk

Now the design of the Cage Whisk is so interesting I have thought of using it as a decorative item. (I’m not joking) It has a small cage which houses a little steel ball bearing. This ball bearing is great for incorporating air due to its weight which thoroughly mixes thick batters. This in turn produces a silky smooth product. Suggested uses:

• Whipped Cream

Ball Whisk

Please do not use a Ball Whisk to massage your head though it does look like a scalp massager. It does not have any coils, instead it has little metal balls at its ends. This ensures maximum aeration and ability to break apart ingredients to form a homogeneous mixture. It is great to reach corners or a bowl or pan and also is super easy to clean! Yay! Suggested uses:

• Eggs
• Egg Whites
• Meringue

Flat Whisk

Think of a Balloon Whisk, but an elephant has sat on it. Flat Whisks have coils or loops too, but in a flattened pattern. It is ideal for shallow pans or skillets which is used mostly for making roux. Suggested uses:

• Roux
• Sauce
• Gravy

Spiral Whisk / Gravy Whisk

Yeap, you guessed it – it’s spiral shaped and used mostly for making gravy. It has a main wire loop, then another wire coiled around the main loop. It’s little spirals help break up dry ingredients. Besides that, the head of the Spiral Whisk  is slightly tilted making it ideal for stirring and scraping the bottom parts of a gravy mixture to prevent it from burning. Suggested uses:

• Gravy
• Sauce
• Salad Dressing
• Roux

Coil Whisk

Now this whisk is shaped like a single coil spiraling into a round shape. You might be thinking what’s so special about this whisk? Other whisks are usually used to stir ingredients in circular motion, but the Coil Whisk can be used in an up and downward motion. This is excellent for mixing or pumping ingredients in tall, cylindrical vessels. Suggested uses:

• Mixing ingredients in a cup, mason jar or other vertical tall vessels

Dough Whisk

Another aesthetic looking whisk that could be an art piece. The Dough Whisk is as expected, is used for mixing tough dough like bread dough which might be because of the type of flour used for bread[insert link to Bake Bread Like A Pro: Flour Types and Tips article]. The thin inner oval and outer oval works wonderfully in removing air pockets in the dough to create a smooth, fine mixture. Suggested uses:

• Bread
• Brownies
• Muffins
• Pancakes
• Scones
• Waffles

You mentioned Hand Whisk earlier, I guess there are other ways of mixing too?

Yas! By using Hand Mixers or Stand Mixers. This definitely reduces the effort needed when mixing and incorporating air into batter, as mixers are electrical appliances. There are pros and cons for each of them.

Hand Mixer

The good stuff

Think of the Hand Mixer like a ‘basic whisk’ that is powered by electric. They have little buttons so that you can control the speed or power of the mixer. The advantage of a Hand Mixer is that it is generally smaller and lighter than a Stand Mixer. So, it becomes easy to move around in the kitchen. Another advantage is, since it has removable attachments for example, hooks, beaters and of course whisks, this makes them very convenient to clean.

The not so good stuff

The disadvantages of a Hand Mixer is it’s power limit and the skills needed to use one. Since they are much smaller in size, this means that their power is also smaller. So if you use a hand mixer often for really thick dough batter, you may end up breaking it after a period of time. Besides that, have you seen mixing failures? Where people try to tilt the bowl when using a hand mixture and the entire batter flies all over the place like confetti? Yea. So using it requires skill, full attention and patience. (few things that are hard to come by these days lol)

Stand Mixer

The good stuff

So a Stand Mixer has a bowl at its base and over it would be an attachment to mix ingredients. Now Stand Mixers also have various attachments like a flat beater, dough hooks and balloon whisks. However, what makes them awesome is that they’re incredibly powerful. They can be used to mix tough, thick batters into a nice homogeneous mixture. They are built to withstand such workload thus, this makes them more long lasting too. Another advantage is that you can watch movies while using it. Ahaha what I mean is that you can leave it running while doing other stuff. This is especially useful for busy chefs that may need to have eyes elsewhere. It also doesn’t require much skill, as the mixer can do the entire job for you well.

The not so good stuff

Just like how nothing is perfect, the Stand Mixer has its flaws too. It is quite hard to move around because of its heavy weight. Stand Mixers are generally large too, so they require a large space in your kitchen. Moreover, they are going to hurt your wallet because Stand Mixers are quite expensive. So yeap, those are the different types of tools you can use for whisking and mixing. Choose the right ones, so you can spend more time eating instead of mixing. *winks*

New to baking ?

Check out our quick and easy 30 Day Guide for Beginner Bakers
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What are Cupcake liners and do I really need them to make Perfect Cupcakes? Find out here
Want to know about the best flour for cakes? Check out Cake Flour Or Some Other Flour, Help Me!
Want Bread Baking Tips? Check out Bake Bread Like A Pro: Flour Types and Tips