When it comes to kitchen tools, a whisk is an indispensable item. This article will guide you through the different types of whisks and help you decide which one is best for your needs.
**Why Whisks Matter**
A good whisk can make a significant difference in your cooking and baking. Whether you’re making custard for a chocolate cream pie, combining dry ingredients for soda bread, or whipping up carbonara, the right whisk is essential. On the other hand, the wrong whisk can make tasks more challenging.
**The Best Whisks**
Balloon Whisk:
Strengths: Whisking in bowls or sauciers; keeping custards in motion; combining dry ingredients; smoothing batters.
Weaknesses: Aeration; whipping; reaching into corners.
The balloon whisk is a versatile tool, ideal for whisking in bowls and sauciers, and combining dry ingredients. Its curving shape conforms well to bowls, allowing for easy scraping of every surface and reaching every corner. Despite its name, it’s not great for aeration, but styles with an extra layer of tines perform slightly better in this regard.
French Whisk:
Strengths: Aerating eggs or cream; reaching into tight corners; working in small pots; emulsifying sauces.
Weaknesses: Scraping bowls or sauciers; handling thick batters; keeping thick custards in motion.
French whisks are excellent for French cuisine, from béchamel to hollandaise, and are perfect for aeration and emulsification. Their shape and numerous tines make them ideal for small pans and corners, but they struggle with thick batters and custards.
Ball Whisk:
Strengths: Reaching into tight corners; scraping flat surfaces; combining dry ingredients.
Weaknesses: Scraping bowls or sauciers; handling thick batters; keeping custards in motion.
The ball whisk is great for tight corners and flat surfaces, but it falls short when it comes to bowls and sauciers, as well as thick batters and custards.
**Expert Recommendations**
If you’re going to buy just one whisk, consider the balloon whisk. We recommend the GIR Ultimate Whisk and OXO Good Grips 11-Inch Balloon Whisk. These whisks are known for their durability and ease of use, making them a favorite among professional chefs and home cooks alike.
**FAQs and Expertise**
Why are we the experts? We’ve been making desserts full-time for our entire adult life, and we rely on whisks daily. We’ve tested various types and can confidently say which ones work best in different scenarios.
**Straight to the Point**
For the best all-around whisk, choose a balloon whisk. For aeration and emulsification, a French whisk is your best bet. And for those tight corners and flat surfaces, a ball whisk is the way to go.
Ball Whisks
They may look like novelty whisks, but ball whisks are super useful. They can reach into the sharp corners of a pot, where the rounded tines of a balloon whisk won’t quite fit. They are also great for whisking across flat surfaces, like a wide skillet when making scrambled eggs. I use mine almost exclusively for whisking things in measuring cups, where the tines of a ball whisk will splay to reach the corners.
On the downside, a ball whisk is something of a one-trick pony. As those tines will readily collapse to a single point in a thick custard or heavy batter, whereas the open design of a balloon whisk is much more effective.
WMF Stainless Steel Ball Whisk
PHOTO: Amazon
$32
$30 at Amazon
Silicone Whisks
Strengths: Protecting nonstick surfaces; working with delicate projects; ninja baking.
Weaknesses: Handling heavy batters; keeping thick custards in motion.
When working with nonstick cookware, silicone whisks are essential. But even with traditional metal cookware, silicone has a muting effect, so it’s pretty handy if you’re trying to keep quiet in the kitchen (the clatter of a stainless ball whisk in a bowl can be fairly deafening in the early morning hours).
OXO Good Grips 11-Inch Silicone Balloon Whisk
View on Webstaurant Store
$16 at Oxo
$16 at Kohls.com
WMF Silicone Ball Whisk
PHOTO: Amazon
$27 at Amazon
Danish Dough Whisks
Strengths: Mixing bread doughs and thick batters; folding aerated ingredients without deflating them; stirring grits and polenta.
Weaknesses: Not useful for small batches of ingredients or incorporating air into mixtures, like egg whites and cream; not dishwasher-safe.
If you like to mix your bread doughs by hand, having a Danish dough whisk in your arsenal is essential. Dough whisks come in a variety of styles, but in general you should expect a comfortable wooden handle and a looped top. Combining the benefits of a wooden spoon and a balloon whisk (without their shortcomings), a Danish dough whisk mixes batters and agitates doughs, minimizing flour pockets that can form in your bowl—all without getting clogged.
Zulay Kitchen Danish Dough Whisk Large Hand Mixer
PHOTO: Amazon
$10
$9 at Amazon
$16 at Walmart
Of course, you’ll find whisks of all other shapes and sizes online, but most of these strike me as novelty gimmicks, and my tiny kitchen doesn’t have room for a whisk that I won’t use all the time. Especially when I’ve yet to find a task the whisks above can’t handle, when properly applied.
FAQs
What’s the best balloon whisk?
Which whisk should I buy?
This depends on the task at hand! In general, though, if you’re going to buy just one whisk we recommend getting a balloon whisk.
Can you use a metal whisk in a nonstick pan?
You could use a metal whisk in a nonstick pan, but it could scratch it (as could any metal utensil).
If you’re looking for the perfect whisk for your kitchen, we have a recommendation for you. Instead of settling for just any whisk, we suggest opting for a silicone-coated whisk.
Why We’re the Experts Our recommendation comes from a place of expertise. Stella Parks, who served as the pastry editor for Serious Eats and authored numerous baking recipes on the site, is a testament to our credibility. She has also penned the highly praised baking cookbook, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. Stella’s culinary acumen is further underscored by her graduation from the Culinary Institute of America. We Tested 11 Balloon Whisks—Two Whisked Their Way to Victory When it comes to tools and gadgets, we don’t make recommendations without thorough testing. We put 11 balloon whisks to the test, and two of them stood out as the clear winners in our evaluation. Basic Kitchen Equipment Choosing the right whisk is an essential part of equipping your basic kitchen. A silicone-coated whisk is not only durable but also efficient for a variety of cooking and baking tasks.
