Whisk (kitchen utensil)

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Peeled branch whisk as a kitchen tool

A whisk is a kitchen appliance for working dough or for whipping or mixing liquids.

The name is derived from the branch whisk . In the past, a whisk or stirring stick was often made from a peeled piece of wood from a young fir or spruce . Today, in addition to whiskers made of - mostly milled - wood, there are also devices made of plastic or with a wire or plastic head.

use

When whisking, liquids are swirled with ingredients and mixed well. Loose dishes are chopped up and made creamy. The formation of lumps, such as those that occur when stirring with a spoon , can largely be avoided. The consistency of the finished food depends on the type of ingredients and the speed of whisking. To generate a rotary movement of the head lying below, the rod of the whisk is held between the extended palms and these are moved back and forth relative to one another as quickly as possible.

Because wood is a poor conductor of heat , beaters can also be used to stir hot food. In addition to mixing liquids, beaters are also used to make dough, for example for cakes or dumplings .

functionality

Some whisks have a spherical shape or a small axial extension on the head that can stand up on the vessel wall, bears the weight of the whisk, helps to stabilize the axis of rotation and makes the whisk work close to the bottom of the vessel.

The rotation of the whisk does two things:

  • The entrainment of the mixture via the shear stress and the viscosity of the liquid, visible from the gradual rotation of more or less large parts of the vessel contents in the direction of rotation of the whisk.
  • As well as via radial centrifugal force - mediated by mass inertia - a transport of the mixture in the depth of the whisk outwards to the cylinder jacket of the vessel, up this vessel wall and on the surface back to the whisk axis. This toroidal flow is superimposed by rotation, keeps a little distance from the vessel wall due to viscosity and is recognizable on the surface of the liquid (on particles) from the return flow to the whisk axis and possibly a certain lowering of the liquid level very close to the whisk rod. Centrifugal pumps and centrifugal compressors work in a similar way .

Well-formed whisks can be cleaned by turning them slowly in a sharp water jet before the whiskers dry out. Children sometimes love to lick sweet dough off a whisk with the help of their fingers.

Mixer, mixer

Mostly electrically operated mixers are used today. Preferably hand mixers , also known as hand mixers , with two removable whisks (whisks), but also z. B. kitchen machines . With stand mixers and hand blenders , rotating knives whisk the liquids together. In addition to pure mixing, these are also used for grinding ( pureeing ) if the speed and power of the devices are sufficient. There are also whisks or whisks as attachable accessories for blender sticks. Most of these kitchen appliances have metal beaters.

Examples

  • Branch whisk

  • Salzburg wire whisk

  • Wooden whisk

  • Metal whisk from a hand mixer

  • Plastic hand whisk (1959)

  • French hand whisk

See also

Related kitchen appliances include:

Web links

Commons : Beaters (and related kitchen gadgets)  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinhard Peesch : Wooden device in its original forms. Academy Publishing House. Berlin 1966, p. 33.
  2. ↑ Johannes Girmindl: The girl who only wanted to taste the dough , ISBN 9783741235467 , section Eierlikörguglhupf online partial view