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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.
Food preparation utensils