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A whisk is a cooking utensil used in food preparation to smoothly blend ingredients or whip in air to a mixture. Most whisks consist of a long narrow handle with a series of wire loops joined at the end. The wires are usually metal, but some are coated with silicone or have plastic wires for use with non-stick cookware. Whisks are also made from bamboo.
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 a design adapted 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.