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File this under obnoxious complaints, but one thing that happens when you own a KitchenAid and not a hand mixer is that it comes to seem like a pain in the ass to haul the machine out for minor projects—like, say, whipping cream, which I've been doing by hand for years. Wrongly, as it turns out.
Not long ago the nerds at America's Test Kitchen ran an experiment and proved, once and for all, that there is a right way and a wrong way to whisk different foods (i.e. whipped cream, meringue, vinaigrettes). The info, which is included in the highly enlightening volume Cook's Science, is also available here and encapsulated below, along with some notes on which kinds of whisks work best for which applications. Do your wrist a favor and commit this to memory.
The ATK folks found that for all applications they tested, whisking side to side is a reliable way to get whatever result you're after: aerated egg whites or heavy cream, or a vinaigrette that'll hold together for a little while. Simply stirring in a circular direction in the bowl? Relatively useless. That's because the back-and-forth nature of side-to-side whisking increases the amount of "shear force"—not a typo but an actual scientific term—applied to whatever's being mixed.
"As the whisk moves in one direction across the bowl, the liquid starts to move with it," the authors explain. "But then the whisk is dragged in the opposite direction, exerting force against the rest of the liquid still moving toward it. Because stirring and beating take the liquid in the same direction of the whisk, they produce less shear force."
Shear force is what you want—whether it's eggs, cream, or vinaigrette, you want to agitate the stuff as much as possible. And here I've been circularly whisking for years—years that, sadly, I'll never get back.
If you're used to beating, however—that is, whisking in a "looping" motion that lifts your liquid out of the bowl—you can hold on to that for one application only: egg whites. That's because the viscosity of egg whites helps them cling to the tines of the whisk, allowing the protein structure to trap more air.
Whichever way you're whisking, here's a shortcut: use whichever hand is not holding the whisk to rotate the bowl while you're mixing. Like simultaneously rubbing your belly and patting your head, this takes a little practice, but trust: it's a satisfying skill to develop. It further increases the level of agitation, shortening the time from start to finish.
Do you have the usual whisk—you know, sort of round, has a handle? Pictured at the top of this page? Great: that's a balloon whisk. It's an all-purpose tool, good for incorporating air into egg whites and heavy cream, good for mixing salad dressings, good for whisking dry ingredients that you're too lazy to sift. (No shade!)
Is your whisk sort of like a balloon whisk, but longer and a little narrower? That's a French whisk, another all-purpose implement that comes in particularly handy when you're trying to get at the edges of a pan—say, when you're making a roux or whisking a sauce on the stovetop. Pan sauces also welcome a flat whisk (which is flat), while meringues and whipped cream—things that need to be aerated—may especially appreciate a ball whisk, the weird-looking thing with little balls at the ends of its tines, or a coil whisk, which is the one where a single length of metal is coiled.
Tools like ball whisks and coil whisks look cool, and they can be helpful, but they aren't strictly necessary—a simple balloon whisk is really all you need.
Now go make this tart.
