This text retrieved and edited from www.finecooking.com

MIXING

Stirring, whisking, blending, beating, folding—there are lots of ways to mix ingredients, and lots of tools you can use to mix them, depending on the results you want. From a simple a wooden spoon to a high-powered stand mixer, each tool performs in a specific way that has a specific effect on ingredients. Which is why, depending on the task, certain mixing tools work better than others.

Simple hand tools

Rubber spatulas, wooden spoons, and whisks are so commonplace that it might seem silly to even mention them. But these inexpensive, all-purpose faithfuls are easy to use and perfectly engineered for many jobs.

Wooden spoons are inexpensive, simple, and heat resistant. They come flat, angled, bowled, and round-edged, and in various sizes. Wooden spoons are sturdy enough for smashing aromatic ingredients such as citrus zest and herbs to release their aromas and flavours, and the spoon’s curved bowl is perfect for smearing cookie dough against the sides of the bowl as you mix. Use them for stirring thick risotto, sauces, stews, and custards. The rounded edge is gentler on ingredients—and on pans—than a metal spoon. And a wooden spoon’s relatively rough surface is superior to metal for tasks like creaming butter and sugar, says Molly Stevens, a contributing editor to Fine Cooking, because the wood’s slightly rough surface helps cut air into the butter that turns it light and fluffy when you cream it. And just about every cook I know likes the simple comfort of a wooden spoon’s handcrafted feel.

Rubber spatulas also come in several sizes. The wide-paddled blade pushes and lifts ingredients and gently cuts through airy mixtures. The spatula’s design is perfect for gently folding soufflés, sponge cake batter, fools, and meringues. And the flexible paddle’s rounded edges make a rubber spatula the best scraper around, especially if it bugs you to leave the last bits of batter in the mixing bowl. You can even buy heatproof rubber spatulas, perfect for scrambling eggs and fluffing frittatas. Look for the gently scooped model by Le Creuset, which comes in bright colors, or the stiffer, long-handled version by Rubbermaid.

Whisks combine and they can aerate, too. The spaced wires agitate and disperse ingredients in several spots at once, while the area in between lets air into whatever you’re mixing. A whisk’s wires may be thin and flexible (ideal for whipping) or thick and rigid (useful for stirring and preventing lumps in custards, sauces, and even polenta). The wires should be gathered close together where they meet at the tip for thorough mixing. The handle should be sturdy and sealed off so water doesn’t get trapped and the wires don’t disengage.

• An all-purpose whisk, also called a sauce whisk, ranges from a few inches long to several feet long. Sauce whisks are great for countless tasks, including making mayonnaise and other dressings, where the wires smash oil into the droplets needed to form an emulsion. A sauce whisk is the most versatile, but other types of whisks do special jobs.

• A balloon whisk’s full rounded profile gets lots of air into ingredients and is especially good for whipping cream and egg whites.

• A flat whisk (or roux whisk) is nifty for deglazing and blending pan gravy because the flat shape can get into corners and at every bit at the bottom of a shallow pan or skillet.

• An egg beater has no redeeming value except quaintness. Hang it on your kitchen pegboard for eye-catching decoration, and use a whisk.

Mixers

Mixers are the motorized version of a whisk: they combine ingredients and can aerate them, too. They’re quicker, higher-powered, and require less arm strength than a whisk, but mixers don’t offer quite as much finesse and hands-on control as a whisk.

A hand mixer is great for whipping cream, egg whites, frosting, cookie doughs–and mashed potatoes, too, provided you go easy so they don’t get gummy. As with a hand blender, you’re bringing the mixer to the food, so cleanup is minimal–just a rinse of the beaters.

An immersion blender is a lightweight, portable version of its big brother, the stand blender. An immersion blender lets you take the mixer right to the food. It’s great for whipping air into sauces just before serving.

Stand blenders mix in a closed container with small, pronged blades and violent tossing action. They’re great for mixing vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, and other emulsified dressings. And because of the jug container, they handle liquid well and they’re easy to pour from.

A Food processor’s sharp, spinning s-shaped blade chops, grinds, purées, and liquefies. It’s the tool you probably like best for pulverizing pesto, grinding nuts and breadcrumbs, and chopping chocolate. But a food processor is a mixing tool, too.