Mystery kitchen scooper

November 3, 2006 4:37 PM

This mystery tool came today with my amazon order of "The Joy of Cooking" What is it?

I looked around the amazon site, the joy of cooking site and google, but I must be searching for the wrong thing, but I have no idea what this could be. Help!

posted by defcom1 to home & garden (14 comments total)

A whisk.
posted by fire&wings at 4:40 PM on November 3, 2006

Looks like a whisk to me, too.
posted by fixedgear at 4:40 PM on November 3, 2006

More specifically, its a Roux Whisk (for making roux, natch).
posted by Rumple at 4:44 PM on November 3, 2006

it's a sauce whisk.
posted by yodelingisfun at 4:45 PM on November 3, 2006

Thanks! Now we're just wondering... why?
posted by defcom1 at 4:50 PM on November 3, 2006

That, son, is a SCIENCE FORK.

It is also good for whipping lumps out of gravy, mixing cornstarch with stir-fry juice, or making your raw omelet all foamy and homogenized.
posted by Sallyfur at 4:53 PM on November 3, 2006 [2 favorites]

It's almost Gravy Season, what with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up.
posted by mckenney at 4:53 PM on November 3, 2006

> why?

It breaks up lumps and mixes sauces more efficiently than standard loop whisks. I'll sometimes use ours to whip eggs, but I think that's an inappropriate use.

Unless you mean, 'why did they include it?' That I don't know.
posted by ardgedee at 5:11 PM on November 3, 2006

My aunt who cooks a lot says it's a egg white whipper, a rather specific type of whisk.
posted by tiamat at 5:20 PM on November 3, 2006

They sent it as a bonus. It is a wire beater(whisk). Use it for creaming sauces, beating egg whites. They work great and you can't cook without one.
posted by JayRwv at 5:59 PM on November 3, 2006

Miniature versions of this type of whisk are used for egg beating and making mayonaisse, aioli etc. As Rumple pointed out it's a roux whisk for sauces.
posted by fire&wings at 6:08 PM on November 3, 2006

This kind of whisk has been around forever, but it's been made trendy by Nigella (Lawson). Apparently she carries one in her handbag, um "just in case."
posted by drmarcj at 7:46 PM on November 3, 2006

My mother uses some similar device make her milk foamy.
posted by yeara at 8:24 AM on November 4, 2006

It may be called a roux whisk by some, but GIS disagrees. It's certainly not an egg white whipper, because those are long and have thin tines.

I have some of these kinds of whisks, and they're great for beating eggs, but crappy devices for making roux because they're too flimsy. The proper device for making a roux is a wooden spoon.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:06 AM on November 4, 2006