# Advice on manual egg beaters? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906 "2005-01-09T17:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/21 "2005-01-10T16:46:37Z")
If you want quality: [http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=107037&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iProductID=107037](http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=107037&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iProductID=107037) As for biscuit cutters, try [www.surlatable.com](http://www.surlatable.com) . I don’t know if their website has them listed, but their stores have them. As for why you can’t find a decent egg beater? Because the good ones cost more than electric ones, which is what the vast majority prefer. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/22 "2005-01-10T18:38:12Z")
**Bad News Baboon** , have you actually seen and/or tried the Garrett Wade egg beater? I’d be interested to know what you thought of it. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/23 "2005-01-10T21:12:34Z")
How about this one from [Cooking.com](http://Cooking.com)? [http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=102934](http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=102934) It’s 13.95 ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/24 "2005-01-10T22:43:11Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > **Bad News Baboon** , have you actually seen and/or tried the Garrett Wade egg beater? I’d be interested to know what you thought of it. No Way! I’m all about modern appliances! 😉 I know of that beater because my husband buys stuff from them. Everything he has recieved from them is of excellent quality. I recalled the egg beater because when I was flipping through the catalog, I asked him, “Who on earth would want one of those?!”. Well. Now I know! ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/25 "2005-01-10T23:38:49Z")
**percypercy** , the one you’re showing looks like the standard egg beaters I’ve seen in stores, which I’ve bought and not liked. Thanks for trying, though! **Bad News Baboon** , thanks for the info! ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/26 "2005-01-11T05:43:09Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Yeah, I used to have one of those. The handle was hard to use, the gears slipped, most of it was plastic, and in general it was just a piece of junk. > > My new eggbeater is tough, easy to use, and it will last me the rest of my life, unless I whack it with a hammer or something. I can whip egg whites into a lovely stiff merengue in a couple of minutes. If I used a whisk (or, heaven help me, a fork), it would take forever. Is it even possible to whip things properly with a fork?? > > Worth every penny of what I spent on it. I can whip egg whites to a merengue with my $20 electric egg beater in about 3 minutes. Is there some advantage of manual that I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/27 "2005-01-11T05:54:54Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I can whip egg whites to a merengue with my $20 electric egg beater in about 3 minutes. Is there some advantage of manual that I’m missing? I don’t think there’s any specific culinary advantage, **Shalmanese**. However if you have a small kitchen with a lack of bench space, it can be much easier to put the bowl in the sink and manually beat the egg whites rather than move everything around and set up the electric mixer. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/28 "2005-01-11T06:42:10Z")
I’m referring to the handheld electric egg beaters. Something like [this](http://www.appliancehome.co.uk/index.html?target=Hand_MixersKenwood.html) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/29 "2005-01-11T12:58:06Z")
I have a whisk [like this one](http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=200178) but it’s more rounded rather than heart-shaped. I got mine from Willams-Sonoma years ago, but I couldn’t find one on their site now - all they had were the balloon and flat whisks. I use it all the time, and for mixing eggs, it’s wonderful. A couple of ‘whisks’ through the eggs and they’re mixed perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/30 "2005-01-11T14:19:11Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I can whip egg whites into a lovely stiff merengue in a couple of minutes. Is that the only real use for it? Because as others have noted, a fork does a nice job if you’re mixing your eggs for a batter or omelet. It seems like a decidedly single-use gadget. (As a gadget freak, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.) If I’m making something that needs a merengue, I’ve probably got my Kitchen Aide out already so what’s the advantage of having a manual egg beater? Can I use it instead of a whisk for general purpose whisking? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/31 "2005-01-11T20:04:00Z")
I suppose the only real use for my eggbeater is for whipping eggwhites–which I do fairly frequently for waffles (it makes them a lot lighter). I would also use it for mixing an omelette or scrambled eggs, I suppose, only I don’t like egg dishes for some reason. I don’t personally like those little electric mixers; I had one once and didn’t like it, and when it burned out I didn’t get a new one. This is probably because we never had one growing up, but I just didn’t like cleaning it, and it was too piddly for big jobs and too much trouble for little ones. Not my style, I guess. So instead I have a KitchenAid mixer for big jobs and forks and eggbeaters and stuff for little ones. I don’t like using the big mixer for a little batch of eggwhites, because it just seems like too much work. I can throw the eggbeater into the dishwasher and it only takes a minute. I do just use a fork, usually, for mixing up an egg with milk for something. Hrm. Is it just me, or is the Straight Dope about the only place where you can get into a long international discussion on the virtues and vices of eggbeaters? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/32 "2005-01-11T20:16:15Z")
Whoops, I almost forgot the other use for eggbeaters: for your kids to run around the house with, pretending that it’s an alien torture device. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/33 "2005-01-13T11:40:31Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I don’t personally like those little electric mixers; I had one once and didn’t like it, and when it burned out I didn’t get a new one. This is probably because we never had one growing up, but I just didn’t like cleaning it, and it was too piddly for big jobs and too much trouble for little ones. Not my style, I guess. I’m puzzled as to what sort of electric egg beater your referring to. My one has two removable tines, exactly like those on manual egg beaters. You press a button and they shoot off into the sink where you just rinse them quickly with some water and they are clean. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/34 "2005-01-13T15:56:07Z")
Yes, that’s the kind I mean. I just didn’t like it. _shrug_ As for cleaning, the motor part got gucky and all. I never said my preferences are rational. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-manual-egg-beaters/283906/35 "2005-01-14T03:23:03Z")
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