How can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites?

How can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites? - Top view of pile of white cooked chicken eggs in ceramic bowl on wooden table at home

The Bamix 'beater' attachment is just a flat disk which rotates on an immersion blender. When it rotates the disk stays mostly in place, it doesn't displace the liquid in a way that moving a traditional whisk would.

How does that beater attachment work? For example, this promotional video using the attachment shows egg whites from two eggs turn into foam in less than 30 seconds. I have the attachment and contrary to my expectations it's just a flat disk without any ridges to increase friction when spinning around in the liquid.

How does this form of whisking work?



Best Answer

The flat beater blade isn't quite flat.

At least, it's not flat with respect to the axis of rotation.

The beater blade is a smooth disk, but it's mounted at a slight angle so that when it spins, there's a "wobble." It doesn't spin in a flat/smooth circle.

The mounting angle works kind of like a fan, with a single, solid blade. The angle and the rapid speed combine with the solid blade to create a lot of turbulence. Unlike a fan that creates a single direction of flow, the solid blade is pushing and pulling as the "wobble" moves up and down.

That "wobble-induced turbulence" creates something very much like what a whisk does, just at a higher speed and smaller area.




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How can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites? - Happy Asian mother and daughter cuddling while preparing meringues in kitchen
How can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites? - Faceless girl coloring paper with Easter eggs and letters
How can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites? - Fried egg in pan on stove



Why are my egg whites not whipping?

Why Are My Egg Whites Not Whipping? The most common reason is because there is some sort of fat (egg yolk, grease/oil/butter) present. This can happen if you get egg yolk into the whites, or there is residue from past cooking or baking projects on your bowl or the beaters.

Can you whip egg whites in a blender?

Soft peaks barely hold their shape. The peaks flop over immediately when the beaters are lifted. Medium peaks hold their shape pretty well, except that the tip of the peak curls over on itself when the beaters are lifted. Stiff or firm peaks stand straight up when the beaters are lifted.



Whipping Egg Whites To Perfect Peaks




More answers regarding how can a flat rotating disk whip egg whites?

Answer 2

It uses the boundary-layer effect

Just like a good old Tesla turbine.

In a Tesla turbine, a flat disc (or several flat discs) are propelled by a water flow (or any other liquid, or gas). Your attachment does, obviously, the "opposite thing"...no, it's isn't. In both cases, an energy transfer happens between the disc and the liquid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_turbine

There are also a lot of videos on YouTube showing Tesla turbines being constructed and operated: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tesla+turbine

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Mateusz Dach, Katerina Holmes, Eren Li, Kamaji Ogino