Kitchn Love Letters

I’m a Pizza Recipe Developer and This $8 Tool Is Just as Useful as My Heavy Stand Mixer

published Oct 31, 2022
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LHU Pizza Dough Whisk Review
Credit: Peggy Paul Casella

After almost a decade of developing and testing recipes for my website Thursday Night Pizza, I’ve accumulated an impressive (although some might say excessive) amount of pizza-making equipment. Okay, ready? I’ve got six different pizza cutters, five baking peels (that include metal and wood types), and four round pizza pans (rimmed, flat, textured, and perforated). There’s also a steel baking plate that lives in my oven at all times and three more heavy baking surfaces (cordierite, ceramic, and cast iron) stacked on a shelf in the basement. Parked in the backyard is a wood- and propane-fueled pizza oven. Whew.

But of all the tools I’ve bought specifically for pizza nights, none gets more use than my $8 LHU dough whisk

I bought this dough-mixing tool five or so years ago, and it quickly became the thing I reach for when I need to mix almost anything. Now the only times I hoist my electric mixer up from the basement are for homemade whipped cream, double batches of royal icing, and extra-stiff gingerbread and cookie doughs that are too thick for my dough whisk to handle. 

What’s a Dough Whisk?

Also known as the Danish dough whisk or brodpisker, this swirly-whirly tool is comprised of a single piece of rigid stainless-steel in the shape of the @ sign and a handle ranging from 12 to 14 inches. My LHU dough whisk has a 13.5-inch wooden handle, but there are other styles with metal or plastic handles. The loose coil design makes it uniquely helpful for mixing sticky yeasted doughs and other stiff batters that would otherwise glob up on a wooden spoon or clog the slender loops of a balloon whisk (I’m looking at you, pizza dough!).

But that’s just the beginning of this wand’s many uses.

Credit: Peggy Paul Casella

What Makes the LHU Dough Whisk Great?

You know the common line in most baking recipes: “Do not over-mix”? Well, that’s another problem the dough whisk solves. The sturdy double loops are placed far apart and easily glide through batter, combining ingredients without creating the gluten networks that can turn baked goods chewy and dense instead of being tender and soft. Plus, it helps you stir delicate ingredients like fresh raspberries into a batter without mashing them up. It’s also my go-to for folding chocolate chips, oats, and raisins into cookie batter

On the savory side, the LHU dough whisk is ideal for polenta and oats, which need to be stirred constantly to avoid clumping and are a pain to clean off of wooden spoons. The flat, coiled design not only keeps the grains nice and smooth as they cook, but it also lets you get into the bottom edges of the pot to prevent burning. That’s why I always reach for my dough whisk to stir rice and fluff it in the pot after cooking.

But the best part? It’s super easy to clean. Just poke your fingers between the coils and any bits of batter will come right off. The LHU whisk isn’t dishwasher-safe, as it has a wooden handle, but a quick rinse with soap and water will do the trick.

Even if you’re not running a pizza blog like me, you’ll get a ton of versatility and convenience with this sturdy $8 dough whisk — as evidenced by all my non-pizza uses. This dough whisk is like the love child of a wooden spoon and wiry balloon whisk — the coils are firm enough to combine ingredients effectively, and placed far enough to cut through almost any texture without much effort.  

Time to move that heavy stand mixer off the counter and enjoy the luxury of extra prep space; you won’t need that clunker again until cookie-baking time.