TL:DR Need a simple but not too crappy solution for heating/frothing milk - ideally one that my kids could use safely.
Apologies for the length!
OK - first a little background. I make coffee everyday with an aeropress and I’m happy with the coffee I’m getting from that. I also, however, enjoy milky drinks and want to add hot milk - ideally steamed/frothed to my coffee. Another key factor is that I live with chronic illness which causes pain and fatigue. Even just making my coffee can be tiring and/or aggravate pain so I want to keep things as simple as possible.
Until a couple of months ago, my milk routine was to simply microwave some milk in the mug and then press the aeropress into that. Then my wife dug out my old espresso machine (Ascaso - I can’t remember the exact model.) It’s not a great machine and, anyway, the gaskets have gone on the group head and it leaks terribly. I did, however, use it to steam milk. Again, it’s not really good enough to get great results, but it was still the best milk I could make myself and I was having fun doing it - although it was pushing me right to the edge of what my health would allow me to do.
My kids also loved watching me do it and started asking me to make them mugs of “fluffy milk”. I didn’t mind doing this, but, again, it was exhausting and I certainly couldn’t do it just after I’d made myself a coffee - which is when I got most requests.
I then began to wonder about an electric frother such as the Nespresso Aerocino. I hoped this could produce milk that, while not as good as steamed, was still good enough and was also simple enough to use that my kids could safely make their own “fluffy” milk.
I borrowed an aerocino from a friend and, I have to say, I’m very disappointed. As I said, I knew it wouldn’t be as good as steamed milk, but even my worst steaming attempts were better. The capacity is too small and the froth is way to dense - it’s a pain having to scoop it all out into the cup and it sits in a mountain of foam on the top and not integrated into the rest of the milk at all. About the only thing it seems to get right is the temperature of the milk. I may have opened a pandora’s box, though. My kids love it and love being able to make their own milk drinks.
So - what all this is leading to is to ask for suggestions on a milk frothing/heating solution. An electric one at about the same price as the aerocino would make the process easier for me and would suit my kids, although I’d have to compromise somewhat on quality. I’m fine doing that, but not really to the extent I’m having to with the aerocino!
Ideally, for myself, I’d get a stand alone milk steamer, but these all seem to be either too expensive or are stove top - which makes me nervous in a kitchen that has children, my wife and myself wandering about in.
As I say, I don’t mind compromising a little on quality, but I’d need a bigger capacity than the aero, better foam - much less dense so it can actually be poured out of the unit without needing scooping out!
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Morgan recently did a video on handheld milk frothers at different price points (the milk still has to be heated separately), and found even the cheapest one at $5 to produce decent foam (with proper technique). If your kids are old enough to follow instructions, they might be a decent choice? Good luck on the search!
Thanks for the reply! With my youngest, at least, I’d be quite concerned about the mess he’d make with one of those!
Depending on how young / careless your bairn is, you could reduce splashing with a narrow-necked receptacle? I’m thinking of something like a glass bottle barely wide enough to receive the frother, so there’s not space for the milk to easily escape.
I had a Breville stand alone frother. Unfortunately it suffers from similar issues you mentioned to the Nespresso one, but was good enough when I didn’t have a machine with a good steamer.
End of the day steam is just that perfect blend of air, heat and movement that hits that true perfect texture and those are all going to be more costly and have some part that could burn you.
One of those battery powered frother wands could also be a decent option you can just use it with whavever volume and container you want and can pulse it until you hit the right mix but it takes some time to get that timing right and will never be that similar to steamed milk imo but still can make a good drink nonetheless.
Unfortunately I don’t think there are any good options. All the aerators I’ve tried have been disappointing.
However, if you’re looking for easy and tasty I’d suggest maybe trying “cold foam” like they have at Starbucks. I think you just need a blender to make it.
I have a Verismo (Intertek? made in China, bought it cheap off a roommate who moved out) two cup warmer and rotary frother that sounds similar to what you found with the Aerocino or someone else’s Breville – the heat is right but you do get a pile of fairly dry foam sitting on top of a remainder of warm milk.
Here’s how I’ve dealt with that and why I still love this setup as a result.
First, it seems to be best (at producing foam) with nonfat milk. When it’s finished after about thirty seconds, I use a small silicone spatula to help scoop the foam while I’m pouring the milk. There’s a handy technique that I didn’t discover until just recently where you can encourage the foam to disengage from the walls of the container and ride/float atop the milk as you pour, and that’s even more effective than just doing a 100% scoop-and-pour. I do it in two or three stages and it gets almost everything.
You know this I’m sure, but it also works fine with some sugar or turbinado added before foaming.
And finally there’s the issue of how maybe you don’t want the foam sitting so separate on top of the final coffee product while the remainder of warm milk is all that really mixes into the black coffee. Of course you can stir but that can easily be overdone and leave not enough foam to enjoy on top. My best solution to that goes like this: first add the foamed milk to my empty mug, then pour or filter the coffee over the top of that, moving around so that it passes through as much of the foam area as possible. This colors and flavors much of the foam without dragging it all down into the liquid.
The cheap/easy method that I’ve used before is to just heat up some milk in a 1 cup french press, and just plunging it rapidly. Doesn’t make too much mess if you keep the lid on. I just stick the glass pitcher part of the French press in the microwave, but you could heat it up in a mug instead
I’ve tried that with reasonable results, but the plunging action is simply too exhausting for me to do often or regularly.
I have a Secura frother that sounds like it fits the bill. It’s easy to use, makes 8oz of foam at a time, and it’s dishwasher safe! I find that the foam is light enough to get most all of it out by pouring, alone.
https://www.amazon.com/Secura-Facial-Steamer-Essence-Therapy/dp/B00SQPF48O
You’d have to take a look to see if you feel it’s safe enough for your kids. It’s not too different from an induction stove top. The pitcher isn’t insulated and will get quite warm.
I have one of those electric frothers but one that’s branded for matcha lol but I only use it for milk, it seems to have a more powerful motor. With the right technique I can froth some microwaved milk well enough to get some latte art, but it’s tricky and would be really easy to make a mess for a kid.
There’s a new product from the company subminimal called the nanofoamer pro and YouTubers seem to agree it’s the easiest and best hands off method for silky milk, it heats and froths for you. But it’s kinda pricey and you’d have to teach the kiddos to clean it immediately after using it or milk can kinda scald to the inside of it. It might be worth looking into.
