What Is A Coffee Frother And How To Use It?

If you’ve been making coffee at home without the use of a coffee frother, you’ve been missing out!

There are many benefits that you’ll be able to enjoy when you start using a coffee frother.

What are the most important benefits?

For starters, a frother can help to improve the taste of your cup of coffee.

There are other great reasons to make use of a coffee frother, so let’s take a look at them. We’ll also show you how you should use a frother for the best results.

What, Exactly, Is A Milk Frother?

A milk frother is any kind of device that you can use to aerate milk and produce foam.

This boosts the texture, appearance, and taste of drinks, such as coffee. You can find milk frothers in various shapes, styles, and sizes.

How To Use A Coffee Frother – Step-By-Step Guide

• The first thing you’ll have to do is choose between using cold or warm milk. If you want to choose the latter, bear in mind that it should be between 150 and 155 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Warm your milk if you want to use it hot. Then, add the milk to the frother. You want to fill it to about one-third of the way.
• Put the frother lid on the frother and close it properly.
• Now you can start pumping the plunger. After approximately 15 seconds, you’ll feel that it becomes a bit more difficult to plunge and this is a good sign that you’re thickening up the milk.
• Continue plunging – bear in mind that the more you plunge, the more foamy your milk will be, so you should stop and check the status of the milk at regular intervals to get it the way you want it.
• Then, remove the lid and plunger. 
• Gently swirl the pitcher and tap the bottom. This helps to settle the milk.
• Pour the milk into a separate container. Microwave it for 30 seconds, but don’t boil the milk.
• Use a spoon to remove a few dollops of cream that are on top and put these on your coffee. This ensures you’ll be able to use the creamiest part of the milk.

Different Types Of Frothers

The steps we’ve just outlined refer to how to use a plunger, or hand-pump frother, let’s look at the pros and cons of different types of frothers.

Handheld Frothers

These frothers are battery operated and you stick them directly into your cup of coffee so that you can froth your milk.

Pros

• They are compact and easy to use whenever you want.
  
• They are versatile because you can use them for other whisking tasks, such as whisking eggs.

Cons

• The batteries on these devices could need to be replaced quite regularly, especially if you use the handheld frother regularly.
  
• These types of frothers are a bit limited because they don’t allow you to cool or heat the milk.

Automatic Frothers

These are frothers that are powered by electricity. How they work is that they have whisks inside them that warm up your milk and then they spin so you can create foam.

Pros

• This frother produces high-quality froth.
  
• It’s really easy and convenient to use.

Cons

• It takes up a bit more kitchen space than handheld frothers.
  
• You can usually only use these frothers to foam up about a cup of milk at once. 

Frothing Wands

These are wands that you’ll find inside espresso machines. They steam your milk so that you can create coffee with more texture. How the frothing wand works is that steam moves through the wand into the milk, and this creates a velvet-like foam.

Pros

• This frother makes the best silky froth that you’ll love when making your own lattes.

Cons

• This frother is the most costly type to purchase.
  
• It’s not always easy to learn how to use correctly, so it’s not beginner-friendly.

Can You Froth Other Types Of Milk?

What if you don’t consume dairy and you still want to make the most of a frother to enjoy delicious and creamy coffee?

You can certainly use your frother on other types of milk, such as rice milk or soy milk, but it’s worth mentioning that you’ll have to take a bit more time to use the plunger in order to achieve the foam that you want.

What Milk Makes The Best Froth? 

In order to get the taste of your coffee just right, you want to ensure that you use the right milk. This obviously comes down to your personal preferences, but there are some important differences to know between the different types of milk.

• If you want a rich cup of coffee, you should choose whole milk. This will also ensure that your cup doesn’t taste bitter. Whole milk will produce a lovely thick foam.
  
• Skim milk, on the other hand, is a better low-fat option if you’re watching your daily calories. It has some benefits when it comes to foaming as it gives you a more aerated result and a lighter flavor.
  
• If you want to get a result that’s somewhere in the middle of the above, you should opt for two-percent milk. This provides you with a decent amount of flavor and it produces a thick foam that is especially useful if you want to make your own latte or cappuccino at home.

The worst types of milk to use in a frother

Sadly, not every type of milk will work well in a frother. Here’s a rundown of some milk types to avoid using.

Cashew Milk

If you like nut milk in your coffee but you want to foam it up, stick to almond varieties and avoid cashew milk!

This is because, when frothed, cashew milk produces a thin foam that disappears shortly after you’ve poured it into your coffee, so it’s quite disappointing. In addition to that, the milk tends to take on a bitter taste.

Low-Fat Coconut Milk

If you want to use coconut milk in your coffee, always make sure you use the full-fat variety.

This will produce large bubbles of foam that remain in your coffee for a good amount of time. Avoid using low-fat coconut milk because it won’t be able to froth.

Can You Froth Milk Without The Use Of A Frother?

It might surprise you to hear that you can make creamy coffees without the use of a frothing device. So, if you don’t have one and you want foamy coffee, then this is what you need to do – and no, you don’t need to purchase cream!

You can froth milk without any special devices. You’ll need to ensure you have a microwave oven, though.

• The first thing you need to do is pour your milk into a cylindrical container and close its lid.
• Shake the container for one minute.
• Open the container and transfer the milk to a separate container that’s microwave-safe.
• Put it in the microwave for about a minute. Keep an eye on it to ensure that the milk doesn’t rise and overflow.
• The milk will sink down to the bottom of the container while the froth will rise to the surface, so when you take the container out of the microwave you want to use a spoon to collect all the foam on top.
• Then, transfer that foam to your coffee!

Related Questions

Why should you use a milk frother?

Not only will it give you a richer, creamier experience of coffee, but it will also allow you to have more control over the ingredients you use because you can choose the type of milk you want to drink and how much of it.

Is it better to froth hot or cold milk for coffee?

Cold milk is better for frothing. This is because, unlike with whipped cream, milk has molecules that need to stabilize and you can do this by cooling down the milk, as Chef Talk reports.

Conclusion

If you want to make a delicious cup of coffee, treat yourself to the use of a coffee frother. This will ensure that you achieve a lovely layer of creamy milk in your cup that will increase your enjoyment of drinking coffee.

In this article, we’ve looked at how to use a coffee frother and we’ve also outlined different types of milk frothers so you can choose the best one to suit your needs.

We’ve also looked at the best and worst milks to froth, because no matter how fancy your coffee frother it won’t do your coffee any good if you’re not using the right milk. 

Last Updated on May 15, 2021