Once you develop a preference for espresso based drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos, you’ll need to learn how to prepare milk properly for the best end result. This article answers all of your frothed and steamed milk questions.
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For the best coffee drink experience, milk needs to be textured in addition to simply being heated. Ideally, milk should be frothed or steamed depending on the drink you wish to create.
Generally, frothed milk works better for cappuccinos and steamed milk works best for lattes. I will explain the details of these methods below.
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What is frothed milk?
Frothed milk (also known as foamed milk) is milk that has been textured through agitation, resulting in a thick and foamy consistency.
Frothed milk will separate into two parts after the drink has settled. The foamed frothy part of the milk will rest on top on the drink, leaving the milk in mostly liquid form underneath.
You can create frothed milk by agitating it in a closed container, using a handheld frother, or even using a standalone appliance. You will generally need to heat your milk separately unless you use a standalone appliance.
What is a milk frother?
A milk frother is a small handheld or standalone appliance with the dedicated purpose of frothing milk for lattes.
Handheld milk frothers look like mini-handheld mixers. They are typically battery operated and very inexpensive. Handheld milk frothers don’t heat milk, so you will have to heat the milk some other way before texturizing it.
Stand-alone milk frothers heat and texturize the milk simultaneously. The nicer machines heat larger amounts of milk to hotter temperatures and are typically better designed overall in terms of looks, power, and ease of use.
Best way to froth milk
The best way to froth milk is to use a dedicated device such as a handheld milk frother or standalone unit (see below). Which option you go with depends on your budget and whether or not you need the milk heated.
If you don’t mind using the microwave or stovetop to heat your milk, a handheld milk frother will work well. The main advantage to using a handheld frother is that they are super cheap compared to standalone frothers. You can also more directly control how much foam you end up with.
If you own a french press, you can use that to froth your milk. Simply pour the heated milk into the press and use the plunger to agitate the milk and create foam.
Best Standalone Milk Frother: The Breville Milk Cafe
In my opinion, the Breville Milk Café is the best stand alone milk frother. The design of the Milk Café uses induction to spin a frothing disk inside the pitcher and generate heat. This appliance offers some distinct advantages over just about all of the other options out there:
- The pitcher is large enough to serve 3 people a decent size latte. Many other stand alone milk frothers use a tiny reservoir that holds 8 ounces of milk, despite these machines often being rather large.
- The pitcher uses a sealed design with a metal knob that holds the frothing disk. This makes cleanup very simply and allows the pitcher to be cleaned in the dishwasher.
- You can use the Milk Cafe to heat milk to precise temperatures, up to 180 degrees (which is hotter than just about any other stand alone frother).
- The Milk Cafe also features a cold stir feature allowing you to mix things with out heating.
- You can use the milk cafe to make awesome hot chocolate.
The Breville Milk Cafe comes with two different disks, one for frothing and one for steaming. The steaming disk really just heats the milk with minimal froth. The frothing disk whips your milk into a foamy masterpiece, ready to be used in your coffee drinks. Whichever disk you aren’t using can be stored magnetically on the back of the machine.
You can find the Breville Milk Café on Amazon. There used to be another listing with tons of great reviews, but for some reason it was changed. I have used this milk frother for several years after experiencing the frustrating limitations of competing products. This unit is one of the pricier ones of the bunch, but it very much falls into the “buy it once” category.
A Cheaper Standalone Alternative: The Bodum Bistro Frother
If you are very opposed to paying over $100 for a milk frother, there is a much less expensive alternative: the Bodum Bistro Milk Frother.
This is a single-serving, basic milk frother that will certainly get the job done, but it lacks the large capacity, features, and aesthetic of the Breville Milk Cafe. At less than a fourth of the price, it seems to perform just as well as most of the other milk frothers out there.
If you go with the Bodum, note that it has an auto-shut off feature, but you will still need to actually flip the switch to the “off” position once your milk is finished.
What is steamed milk?
Steamed milk is still thicker than heated milk, but much less foamy than frothed milk.
Steaming milk integrates texture evenly while also heating the milk. This results in foam bubbles that are much smaller compared to frothed milk, and often referred to as microfoam. Steamed milk has a “wet paint” type of consistency, which works best for lattes.
The only way to create authentic steamed milk is to use a steam wand from an espresso machine with a pump. This means that if you are looking for a cheap option for espresso and steamed milk, you will have to consider some other options.
One option is to substitute frothed milk for steamed milk, since you can make frothed milk very inexpensively. By using frothed milk, your drink will be more of a cappuccino style than a traditional latte (because the foam will ended up resting on top). This is what I did until I was able to afford a real espresso machine.
Read More: Best Beginner Espresso Machine
Frothed milk vs steamed milk
Frothed milk is foamy with large bubbles and the milk often separates from the froth, allowing you to serve the froth on top. Steamed milk has an evenly integrated texture with a “wet paint” consistency.
Frothed milk is ideal for a cappuccino, which generally consists of espresso and hot milk topped with foam. Frothed milk is simpler to make and requires less expensive equipment.
Steamed milk works best for lattes since there is typically a larger amount of milk and the thicker texture gives the drink a very creamy impression. Steamed milk requires the use of a steam wand from a pump-style espresso machine. For this reason, proper steamed milk is much less accessible to the average home barista.
Steamed milk vs Microwave
Steamed milk is densely textured milk created using a steam wand from an espresso machine. Milk heated from a microwave will have no texture and be heated unevenly.
If you are pondering the idea of simply using the microwave in place of steaming milk for lattes, you should know that the end result won’t be authentic. In general, microwaved milk is really thin since it lacks any sort of foamy texture. Additionally, the process of slowly heating the milk with a steam wand actually breaks the lactose down and sweetens the milk.
However, if you are looking for an alternative to the expensive espresso machine option, you could microwave the milk first and then froth it using a handheld frother or a french press. This will result in milk with foam which you can stir into the milk to thicken it up a bit. This still is not as good as the steam wand route, but it’s a worthy compromise that I have made great use of before I purchased an espresso machine.
How to texture milk with a steam wand
For those of you fortunate enough to own a nice pump-style espresso machine with a steamwand, here’s what to expect when steaming milk.
- First, fill your pitcher with cold milk (higher percent fat results in creamier steamed milk) and purge your steam valve.
- Insert the wand into the milk at a slight angle towards the side of the pitcher and begin steaming. While steaming your milk, you will always want the tip at an angle so that the milk continuously swirls.
- You can add texture by keeping the steamwand just below the surface of the milk. You should hear a hissing sound if you are doing this correctly.
- Once the pitcher is warm, submerge the wand further but keep it along the sides of the pitcher so that the swirling continues. This will generally heat the milk without adding so much foam.
- Once the pitcher is hot to the touch, your milk is ready. I generally let the milk continue to heat for a while longer, as I prefer my lattes very hot. The ideal temperature range is about 140-160 degrees. If you like your lattes very hot, I recommend you use a milk thermometer to hone in on your preferred temperature without scalding the milk.
- After steaming, purge the valve and wipe down everything with a warm wet cloth or paper towel.
In Conclusion
In my opinion, using a dedicated frother or steamwand offers the best experience for milk based drinks. I own the Breville Milk Cafe and a Breville Barista Espresso machine and frequently use both. I actually love steamed milk from the Barista Express, but I find myself using the Milk Cafe more often because the entire process is automated and cleanup is simpler (and I get seriously busy sometimes).
When I feel like treating myself, I will use the Barista Express with the steamwand, which undoubtedly offers the best experience. The Barista Express (view on Amazon) has been my main coffee machine since 2014, and is still one of the best starter espresso machines on the market for the price. I highly recommend it.
If you wish to make lattes on the cheap, grab your french press or a handheld frother and pair it with your Nespresso or AeroPress for a comparable and seriously budget-friendly option.
Read More: How to use an AeroPress for Lattes
If you have any questions or comments about this content, feel free to add them below. I am always happy to update these articles with new information to address any needs that I haven’t already covered.
Happy brewing!
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