Hot Frothy (plant) Milk

cormie

Hey, I'd like something for frothy hot chocolate, chai and the likes made with plant milk. I'm not sure if this reacts similarly to cow dairy where I've heard the taste deteriorates if heated about 65c? But I'd like it as hot as possible :)

When I order drinks like this in cafés, they seem to just do it all with their steam wand on the coffee machine and even if I ask for extra hot, it still tastes good.

Is there any standalone steam wand machine that will heat to a high temp and can froth as quick as a professional machine could?

I bought a cheap used Swan Retro coffee machine just for this purpose, but it wouldn't heat the milk up much even after standing there for 2-3 minutes, and it was super loud. I don't know if it was faulty or just that's what happens with cheaper machines?

Any feedback would be great :)

Markcheese

I know oat milk will froth up , especially if you buy the dearer barista versions ,

I just use a small cafetier , i heat the milk in the jug of the cafetier using a microwave , and them pump the plunger on the cafetier a few times , and it fluffs up fine ..

You can get milk frothing things but they’re not usually steam wands.

curry’s have them this one seems to let you have the hotter milk you are looking for also.

https://www.currys.ie/products/krups-frothing-control-xl100840-electric-milk-frother-black-10195123.html

cormie

Thanks for the replies! I've seen those frothers, just not sure how hot they can get. The cafetier is a good idea, I've just done a bit of searching and see it's best to have a borosilicate glass french press/cafetier, the only thing I'd be worried about would be the milk super heating and exploding 🤔

alec76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058343348/hot-frothy-plant-milk

you have to learn how to steam milk with the wand. It is not as simple as you might think. I think I've wasted 5L of full fat milk before got any acceptable results and probably a another few months before I could get good result every time . I couldn't comment on the machine you've got, never heard about it. Does it have boiler or thermoblock? It might have tiny boiler which not capable to steam big pitcher of milk . Try 200 ml of milk at the start . You have to watch few YouTube videos about steaming .

https://youtu.be/x5nOFirDRTo?si=KnbekjCke8sWGvx4

Beware, this video in Fahrenheit's not Celsius ( you don't steam cow milk above 65°c normally, not sure about plant milk)

I would start with the regular milk even you don't drink it just practice and bin it.

cormie

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't condone using or buying cows milk from an ethical perspective. I ended up ordering a cafetier so as it was very affordable, so will try microwaving and then pumping air into it and see how that works :)

I'm guessing the machine I had had a tiny boiler, or whatever is in cheap machines usually, but I ended up getting rid of it once I saw it was useless anyway :P

Thanks for the video too!

alec76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121957919#Comment_121957919

I'm guessing the machine I had had a tiny boiler, or whatever is in cheap machines usually

Could have any of those. The cheapest probably would have bad quality thermoblock and slightly more expensive machines have small boiler. Boiler definitely has better thermal water stability which is good for espresso but it is not as good for steaming milk if it is tiny ( 80-130 ml). You only have about 20 -30 sec until it runs out of power and after that you have to wait until it heats up again up to 130-140`c. Expensive machines would have 2L boilers for steaming and commercial machines even bigger.
Thermoblock works same as electric shower, water just passing through and heats up continuously, temperature not as stable but definitely it is easier way to learn steaming .

cormie

Cool, thanks again for that! I'll see how I get on with the cafetier, it'll probably do the job for now :)

9jamie

You'd likely be very happy with a milk frother. You could always microwave it to your desired temperature and still have the texture you're looking for.