Frothing milk: with a hand blender, without a frother and other variations

Almost everyone has a hand blender in the house. Maybe you have already used it to whip a cream soup until frothy? You can also use it for milk frothing.

• Since the milk splashes quickly, you should pour it into a narrow, tall container.
• note that the volume of the milk can almost double during frothing. Fill the jar only half full with milk.
• You can either froth the milk cold or heat it up on the stove or in the microwave beforehand. If it is steaming but not yet boiling, it is at a good temperature.

Frothing milk by shaking

You can get by without any electricity at all by pouring the milk into a screw-top glass and shaking it vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds. Again, fill the glass no more than half full. Accordingly, this method is more suitable if you only want to froth a small amount of milk. If you want to heat the milk in the glass in the microwave before or after frothing, the glass must be microwave safe.

Frothing milk with a whisk or hand milk frother

Frothing milk with a whisk requires some strength and practice. You can get good milk foam better and easier if you use a hand milk frother instead. There are both electric and mechanical versions. You can buy them for a few euros, but they differ greatly in the quality of the milk foam. You can foam both small and large quantities of milk.

Mechanical milk frother for the stove

From about 15 euros you get milk frothers made of glass or stainless steel. They are usually equipped with sieve inserts, which you push up and down to create foam. With a little practice, you can get very good milk foam this way.

Depending on the capacity of the vessel, you can froth up different amounts of milk. A disadvantage is that most stove tops have a larger diameter than the milk frothers and therefore some of the energy is lost when heating the milk. You can also froth the milk cold or heat it in a saucepan and then decant it. When buying such a milk frother, you should pay attention to whether the sieve insert can be cleaned easily. (milk frothers are available for example at **amazon)

Heating and frothing milk with an electric milk frother

Electric milk frothers are the most convenient option: they not only froth the milk, but also heat it to the right temperature. This works either by induction or by a concealed heating coil at the bottom of the vessel.

Stiftung warentest tested milk frothers in 2017 and found that most electric milk frothers produce much better froth than you can with a hand blender or hand milk frother. However, the test also showed that really good devices are comparatively expensive with at least 50 euros.

From an environmental point of view, it is difficult to say whether electric milk frothers consume more electricity than heating milk on the stove or in the microwave. There are more consumptive and less consumptive milk frothers. However, electric milk frothers are more resource-intensive to manufacture than, for example, a glass frother. You should therefore think carefully before buying whether you will really use the milk frother on a regular basis.

Which milk foams best??

When shopping in the supermarket, you will find a large variety of animal milks and plant-based milk alternatives. Since the latter usually have a lower protein content than cow’s milk, they can not be foamed so well. Of the vegetable milk alternatives, soy milk is the best for foaming.

In the meantime, however, you can also find oat milk in stores that has been enriched with proteins so that it can be foamed better. However, it is cheaper if you make your own vegetable milk with a suitable protein content.

The fat content of the milk is basically irrelevant for the foaming process. However, the fat makes the foam creamier and also serves as a flavor carrier. the same applies to the freshness of the milk: you can froth both long-life milk and fresh milk, but you will get a better taste result with the latter.