Sep 19, 2018

6 Methods for Frothy Milk Perfection

An aerial view of a frothy vegan hot chocolate in a blue mug on a white plate next to honey comb, sprinkled with chocolate shavings.

Dear Ruthy, I absolutely love the JOYÀ Matcha Focus Superblend, but the thing that’s missing for me when I make it at home is that foamy milk you get at a coffee shop. I don’t have an espresso machine with a fancy frother at home. Do you have any tricks for milk frothing?

Not to fret! There are 6 easy ways to get your froth game on. You can use tools that you might already have at home, or equipment that won’t take up much space or break the bank. For all methods, heat your milk (plant-based or dairy) to around 70-75°C (158-167°F) before frothing. (If the milk is too cold it won’t froth well, and too hot it’ll scorch.) I’ve listed the methods in order from smallest and simplest tools to the bulkiest pieces of kitchen equipment.

1. Battery Powered or Rechargeable Frothing Wand

A rechargeable frothing wand is what I use at home and I love it! It’s affordable, takes up no room, easy to use and super effective. It truly makes barista-level froth! You can control froth volume by adjusting your frothing time. It works with hot and cold milk and it’s a great tool for other purposes as well such as beating or frothing eggs, egg whites or aquafaba. It’s also portable so you can take it with you when traveling, camping or to work.

2. French Press

If you’ve got a French press at home, simply add warmed milk to the jar, put on the plunger and pump up and down vigorously for about 10-15 seconds. This method works quite well. The only drawback is that it leaves you an extra piece of equipment to clean.
a silver pitcher pours frothed milk into two mugs of vanilla tea
(Photo from Oh, How Civilized)

3. Pump Frother

 This little piece of equipments looks and works exactly like a French press. So if you already have a French press or are considering purchasing one or the other, I’d go with a French press as it’s a multi-purpose tool that’s also great for coffee and tea.

4. Electric hand blender/mixer

Blend warm milk (you can do this right in the pot in which you warmed your milk) until frothy. This method works moderately well, but I’d rather not pull out larger equipment if not necessary.

ceramic bowls and mugs of frothy cardamom spiced dandelion root latte
(Photo from Gourmande in the Kitchen)

5. Immersion Blender

This method works like the hand blender method — you can blend right in your milk warming pot (if your immersion blender head isn’t made of heat sensitive material) or transfer milk to a pitcher. It actually makes quite nice foam, but make sure the blender head is fully immersed in milk and that your pot or pitcher has high walls, otherwise milk tens to spray everywhere!

6. High-Powered Blender

This method is great because it saves you the second step of mixing your other Superblend ingredients into the drink, and it works wonders if you’re adding any oils or fats to your latte (such as MCT/coconut oil, ghee or nut/seed butter). Just add all of your ingredients into the jar (hot water and/or milk, Superblend powder and any other extras of choice such as superfood powders, collagen or other protein powder, raw honey, dates or other sweetener, fats) and blend up until frothy, about 30-40 seconds.

Of all these methods, my favourites are: a high-powered blender if I want to blend a number of ingredients into my Superblend latte or other latte-style drink, and otherwise a battery-powered handheld milk frother.

 

Ruthy signature