Comments on: Terrific no-mess milk frother

By: brian botkiller

brian botkiller — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 07:31:00 +0000

You’re catching onto this now? Go to aromacup.com to find the better stuff.

By: ohbejoyful

ohbejoyful — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:03:00 +0000

I have a small Bodum french press; I heat the milk, transfer it to the press, and plunge away. 7 strokes results in a very creamy, small bubbled foam; twice as many and you could stand a spoon in it.

By: ohbejoyful

ohbejoyful — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:01:00 +0000

+1 for “unctuous hugging”.

By: ohbejoyful

ohbejoyful — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Where did you attend barista skills classes, and would you recommend it?

By: ohbejoyful

ohbejoyful — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:58:00 +0000

They are still used in pathology labs today! I walk by it every afternoon – the spinning liquid forms a lovely tornado.

By: Paul Downs

Paul Downs — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:45:00 +0000

It’s £90 in the UK, almost as much as my coffee machine, I think I’ll stick with the steam. Takes about a minute to make enough for 2 or 3 cappuccino’s.

By: Michael Corry

Michael Corry — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

No it doesn’t for exactly the reasons you describe. It simply does not put enough air into the milk.
But it is useful in a small kitchen and it is tons better than sachets of instant latte.
I tried one out but I went back to the steam wand. I even went to school to learn barista skills.

By: Snig

Snig — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 12:36:00 +0000

“Either”

By: ndirons

ndirons — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 01:50:00 +0000

After several years of use, I am still delighted by Ikea’s $3 frother (which also has the best name of any Ikea product in history): http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10076320/

Given that it’s very small and might not last forever, I have three backups, and haven given away a bunch of them as gifts.

By: Mark_Frauenfelder

Mark_Frauenfelder — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:16:00 +0000

“I don’t like Otto because his grandmother used to fart a lot.”

By: Random Royalty

Random Royalty — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:40:00 +0000

There is some good evidence that steaming milk is better, like breaking down the lactose into simpler sugars making it taste sweeter, among other things.

http://joecoffeeblog.blogspot.ca/2010/10/science-of-steaming-milk.html

By: andygates

andygates — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:20:00 +0000

Call me a snob, but there’s still a gulf of difference between steamed milk and frothed milk. It’s a whole level of unctuous hugging.

Neat toy though :)

By: beejamin

beejamin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 11:49:00 +0000

But – does it actually work like a proper steam wand? The phrase ‘super fluffy’ sounds really bad – like marshmallow consistency stiff foam, with huge bubbles in it.

I can’t imagine how the little rotor (which is in the bottom of the container) can make that beautiful, silky microfoam like a wand can: the tip of the wand sits at the interface of milk and air, and introduces tiny, tiny bubbles – so you don’t get fluff – you get something that looks more like thick paint than foam.

By: BillStewart2012

BillStewart2012 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:33:00 +0000

Sigh. Another probably nice product that I won't buy, because it's from Nestlé, who are Evil, and who keep buying up products and companies I like. (The Nestlé boycott has been going on for 35 years, and they still haven't cleaned up their act except briefly during the mid-80s. They sell baby formula in third world countries that don't have the clean water infrastructure to make it safe, to people who typically can't really afford it, and they dress up their sales people as doctors and nurses to promote it in hospitals. More details at Wikipedia. I've personally seen them promoting their stuff at medical conferences in the 90s in Costa Rica (which isn't third world, but it's still inappropriate.)

By: BillStewart2012

BillStewart2012 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:26:00 +0000

Those were cool. My father had one of them in his lab, and it’s such an obviously elegant design. (Also, you can probably make your frothed milk in an Erlenmeyer flask, like several generations of chemists have done for instant coffee.)

By: SamSam

SamSam — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:01:00 +0000

That’s a fairly weird objection, since the actual thing in question doesn’t generate lots of unnecessary, single serving packaging waste, so who cares what line of products it’s in.

It’s a little like saying “Even if this machine works great, it’s made by a company in a country that had a history of storing Nazi gold.”

By: sdmikev

sdmikev — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:55:00 +0000

In case someone wants an alternative, I have a cuisinart “smart stick” blender that came with a container into which one can.. stick blend stuff.
I found after some research that you put in about a cup of milk (non-fat) froth it nice, THEN heat in the microwave – works great. I combine that with our Bialitti stove-top thing for some lovely afternoon cappuccinos after work.

By: legsmalone

legsmalone — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:44:00 +0000

The size of a can of peaches? No way, man. Give me a green bean can or I’m out.

By: Carl Maltby

Carl Maltby — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:31:00 +0000

An adequate first world arrogance. Kind of like a genuine rubber cock as opposed to a stick.

By: gorfulator

gorfulator — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:57:00 +0000

I need this for cocoa! Sh!t spills over if I don’t watch it!

By: mbishop

mbishop — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:02:00 +0000

+1 for the Capresso FrothPro. And it’s $40 less to boot! (terrible instructions though)

By: TheMadLibrarian

TheMadLibrarian — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:46:00 +0000

When I was in undergrad organic chemistry, we used to have one of these things for mixing chemicals that needed to be in particular containers (usually flasks with gradations). It was a base with an induction magnet that could heat the contents of the container, and a separate capsule sized, teflon coated stirrer. Drop the stirrer gently into the flask and set on the base. You could heat to any desired temperature and maintain, while agitating as gently or as vigorously as desired.

By: Robo-Design

Robo-Design — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:34:00 +0000

How is this different than an Advert? Even if this machine works great , its part of a line of espresso machines made by Nestlé that generates lots of unnecessary, single serving packaging waste similar to Keurig.

By: morcheeba

morcheeba — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:06:00 +0000

The plural of typo is typos: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typo

You don’t even want to imagine what the word “typoes” means, but it’s prohibited in half of the countries and mandatory in the other half.

By: malthusan

malthusan — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:48:00 +0000

It’s also possible the OP actually intended to use “viola” as an intentional tweak of the cliche with the added benefit of offending you, personally.

By: Graham Ladner

Graham Ladner — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:20:00 +0000

Yes. It’s also a woman’s name.

But telling someone they’re saying rape is far more effective for ridding the world of this typo. I’m not usually a pedant for typoes but this one has always grinded my gears.

Etheir spell it right or use the more accessible “Shazaam!”

By: xian

xian — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:08:00 +0000

I’ve had a couple of these (previous gen actually, so maybe they’ve fixed them now?), and they are very nice for a period of time, but eventually the nonstick coating inside breaks down where the heating element is making it harder to clean over time. Last year I switched to a Capresso FrothPro and haven’t had that problem. Plus the heating cup is replaceable if you damage it somehow.

By: razcall

razcall — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:51:00 +0000

Mine’s better: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XlOZSAqML.jpg
– does one or two cups worth of froth (not just one)
– top part detaches and can be put in the dishwasher

@google-8b44f299cd964aa0fdeb53a90a24c7ec:disqus … I was thinking musical instrument. 3rd person passe simple, and an exclamation mark … can’t be an imperative.

By: Tribune

Tribune — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:50:00 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola

or a musical instrument

By: Graham Ladner

Graham Ladner — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:29:00 +0000

“Viola” is the 3rd person singular, simple past conjugation of rape in French. http://www.bescherelle.com/conjugueur.php?term=violer

You meant “voilà”. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/voil%C3%A0