The low-down on milk frothers and steaming milk for your coffee recipes

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Many famous hot coffee drinks - such as Espresso Macchiato, Cappuccino, Caff? Latt? - are made with milk. And whilst the recipe might say "add steamed milk", sometimes it's not that simple. If your Caff? Latt? is going to taste anything like what you'd hoped for, there's a number of things you've got to get right. Let's make things easy by summing it up right here.

The most important items are discussed below and include: Choosing a milk frother or milk steamerThe good, the bad and the ugly results of frothing milkNotes on milk fat percentage, temperature and type of pitcherQuality Home Espresso Machine with Steam Wand.

This is the ultimate for home users... if you're willing to spend the cash. You'll be able to create microfoam (see below) and recreate any style of milk-based coffee drink. It will take a couple of minutes to froth milk, but you won't need to preheat it. Always remember to wipe-down the steam arm so you don't get any crusties!

Budget Home Espresso Machine with Steam Wand.

Ok, maybe I'm classifying machines a little broadly here, but you get the idea - you get what you pay for. Most cheaper machines have a steam wand that is supplied with a frothing attachment. My advice... throw the attachment in the bin! You'll get better results without it. In any case, you probably won't get microfoam (see below) with a cheaper machine... but you might get a decent Meringue.

Automatic Frothers

I've never used one of these. They're a bit too fussy and cumbersome for my liking. I guess they'd be great if you have a family of hot-chocolate lovers.

Battery-Powered Frothers

These, such as the Aerolatte Frother, are cheap and produce good results for the home. You will need to preheat your milk before frothing. Can take a minute or two for large quantities of milk, but are very simple to clean with a quick rinse under running water.

Manual Frothers

These are like a modified French Press (actually you can use a French Press). Again you need to preheat your milk. These can froth large quantities of milk quite quickly, but take a bit more effort to clean properly (you can place some of them in the dishwasher).

Microfoam (or microfroth) is created in seconds by a good barista on professional espresso machines. At home, you can create microfoam if you have a high-quality espresso machine with a steam wand. You'll need a bit more patience, because home machines don't have the same pressure in the steam wand... that means it can take a couple of minutes for you to properly heat your milk. You'll also need a lot of practice to get it just right.

The only way to produce true microfoam is with a good quality steam wand that has enough pressure to swirl the milk and the ability to heat the milk to the correct temperature. You won't get microfoam with a frother. Microfoam is like a thick milk... like runny-yoghurt in consistency. If you swirl it around in the jug it has a shiny, acrylic-like appearance.

Microfoam is made of tiny, microscopic bubbles. It is the only frothed milk you can use to create free pour Latte Art.

One day, I'll get around to writing a milk-foaming guide for this site. But for now, you can't beat the CoffeeGeek.com article - see Milk Frothing Guide - Frothing for Newbies & Intermediates

Many frothing devices on the market today - including battery-powered gadgets such as the Aerolatte Frother, the Froth Au lait and the steam wands on cheaper espresso machines - are capable of producing meringue-like foam.

The truth is, it's not so bad. It can be watery underneath, but you get a nice blob of smooth foam on which to dust your cocoa... and in the case of most home-coffee enthusiasts, that's all you're looking for.

If you're not a coffee geek in persuit of the most excellent microfoam... or if you are a coffee geek exhausted and defeated by the illusive 'rosetta', you might just settle for some nice, warm meringue milk on top of your cappuccino!

Well, the description speaks for itself... and this is the stuff to stear clear of. If you've got a budget home espressp machine and you're getting a lot of this 'dishwasher foam', try removing the frothing attachment and just use the steam wand on it's own... you might get better results.

Also, if you're using a little frothing tool, try keeping it just under the surface of the milk to reduce the size of the bubbles. That way, you're more likely to get a nice meringue-like texture.

Milk Fat Percentage: Contrary to popular belief, it shouldn't really matter what type of milk you use. Some people argue that their special 'crema' or 'cappuccino' milk out-froths all the rest. Others stand by their skim milk. The truth is, any milk with froth... even soy milk. So choose the milk you prefer and master frothing that.

Heat: Getting the temperature just right is important. At the end of frothing, your milk should be at 150 deg F or 65 degrees C - no more and no less. If you overheat, you'll find that the milk will be very runny and may taste burnt. If you don't heat enough, not only will your drink be too cold, but you'll miss out on developing the maximum sweetness in the milk.

Pitcher: When using a steam wand, most baristas use a stainless steel milk frothing pitcher. Start out with a cold pitcher... this allows you more time to froth the milk before it gets too hot.

By Shona Lynch