Best way to use a milk frother

December 12, 2022 4:16 PM

I bought a cheap milk frother (just the whisk, not the kind that also steams/heats the milk) and want to indulge myself with non-coffee drinks.

Realizing that after gallbladder removal last year, I just really can’t have any caffeine or even decaf coffee. I want to start making nondairy milk drinks like golden/turmeric milk and hot chocolate. I’ll be mostly using oat milk or almond milk.

Looking for both suggestions for drinks, and also instructions on how to use the milk frother for best results? It seems like just trying to froth a full mug of hot milk is going to end in disaster. Heating the milk on the stove, pouring in a small amount in my mug and frothing that, then pouring in the rest? Won’t that just.. collapse the foam I’ve made? I recognize that I’m fully overthinking this but I’m just mad about the loss my occasional Starbucks treat and having a hard time figuring out the best way to achieve optimal results here.

posted by skycrashesdown to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

A steamer is infinitely flexible so you can enjoy whatever kind of flavorings are seasonally appropriate and available to you. It’s just hot milk either with flavorings steeped in and then strained out, or just mixed in, and then foamed. I like to put cold milk in a pot with whole cardamom pods and honey, let it come up to just before a simmer, strain it into a tall mug, and use my little milk frother until it’s increased about a third in volume. This kind of thing works just fine with oat milk, though you might want to play around with flavorings and milk options to get pairings that don’t clash.

I bought a tall latte mug specifically for using my milk frother on single drinks like this. It has an 18 oz capacity but I only put like 8-10 ounces of liquid in it before frothing. I’ve also had good results using a regular pint glass, creating foam, and pouring it on top of a larger mouthed mug or bowl. You need a kind of tall sided cylinder situation, and then you sort of pull the frother up the sides. You can get containers intended for this task with pour spouts but just for myself I find an under filled tall mug is fine, and all the beverage goes in at once and gets blended during the initial frothing but then I concentrate the foam on the top.

You can use your frother to make nicely textured matcha, though if you can’t have any caffeine that is best avoided (though in that case maybe also avoid chocolate). Any other kind of powdered flavoring is effectively blended as well; consider freeze dried fruits bashed into powder and frothed into milk or water or a combination, with or without other spices, like raspberry and mint, or blueberry cinnamon.
posted by Mizu at 4:33 PM on December 12, 2022

Make the golden milk in something larger, like a four/six cup measuring cup, and then froth the whole thing. You kind of tip the cup a little and move the frother up and down towards the surface of the liquid. Not out of the liquid, that's messy. You'll get the hang of it. I love my frother and have several. They're also good for emulsifying vinegarettes for salads.
I think Dandy Blend is caffeine free.
I Have been trying a drink that I ordered from Rancho Gordon beans but I haven't gotten it figured out yet. I keep having lumps. It's made from purple corn powder and it looks like you can buy it in Mexican groceries. It's definitely worth trying.
posted by BoscosMom at 4:47 PM on December 12, 2022

I have a 16oz tervis tumbler and it’s easier to work in a taller mug/container for sure rather than your typical mug.
posted by raccoon409 at 5:05 PM on December 12, 2022

I usually make drinks that are only part (oat) milk (herbal chais where I brew the tea separately, coffee with milk), but my technique is: froth in a container with plenty of room (usually a measuring cup) then pour into the mug I'm going to drink from. I like to keep the whisk close to the surface, I feel like I get more foam that way, although I've not really tried keeping it under the surface.

I heat the milk in the microwave.

I love this Golden Chai from Mem Tea.

Oh also: if you have trouble with decaf, be careful about hot chocolate; it can contain as much caffeine as decaf.
posted by mskyle at 5:30 PM on December 12, 2022

Here is a YouTube video of someone using a frother, demo starts at 1:00.
This one is with a real stream frother but goes into temperature, technique and milks.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:12 PM on December 12, 2022

if it's just this kind of little frother, if you're not entirely opposed to dairy my daughter often uses it with a little heavy cream to make a single serve portion of berries and whipped cream when she wants something sweet.
posted by true at 6:36 PM on December 12, 2022

Like mskyle, I usually make drinks that are part oat milk and tea separately (steep the tea part in your mug, and warm/froth the milk in another vessel). As for uncaffeinated drink recommendations, I like making a rooibos latte or a sweet potato latte (I actually just use some canned sweet potato puree for ease with a splash of maple syrup with oat milk and it's basically dessert). For a rich hot chocolate, I heat up chocolate chips and oat milk until melted/combined, and then froth a little oat milk on top instead of whipped cream (here are the proportions I go with).
If decaf teas are okay with you, here's a decaf masala chai (I haven't had any caffeine effects from this one, but ymmv -- they have slightly different instructions to steep the tea in the milk as well). Matcha, masala chai, and London Fog (Earl Grey) are unfortunately caffeinated, but perhaps you can try hojicha which is less caffeinated than matcha.
posted by sincerely yours at 2:35 PM on December 13, 2022