Confused about Milk-Frothing Devices - $2.99 or $150?

GordonR on 25/11/2020 - 22:53

Daughter wants milk-frothing device for milky coffees…

I only drink coffee black, so have literally zero experience on this.

Turned to OzBargain forums to get some real-world advice on this…. only to end up more confused.

Among lots of discussion about beans, pods, grinders, machines etc there were several contradictory messages about frothing.

“Buy the $2.99 IKEA frother”
“Get the $65 Lavazza Easy Frother”
“Get the $150 Breville Frother”

What do these things really do that explains such a price range?

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • jjjaar on 25/11/2020 - 23:04
    +4

    IKEA. I have one and it’s great.

    Better than anything I’ve ever used that’s been attached to a coffee machine.

  • spackbace on 25/11/2020 - 23:05

    How old is daughter?

  • Switchblade88 on 25/11/2020 - 23:07
    +5

    Your baseline/yardstick, nationally-available milk frother is the ALDI Expressi on for $30 that's a regular line item.

    It works with a little spinner in the bottom of the jug to churn the milk, whilst the element heats it up. Once it reaches temp it cuts off. The Kmart one is almost identical, but worse overall.

    As a bakery/cafe employee I'm very experienced in steaming milk on a commercial machine; however at home I use this instead of the steam nozzle simply due to convenience and ease of cleaning - just needs a wipe out. Zero complaints about the milk and froth; it works exactly as described.

  • John Kimble on 25/11/2020 - 23:07

    Like most products there are different brands and models that basically do the same thing? Just read up on reviews I suppose?

    I would start with the $2.99 and work upwards if necessary?

    The Ikea one doesn't heat the milk, the rest do. But it's cheap and runs off batteries.

    We have one similar to the Ikea one and had the aeroccino 3 (which died) and now have this Aldi one.

    https://www.aldi.com.au/en/groceries/pantry/coffee/coffee-de…

    Only complaint is it froths up the milk almost too much…

    And you should clean it between each use and also be careful cleaning it or you will wear away the non stick coating (but that's the same with all of them I believe).

    • netjock on 25/11/2020 - 23:33

      Agreed. $2.99 - $30 is good enough. People paying $150 is just looking for news worthy conversation topic.

  • adam on 26/11/2020 - 00:04
    +1

    I have the Aerocinno 3, I have the Breville Frother, and I have the Aldi frother ($2.99 one). I use the Aldi one and the others sit in the cupboard.

    • 87percent on 26/11/2020 - 14:42

      im currently in a dispute with the Aerocino people about the QC of their products. I purchased one about 6 months ago, and the thing has been replaced twice. They're so badly made BUT when they work, they're MUCH better than the Ikea one

      HOWEVER, next time i would likely just buy an Ikea frother and save me all the hassles

      • apsilon on 26/11/2020 - 15:04

        Interesting, we had one at work that was used by 2 departments day in, day out for must be about 10 years so you can imagine the amount of use it's had and is still going strong, never missed a beat. I've had one at home now since April and is used daily and so far is fine. What happened to yours?

        • 87percent on 26/11/2020 - 16:39

          motor died on them.. BUT they are sending me a new upgraded model

  • MilkDrinker on 26/11/2020 - 00:28

    I went all out on the Breville Frother, works well, makes frothy hot milk, if you didnt NEED your milk HOT you can probably get a cheaper one. Its also a big boy, and can do multiple cups of milk.

  • AustriaBargain on 26/11/2020 - 02:08
    +1

    Suppose you could microwave the milk for 30 seconds before using the $3 one.

    • apsilon on 26/11/2020 - 06:41

      When I started working from home that's what I did. Never used to drink coffee at home because I wasn't at home much. Now I rarely leave. I got sick of microwaving and timing it all pretty quick and bought the aerochino.

  • elgrande on 26/11/2020 - 07:02

    The standard measurement for comparing milk frothing devices is microbubbles per dollar or MPD.

    You need to aim for atleast 3300MPD or you will notice a distinctively weak froth.

  • try2bhelpful on 26/11/2020 - 09:54

    Arghh. What is this affiliated link rubbish. I’ve never sold anything on this site. Then I lose what I’ve posted.

    This is the best manual frother I’ve found. You can use it to warm the milk on the stove. I usually do mine in the microwave. Don’t let the milk scald

    https://www.myer.com.au/p/bialetti-bialetti-tuttocrema-milk-…

    I also have the Breville one. It is great because it is all automatic. Wait until it is on special before buying.

    The secret is to tap the milk container and swirl it to integrate milk and froth.

    • Hybroid on 26/11/2020 - 16:43

      Arghh. What is this affiliated link rubbish.

      This is what your link looks like: https://i.imgur.com/hHTX4lb.png - which is a Google redirect referral link.

      This is what it needs to look like: https://www.myer.com.au/p/bialetti-bialetti-tuttocrema-milk-…

      • try2bhelpful on 26/11/2020 - 18:41

        Thanks for the info. I just tried to use a random eBay one, which go bounced. The problem is I wrote more stuff and just lost all of it. It would more helpful to just disable the link so I can try a different one, that way I don’t lose my comments.

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