Standalone milk frother/steamer - Page 2

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
mwynne (original poster)
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#11: Post by mwynne (original poster) »

Good to know - my wife's lactose intolerant, so that's usually what we have on hand.

The Bellman certainly is appealing, if a little more intimidating.
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jgood
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#12: Post by jgood »

The Bellman works well. The caveat is that it must be warmed up for, say 20 minutes before you steam. I try to time it so that I am pulling the shots at about the time I hear a gentle hiss of the overpressure valve venting. I think it could easily be added to the routine of the Robot. There are very few alternatives for a real stand alone steamer -- the frother type machines like the Nespresso "aero - something" are similar in price the Bellman, very convenient, don't require a stove, but do not produce real steamed milk. However, they might serve your occasional needs. It depends on how fussy you are about your steamed milk! For me I'll take the hassle of the Bellman. BTW if you get the Bellman make sure you screw on the top tightly before you steam -- if not it can rocket ship off the stove! Otherwise it's quite safe.

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DaveB
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#13: Post by DaveB »

jgood wrote:The Bellman works well. The caveat is that it must be warmed up for, say 20 minutes before you steam.
As a friendly reminder, in the thread I linked above, I related how I was able to get up to temp in 5 minutes flat with 1 inch of pre-boiled water, and it took only a couple minutes more to get the same amount of cold water up to temp.
Von meinem iPhone gesendet

Urupackers
Posts: 86
Joined: 4 years ago

#14: Post by Urupackers »

I'm using a French press with results similar to the good machines, you need to have a proper technique to froth the milk, but in 3/4 times you can acquire the technique, I use a 350 ml. cheap french press and it take 90 seconds to warm the milk in the microwave and 45/60 seconds to froth the milk to pour.

Bluenoser
Posts: 1433
Joined: 6 years ago

#15: Post by Bluenoser »

CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:Kids say almond milk didn't foam.
Most of the alternative milks don't have enough proteins to create micro-foam, so there are "Barista" versions of most of the alternatives that will foam pretty well.. I've tried most of them and they will work.. However, nothing works exactly as nice as whole milk.

https://www.califiafarms.com/products/ ... blend-32oz

Bluenoser
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#16: Post by Bluenoser »

DaveB wrote:As a friendly reminder, in the thread I linked above, I related how I was able to get up to temp in 5 minutes flat with 1 inch of pre-boiled water, and it took only a couple minutes more to get the same amount of cold water up to temp.
Yes.. we've just played around with a Bellman and it can be fast (5-10 min). We found that cracking the steam wand until steam came out, waiting about 30 seconds and then closing the steam wand got rid of trapped air. Then wait until the relief valve goes off steady and you are ready to steam. You can easily do 2 6 oz portions on 1" of water. It gives a finer micro-foam than I was able to get with the French press method or the frothing spinning wand.

Santi
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Joined: 5 years ago

#17: Post by Santi »

jgood wrote:BTW if you get the Bellman make sure you screw on the top tightly before you steam -- if not it can rocket ship off the stove! Otherwise it's quite safe.
Haha, I did that once. Mildly surprising. :roll:

My first espresso experience was a Rok and I bought the Breville Milk Cafe. Tried it once and sent it back because it doesn't make proper frothed milk. That was my lack of knowledge. Went to the Bellman which worked, but for the reasons stated above was not much fun to use.

My advice if you plan to keep this setup long term would be to watch the used market for a small espresso machine for frothing. But if you see yourself upgrading or adding an electric espresso machine to your counter down the road to go for the Bellman! It'll do the job.

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MB
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#18: Post by MB »

Steamed the milk for these cappuccinos at work with a cheap "steam" espresso machine (used for the steaming only). $45 Amazn.

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yakster
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#19: Post by yakster »

jgood wrote:...the frother type machines like the Nespresso "aero - something" are similar in price the Bellman, very convenient, don't require a stove, but do not produce real steamed milk. However, they might serve your occasional needs.
I picked up one of those Nespresso Aero - somethings at a thrift store. It doesn't make textured milk that you could use to pour latte art but my Wife and daughter use it to froth and warm milk and/or creamer for their coffee. I bought my other daughter a similar Miroco milk frother and by all reports she likes it. Since I don't generally put milk in my coffee for me it's a non-issue.
-Chris

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mwynne (original poster)
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#20: Post by mwynne (original poster) »

Anyone used something like the Bialetti Tuttocrema? (https://www.bialetti.co.nz/products/bia ... -aluminium)

It's appealing to be able to heat + froth in one unit (and I'm not totally sold on the Bellman yet).
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