If Frothy Fun is What You Fancy - Fiddle With This! (Aerolatte Milk Frother)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Aerolatte Milk Frother
Date:	10/06/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It froths, my friend

Disadvantages: It might froth all over your worktop.

I bought this little gadget from John Lewis for £14.99 (the hot offer above does not seem quite so hot). I had been eyeing it up for a while because I like to drink soya hot chocolate and had enjoyed Costa's. I thought it would be a handy gizmo to try and create Costa at home.

The look and feel of it
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The aerolatte has a pleasing satin chrome body with a metal circular whisk on the end of a long stainless steel prong attached to it. It is easy to hold, weighing about the same as a small jar of spices (I know this because I've just done a very important consumer test). It has two batteries (supplied)which slot in through a black slide on the base of the machine and a black control button on the top. It comes with a leaflet ( in four languages) containing:

*Three steps to perfect frothed milk

*Recipes

*Notes


Using the whisk
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Press a button on the aerolatte and the whisk revolves very fast and makes a whizzing noise. Plunge this into either hot or cold milk and the milk froths at an impressive rate, making a thick froth of a drink. It is important to note that I have only used this to froth soya milk but the instructions tell you that it can also be used with full fat, semi skimmed, skimmed, UHT, goats, sheeps and powdered milk.

A very important note on the instructions tells you that the milk will only froth at either fridge cold or 60 degrees. It must not be boiled as boiling destroys the ability to froth. The leaflet tells you that a small (cup) of milk heated for just under a minute in a microwave will get you to the approx temperature. You are advised to experiment.

The experiments
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I must admit, my kitchen looked a bit of a mess after the first experiments and these are my findings.

*60 degrees is not really very hot

*Whisking milk (or hot chocolate) in a cup is a disaster. Milk quickly triples in size and sloshes out of the cup in a spectacular fashion

*You can end up with a deep cup of froth (lukewarm) which was not the desired outcome (you wanted froth you jolly well got it).

Tips
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*Make a cup of hot chocolate first and then separately use a bit of it to froth up and then put it on the top.

*Froth up the milk in container bigger than a cup.

Cleaning
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I have just inspected my aerolatte and the prong is not that clean; I think this is because when cleaning it you have to be careful about not putting the bit with the battery in the water. It would be better if the whisk could be detatched just like a hand blender because it would ensure that the whisk and prong were pristine.

Conclusion
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I think this is quite pricey - this is why I did not buy it when I first saw it - but I could not find anything remotely like it anywhere else - so I bit the bullet in the end. I consider it a novelty gadget; lovely to use when I am in a procrastinating mood or fancy treating myself or my daughter to a Costa at home. If you spend a little time experimenting, as they tell you to, you can produce a frothy delight. You can even grate a little dark chocolate on it for that classy cafe look.

After all this, there's only one thing I'm off to do (aerolatte in hand). Now, where's that soya milk and where's my most bucket-like container?

Summary: Something to play with.