The Best Answer:
The French Press is not just a fantastic coffee brewer; it’s also a great tool to froth milk and an inexpensive one at that. All you need is to grab some milk and follow a few simple steps!
If you’re like me and love to drink coffee and enjoy a little milk from time to time, then this post will be helpful for you. You can take your coffee drinking experience up a notch by learning how to steam the perfect amount of milk every single time.
The French press is an incredibly versatile way to make delicious coffee drinks at home without going out or spending a lot of money. I’ll walk through the steps on how to properly froth milk with a French press so that your morning cup o’ joe becomes even better!
What Is a French Press?
The French Press is a coffee brewing device that allows the user to submerge ground beans and water for an extended period. This creates a robust, rich flavor – unlike drip coffee makers, which cause much weaker results due to their filtration process.
The French Press has three parts: a carafe, wire mesh plunger, and lid. The carafe is where the coffee or tea leaves are soaked in hot water for an extended time to extract all of their flavors into the liquid. Next, you press down on the plunger, which strains out any remaining particles from your drink so that it’s nice and smooth!
Why is the French Press so popular?
Many coffee lovers prefer using a French Press because of several reasons. Some of these are the following:
– French Presses create a more velvety texture in coffee, which allows for better-tasting coffee because it removes the oils that usually come with drip-brewed coffee.
– Because they don’t require paper filters, there is no waste and less mess when using one. This also makes cleaning easy!
– You can make a cup or multiple cups in a single brewing session by adding additional water to your press after you’ve finished making your first cup(s). The best part about this? It’s free refills!!!
– French Presses are very easy to use. You add your coffee grounds, pour in the desired amount of water, and let it sit for a few minutes before pressing down the plunger!
– Because they usually come with stainless steel mesh filters instead of paper ones, you don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals seeping into your drink from standard paper filters.
Get this free cheat sheet to step up your coffee game and learn about the different grind sizes!
How to Froth Milk With The French Press
The most important feature a French Press has that allows you to froth milk is the plunger with the mesh filter. The mesh filter separates the grounds from your coffee, and it also will work to separate the fat in milk. This results in a creamy, thick foam on the top of your coffee. The steps to do this are pretty simple:
- First, you need to heat the milk to a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Next, preheat your French Press with some hot water so that the milk doesn’t lose its nice and hot temperature when you pour it in.
- Then, pour the hot water out and add the warm milk to the French Press.
- Place the plunger on top and put pressure on it slowly while careful that no bubbles form around it. This is done by pressing very gently against the plunge mechanism for about 15 seconds.
- Make sure not to go too fast; follow a steady rhythm of up and down
- Once done, remove the plunger and pour your milk into a preheated milk pitcher. By doing this, you help texturize the milk better through the pouring process.
- Finally, knock and swirl the pitcher on your counter to remove any excess bubbles and serve the milk immediately on top of your coffee drink.
Pro Tip
If you feel like you have created more foam than you would like in your drink, grab a spoon and remove as much foam as you want.
What Type of Milk can I Froth With The French Press?
The best type of milk to froth using the French Press is whole milk because it has the best fat content to create a lot of foam. This type of milk can be used if you are looking for an alternative frothing method other than the steam wand on your espresso machine or stovetop steamer.
That being said, nothing is stopping you from using any other type of milk, like skimmed, half & half, or non-dairy options. However, what might happen is that you won’t get as much froth from milk that has a lower fat content. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not possible – it just requires a little more patience and elbow grease!
However, I want to state that you should be more careful when heating non-dairy milk before you froth it. It has a different consistency and a tendency to heat up much faster than any dairy milk. So, I would suggest using a thermometer to control it!
Different uses of French Press frothed milk.
So now that you know how to froth milk with the french press, it’s time to find out what you could do with this frothed milk!
For starters, it pairs great with a shot of espresso and a nice hot cup of coffee and is one of the most popular milk for cappuccinos. It can also be used to make hot chocolate or latte recipes! If you love your morning mochas, then having some frothed milk on hand would be great too!
Aside from drinks, frothed milk can be used in food recipes, for example, in desserts. Our favorite recipes that use frothed milk include a chocolate mousse, vanilla ice cream, and a strawberry soufflé.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a French press be used to froth milk?
Absolutely! With the proper technique, you can make some fantastic frothed milk with your French press.
It all starts with putting cold or room-temperature fresh milk in the bottom of the carafe and then heating it on a stovetop burner until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges (this will take about five minutes).
Then remove it from heat and give it one quick stir before pouring into mugs. For best results, use whole cow’s milk that is at least three days old;
Is a milk frother the same as a French press?
Milk frothers and French-presses may seem like the same thing, but they’re very different. They have similar parts, but the milk frother can only be used to froth milk while the French Press can also brew coffee.
What makes them super different is their mesh filter. A milk frother’s mesh filter is larger than the French press, making it harder to control the amount of foam. In addition, milk frothers typically have a plunger on the top of them, which has to be pushed down so that the milk can pass through.
Milk Frother mesh filters are also made of plastic instead of stainless steel, like in French presses. However, a French press’ filter is smaller than both types and takes up most of its interior space, making it harder for ground coffee particles or float away into your cup while brewing.
The plunger used with these two types varies as well; some have knobs attached at their end where you twist them after pushing down (like shown below); others use rubber gaskets around their rim. This makes it easier to clean since everything inside will come out when you twist the lid, but it won’t last as long.
In the end, both have their pros and cons, but a milk frother is used mainly to create foam from hot or cold milk, while French presses are meant for making coffee more concentrated by using fewer ground beans.
Can I use the French press to froth cold milk?
Yes, you can use a French press to froth cold milk. The difference between frothing cold milk instead of hot milk with the French Press is that it won’t go as frothy because cold milk has less air in it than hot milk. However, you can still get decent froth with cold milk and the French Press.
Can I make latte art with the French press?
It is not as easy to create latte art with the french press because it is not as precise with the temperature. Therefore, if you are starting, it’s best to use a machine that has an adjustable heat feature so that you can find the right temperature for your milk or cream.
The French press may still be able to create latte art if done correctly, though. First off, make sure your crema is thick and smooth before adding any foam on top of it (the crema should look like soap bubbles). Next, you want to pour in one circular motion until there’s about two cm left at the bottom/top layer of coffee – this will help ensure less mess!
Then let some air into the vessel by shaking gently around its circumference, allowing more room for expansion after pouring the milk in. Finally, try forming your latte art design. It might not look great at first, but as with everything, practice makes perfect!
Last Thoughts
So, now you know how to froth milk with a French press. You can do it in less than 5 minutes and without the use of electricity or an expensive machine! Have fun making your perfect cup of coffee at home.
Related Articles
- 7 Ways To Reduce Sediment In Your French Press Coffee
- Can You Use Coffee Creamer Instead of Milk? Let’s Find Out!
- Frothed vs Steamed Milk: What’s the Difference?
Evelina
Evelina’s passion for coffee could never been hidden. Having worked as a barista, she learned the true value of the coffee bean and its secrets. As she continued to evolve as a barista, so did her knowledge, techniques on making different coffee blends and most importantly how to operate every kind of gear when it comes to coffee. Having a degree in biomedicine and being a barista, allows her to provide our community with in-depth knowledge surrounding the topics of coffee.
Get this free cheat sheet to step up your coffee game and learn about the different grind sizes!