Hot chocolate & Milkshake maker

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As the nights grow colder it would be nice to have a quick and easy mug of hot chocolate or Ovaltine before we go to bed.

Can anybody recommend a milk frother that makes hot chocolate (preferably 2-3 cups in one go), is easy to clean and can ideally make milkshakes as well?

[The Gauge]

I can't recommend a frother, but I can say that I was disappointed with the Hotel Chocolate machine I bought, it only makes a warm drink, not hot, which didn't suit us. You can pre warm the milk first in the microwave or in a pan, but that defeats the purpose of the machine in the first place.

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The Gauge said:

I can't recommend a frother, but I can say that I was disappointed with the Hotel Chocolate machine I bought, it only makes a warm drink, not hot, which didn't suit us. You can pre warm the milk first in the microwave or in a pan, but that defeats the purpose of the machine in the first place.

Is that the velvetiser? Looks really good but the capacity isn’t enough for me.

[loskie]

just use a stick blender. no need for additional gadgets

[Mr.Chips]

New Hotel Chocolat velvetiser does both hot and cold drinks.

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loskie said:

just use a stick blender. no need for additional gadgets

Would need to heat the milk separately. Being a lazy sod I’d prefer something that requires zero effort

[blindspot]

Got a Severin SM3587 from amazon for my wife about 5 years ago. Mother's day present 'from' the boy. She was a bit sniffy about it at first, but has used it almost literally every day since. Has a variety of programmes, decent capacity, tolerably quiet operation.

[The Gauge]

Countdown said:

The Gauge said:

I can't recommend a frother, but I can say that I was disappointed with the Hotel Chocolate machine I bought, it only makes a warm drink, not hot, which didn't suit us. You can pre warm the milk first in the microwave or in a pan, but that defeats the purpose of the machine in the first place.

Is that the velvetiser? Looks really good but the capacity isn t enough for me.

Yes, best avoided. Ours went in the bin after the initial few weeks of being motivated enough to pre heat the milk before putting it in the Velvetiser which should perform that function itself.

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blindspot said:

Got a Severin SM3587 from amazon for my wife about 5 years ago. Mother's day present 'from' the boy. She was a bit sniffy about it at first, but has used it almost literally every day since. Has a variety of programmes, decent capacity, tolerably quiet operation.

Thanks - my googling hadn’t suggested that.

Looks really good but I’m wondering if it’s worth 2x the price of the ProCook model which seems to top a lot of the reviews.

[vladcjelli]

For the best part of a year I’ve had the Dreo Barista.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreo-Automatic-Art-Level-...

We got it a bit cheaper as we got in as a kickstarter.

Bought initially for cappuccino milk frothing, it’s seen more service as a hot chocolate maker after I mistakenly showed my wife it could do it.

Also will do cold frothy stuff so milkshakes work pretty well too.

And all the parts that need to be cleaned can go in the dishwasher.

Might be overkill, but I’m happy with ours.

[The Gauge]

blindspot said:

Got a Severin SM3587 from amazon for my wife about 5 years ago. Mother's day present 'from' the boy. She was a bit sniffy about it at first, but has used it almost literally every day since. Has a variety of programmes, decent capacity, tolerably quiet operation.

vladcjelli said:

For the best part of a year I ve had the Dreo Barista.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreo-Automatic-Art-Level-...
.

Do they work well if you add hot chocolate powder, instead of real chocolate?

What are the minimum milk quantity they accept?


Decent thread on hot chocolate here..
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 25th September 17:23

[Sporky]

I've got a Velvetiser, and liked the temperature. It came out too hot to drink straight away.

I stopped using it because I'd put on two kilos in not very long after starting.

[The Gauge]

Sporky said:

I've got a Velvetiser, and liked the temperature. It came out too hot to drink straight away.

I stopped using it because I'd put on two kilos in not very long after starting.

I wonder f yours is a newer model to the one I had, which only made warm milk.

[Sporky]

I think I bought it a year ago or so.

[blindspot]

The Gauge said:

Do they work well if you add hot chocolate powder, instead of real chocolate?

What are the minimum milk quantity they accept?


Decent thread on hot chocolate here..
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 25th September 17:23

Works perfectly well with Sainsbury’s lo cal hot chocolate powder, Cadbury’s hot chocolate and fancy ‘button’ based high cocoa content stuff. Min volume used - maybe 100ml for boy’s hot chocolate. Max 700ml. No idea if it’s better than the procook version. It is easy to clean, still feels solid.

[vladcjelli]

The Gauge said:

Do they work well if you add hot chocolate powder, instead of real chocolate?

What are the minimum milk quantity they accept?


Decent thread on hot chocolate here..
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 25th September 17:23

That’s all we’ve used, a selection of different ones from cheap supermarket saver type to a big tub of Galaxy from Costco at the minute.

Everyone’s been happy with it so far. Really aerates the drink. Caught me out a few times between measuring it into the machine and pouring it back out, it can really increase in volume.

[craigjm]

The Gauge said:

Sporky said:

I've got a Velvetiser, and liked the temperature. It came out too hot to drink straight away.

I stopped using it because I'd put on two kilos in not very long after starting.

I wonder f yours is a newer model to the one I had, which only made warm milk.

Ive had mine about 18 months and it heats the drink to 70 degrees

[The Gauge]

From a recommendation on the other thread, I have just bought a bag of this to try..




Made my first hot chocolate drink using this last night, tasted disgusting and needed far too much sugar to overcome the bitter taste, and didnt mix well with the milk. However I have just realised I seem to have made it incorrectly by heating the milk first and then adding the powder and sugar. Seems I need to mix everything together first, then heat up..

Edited by The Gauge on Sunday 28th September 16:39

[Sporky]

I bought chocolate flakes from Guppy's chocolate in York - better priced than the Hotel Chocolat, and I preferred the flavours.

[Countdown]

Just in case anybody's interested - I ordered the Procook Milk Frother and Hot Chocolate Makerhttps:... - £59.99 + £4 delivery and it arrived yesterday.

Well packaged and more or less ready to go out of the box. idiot proof to use (pour in milk, pour in flavouring, press button)

I made a cup of hot chocolate for myself and a mug of Ovaltine for Mrs C. They were ....nice. To be honest neither was as hot as I was expecting, I like it hot and this was just warm However the taste/flavour/consistency were fine. There we no lumpy bits or hot chocolate stuck to the bottom of the mugs. I have yet to try the frothy milk.

TL:DR - it's alright.