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7 Ways to Froth Oat Milk (Without a Frother)

7 Ways to Froth Oat Milk (Without a Frother)

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Do you want to save some money and enjoy a delicious cup of latte at home? Well, preparing a shot of espresso is easy. I personally love using moka pots, as they’re cheap and easy to use.

The problem is, I want my coffee to have a foamy froth, just like the one I buy from the café. Unfortunately, milk frothers are on the expensive side. Additionally, it doesn’t feel like a good investment since I won’t be using it that much.

Luckily, there are different ways you can froth oat milk at home. The best part is that all of the tools you’ll need are probably lying around your kitchen! So, let your coffee brew, and keep on reading to learn how to make foamy coffee without breaking the bank!

What Makes Milk Froth?

Frothing milk isn’t always as simple as creating bubbles. There’s a reason why those bubbles turn into foam, and it’s not just about introducing air into milk.

When you force hot water vapor into the milk, the proteins create spheres around the air and turn into stable bubbles that don’t pop. Not only that, but fats also play an important role in stabilizing these bubbles. The fat content prevents air bubbles from coming together, creating a large air pocket that can easily break. 

As a result, frothing regular cow’s milk is easier than oat milk. This is because of the fats and proteins in cow’s milk. 

That means you can tell how good the froth will be from the amount of protein it contains. The more protein and fat, the better the foam will be. 

The following table includes different types of milk and the average protein content per eight ounces:

Milk TypeProtein Content
Dairy Whole Milk8g
Dairy Skimmed Milk8g
Oat Milk3g
Soy Milk7g
Almond Milk2g
Coconut Milk0g

What Makes Oat Milk Froth?

Oat Milk Froth

As you can tell, oat milk is harder to froth than cow’s milk because of the different protein content. The base ingredients of oat milk are simply oats and water, which don’t have a lot of proteins.

Fun fact: To make oat milk, the oats are soaked in water. Depending on the recipe, the amount of time the oats are soaked in the milk could vary.

This doesn’t mean you can’t froth oat milk. You can still create a lovely foam with almost any oat milk brand. Of course, some brands foam better than others. You can even find certain oat milk brands that claim the froth will be as good as if you’re using cow’s milk. 

You can find these barista versions of oat milk in almost any store. They’re specifically formulated to froth well. So, they’re a lot easier to work with, compared to regular oat milk.

Still, you do not have to buy a special kind of oat milk to enjoy a cup of mocha. Regular oat milk should work just fine when you are trying to froth it.

How to Froth Oat Milk Without a Frother

After learning what makes milk froth, it’s time to start making some silky bubbles! Here are seven different methods to froth your milk without a frother:

1 – Froth Oat Milk in a Jar

This is a very simple method of frothing oat milk and only uses a jar, which most people already have in their homes. The first thing to do is to make sure your jar is the right size to get the best results.

While any size jar will get the job done, the jar should have enough room for the milk to mix with the air. The general rule of thumb is to keep about half to two-thirds of the jar empty. 

To froth your milk, start by pouring as much oat milk as you need into the jar, without surpassing the halfway point. Then, all you need to do to create foam is shake the jar. 

It could take you a few minutes to get the amount of froth that you want, but the timing will depend on how much milk you have.

Make sure that you aren’t trying to froth too much oat milk at a time. You have to shake the jar by hand, so you’ll want to make sure that the amount of oat milk in the jar is light enough that you can shake it for an extended period.

Once you have a nice layer of froth, pour it from the jar and into a microwave-safe bowl to heat it. But don’t heat it too much, as this can be the end of your lovely foam.

2 – Froth Oat Milk in a Blender

Milk In A Blender

To froth oat milk in a blender, all you have to do is pour oat milk inside and set it on high speed.

You need to make sure you’re leaving enough room in the blender for the oat milk to build foam, but this shouldn’t be a problem as blenders have a high capacity level.

However, it will take less time to froth a smaller amount of foam, so you shouldn’t try to blend more than two drinks’ worth of oat milk in a blender at a time. This will ensure you have an even amount of foam in each drink if you’re making several.

After you’ve blended the oat milk enough that it builds up a good amount of foam, you can pour it into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it.

3 – Froth Oat Milk in a Food Processor

Frothing oat milk in a food processor is almost the same as using a blender to froth oat milk. However, it might actually be easier to use a food processor because they are generally wider than blenders and would be able to introduce more air.

Other than that, they use the same method. So, pour in as much oat milk as you need and blend it at high speed.

Remember that when you pour the oat milk, you need to pay attention to the maximum capacity of the food processor. That’s because the oat milk and foam will not exceed the maximum amount.

Once you are done blending and have created as much foam as you want, you can pour the oat milk into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it.

4 – Froth Oat Milk with an Electric Mixer

Hand Mixer

This method can either be with a hand electric mixer or with a stand mixer. If you have whisk attachments, they will make the milk froth faster, so you should attach those to your hand mixer or your stand mixer.

Pour the oat milk into a large bowl. Try to use a microwave safe bowl to make it easier to heat later, if you have one that is suitable to mix it in.

Then, mix it on a high speed until you see enough foam forming.

After you have all the foam that you want, you can heat up the frothed oat milk.

If the bowl you used to froth it in is microwave safe, you can just leave it in that while you heat it up. If not, simply transfer it to a microwave safe bowl before heating.

5 – Froth Oat Milk with a Whisk

Frothing Milk By Hand

Mixing oat milk with a whisk is similar in idea to what you would do with a hand or stand mixer. Doing it by hand might be a hassle, as it takes a lot longer, but the effect will be the same.

So, start by whisking the oat milk until you see that enough foam has formed. Since you are doing this by hand, it will likely take a few minutes, and you will have to be patient. 

I like putting my moka pot on the stove while I prepare the froth to save some time.

After a couple of minutes, you’ll see bubbles forming, and soon after, there should be foam built up. Once you have enough foam, you can stop whisking the oat milk.

If you have it in a microwave-safe bowl already, you are ready to heat it. If you do not, all you have to do is transfer it to a microwave-safe bowl before heating it.

6 – Froth Oat Milk with a Hand Immersion Blender

Using a hand immersion blender to froth oat milk is possible, but it can be a bit messy. So, this should be your last resort. If you can use a different method, you should try that before using a hand mixer, as it will likely be easier.

However, using a hand immersion blender to froth oat milk isn’t that bad. All you have to do is make sure that you use a tall enough bowl so that the milk does not spill out easily.

If your bowl checks out, pour your oat milk into it. Then, use the hand immersion blender to create a smooth froth.

Pro tip: Be careful not to lift the hand immersion blender too far out of the oat milk, or it will spray oat milk out of the bowl. Trust me, it’ll be a mess! Once you have enough foam built up, you can heat the milk.

7- Froth Oat Milk with a French Press

If you’re a coffee enthusiast, you probably have a French press. If not, it might be a better investment than a frother. Take my word for it!

Not only will it brew you some flavorful coffee, but you can also use it to froth your milk. What a deal! Here’s how to do so:

  1. Start by heating your milk in the microwave for around 30 to 45 seconds.
  2. Then, pour the milk into your French press and attach the lid. 
  3. After that, rapidly raise and plunge the filter to force the air into the milk. Do a big plunge, and follow it with small, quick ones.
  4. Keep frothing your milk for around 15 seconds or until you have a big, thick layer of foam.
  5. Finally, remove the lid and pour your oat milk into your drink of choice. 

How to Use Frothed Oat Milk

Frothed oat milk is great for a lot of different hot drinks. When you add espresso, you can make drinks such as lattes, cappuccinos, or macchiatos.

You can also add it to coffee to make a café au lait. 

There are some tea-based drinks that you can add frothed oat milk to as well. Making a chai tea latte or a matcha green tea latte is easy to do when you have frothed oat milk.

Final Thoughts

So, how to froth oat milk without a frother?

The quickest way to do so is by using a jar. All you need to do is fill it up to the halfway mark and start shaking!

Since we want to incorporate air into the milk, you can also use your blender, food processor, mixer, or even a whisk. For me, I prefer using my French press. It gives me a dense layer of stable foam in no time.

Happy sipping!

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