We already own a Nespresso Aeroccino Plus with which we are very happy but its drawback is that one can really only make small batches. Whenever we have larger gatherings of more than 4 people at our house, the Capuccino and Latte Macchiato making becomes a very time-consuming, drawn-out affair, so the Breville Milk Frother looked good for serving bigger groups faster. Here are our comments with comparisons to the Aeroccino where appropriate but in no particular order:PROs:
Large capacity. The jug can hold up to 25 fl. oz, even though it is recommended to not exceed 16 fl. oz when making froth. Still a lot more than what the Aeroccino holds.
Great, hot froth. I use my frothers mainly for... well, frothing milk and am very happy with the quality of the Breville froth. It comes out thick, solid and hot with enough milk underneath to make nice Cappuccinos or Latte Macchiatos.
Dishwasher-safe. According to the manual, all parts except the power base are top-level dishwasher-safe. However, the fine-print says that hand-washing will extend the life of the frother. I am listing this under Pros anyway because the possibility to at least every once in a while throw it in the dishwasher is a definite plus for me. The Aeroccino can be submerged in water but is not dishwasher-safe.
Easy to clean. Even when hand-washing, I feel that the larger size and lighter weight of the Breville jug makes it easier to clean than the Aeroccino which has a smaller opening and is in one piece, i.e. the power unit is part of it, making it a bit heavy.
The large capacity also allows for making all kinds of different milk-based drinks such as Cappuccinos and Lattes, Iced Coffees and Hot Chocolates with different added ingredients such as syrups (the Breville user manual contains a few recipes for various concoctions). The Aeroccino is limited to frothing and heating/preparing milk. That's it.
Different temperature settings. I am listing this under Pros because it is obviously not a Con. In the almost two years that we have had our Aeroccino, we never felt the need for different settings but we don't fix other drinks in the frother so it's there, it works, and people should decide for themselves whether this is something they would use.
On-board storage of the disc not in use helps with not accidentally losing them. The Aeroccino offers the same but stores the disc on the inside of the lid whereas the Breville frother keeps them on the outside of the power unit.
One last thing: I love the way the wall plug is designed! It makes removing the plug from the outlet a snap by having a sturdy rubber 'loop' integrated into the plug. Just hook a finger or two into the loop and out it comes. Why don't all appliances have that?! Well done, Breville!
CONs (minor but want to mention anyway for the sake of being comprehensive):
Frothing discs are made of plastic. The Aeroccino's frothing disc is mainly metal (with some plastic), the cold-milk blade is only plastic as well.
Takes a long time to froth. Even with the minimum amount of milk in the jug, it takes a good 2 minutes to get the milk frothed. The Aeroccino is faster at 1 min. 20 sec. But it probably is about the same amount of time, considering that the Breville uses more milk even at the minimum level.
Noisy. This unit is a lot noisier during operation than the Aeroccino, and it sounds as if it is operating slightly unevenly even though the end product leaves nothing to be desired.
Plain stainless interior, and not non-stick. So far I have not had trouble with baked-on milk residue but wanted to mention this in case some people really prefer a non-stick surface.
SUMMARY:
A great frother for larger quantities and for people who enjoy making other drinks as well. However, the Breville is probably a bit of an overkill if only used in a small household for nothing but the occasional Cappuccino. That said, this is my party frother, and as such it serves the purpose well and definitely better than the way smaller Aeroccino. Cleanup is also easy and refurbished it comes at a substantially more attractive price than the new unit so what is not to like?
UPDATE 8/9/12:
The frothing quality has diminished considerably, this was a short-lived love affair. Not only does the Breville now leave most of the milk un-frothed, the little bit of froth it does produce is a far cry from good quality, it is more of a foam cream than real froth. To reflect this decline I took one star off and revised my title accordingly. In contrast, our little Aeroccino still performs like new, and has for almost two years now.
Lets start on the top and work our way down shall we?
There are two parts to the lid, the main part, and a part that comes out that is a measuring cup for precise measuring.
Next is the size of the frothing pot, compared to most (my other frother is the Capresso frothPro, 12 ounces) it is fairly large (16-25 ounces), and it heats up and froths quicker than most other frothers I've used.
I Love, Love, LOVE the fact that it is steel in the interior & not teflon!! My Capesso is teflon & while it is easy to rinse & reuse I always worried that as it aged the teflon would start to flake off (like in the pots & pans) & end up in me!!
With this Breville frother I have no such worrisome thoughts! ;-) and it also cleans with a just a swish of warm water & at times when I have used chocolate & other ingredients for drinks, when cleaning it I add a drop of dish soap to the water & let run a few seconds then rinse to assure that it is sparkling clean & no flavors linger for the next drink!
Now as for the bottom section, there are three things on here that that I especially like.
First is the knob on the front, it feels very smooth and gives you great control on the temperature and ratio of froth to milk.
Second is on the back of it, it has a little spot that you can put the frothing disc (there are two, one for lattes & the other for cappuccinos) that you are not using on the back and it holds it there magnetically!
Finally there is the base, it has an indentation inside the bottom of it so you can easily and neatly coil all of the excess cord in the base out of sight leaving your counter looking neat.
Well, that about covers it, other than saying that I think it looks really nice and Is well built as you would expect from Breville!
Buy Breville XXBMF600XL Refurbished Milk Cafe Milk Frother Now
I've had this frother for a few days and around 15 uses now. I always wanted a frother but I am not a fan of anything I have to clean before or after use. Dishwasher safe sounded good though! Mine arrived without the plastic top so I knocked a star off as this is Breville's fault (it was a refurb). I was actually packing it up to return but I decided to give it a shot and I'm glad I did. The top isn't necessary unless you plan to fill the milk to a very high level like 18 oz-ish. The milk was not even close to overflowing.I've used it twice so far. My thoughts (AND I USED 2% MILK just in case that matters to anyone reading this):
Simple operation: pour in milk, turn to desired temperature and push button. The machine displays an optimum temperature range in case you're not sure which temp to select. It takes around two minutes for the milk to finish. I added organic powdered cacao and organic grade B maple syrup (I try to avoid processed foods like other sugars) before pressing the on button. The blending process is moderately noisy but far from an annoyance to me. It's just background noise in my opinion. I made a mocha and it was chocolaty, silky, and frothy; absolutely delicious! I used my Nespresso automatic espresso machine as there is nothing you have to clean on that machine (2 shots of Appregio).
In my second use I made a latte: the temperature was perfect, the milk was silky and frothy, and the latte was delicious. I've noticed a few people mention that the milk was too cool which may mean they have a defective machine. I didn't go close to the highest temp and the milk was too hot for me to stick my finger in or drink.
I know this sounds silly but I clean it by rinsing it, and then filling it with boiling water from a tea kettle; then I let it sit for a few minutes before dumping it. Works perfectly for me.
***I have two issues with this machine:
1. I have to use a lot of milk to get to the recommended min fill level (I think it's 6 ounces because the min is directly under the 8 oz mark). It's probably just an ordinary amount of milk for a small latte or cappuccino, but I typically like to be very light with the milk.
2. My latte frothing disc works 100% of the time. My cappuccino frothing disc has worked only 1 out of 3 times; and that includes me poking and fiddling with it during operation to get it to work. I don't drink cappuccino's and do not prefer foam so I won't be using the cappuccino attachment but it would be nice if it worked. I will fiddle with it a little more and see if it is something I'm doing wrong. I'll update this review if I figure it out.
Overall I'm pleased. My rating would be 3.5 but I rounded to 4 stars because I'm loving my hot and delicious mocha's.
Read Best Reviews of Breville XXBMF600XL Refurbished Milk Cafe Milk Frother Here
read some reviews that had me worried but makes great foam. never could use the 'wand' style, just shot hot milk all over kitchen.easy to use & clean. use an old fashioned "moka pot" to make coffee. delicious !
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I think this is the best milk frother available. I especially like that the pot is dishwasher safe. It's also a much higher capacity unit than anything else I've seen. We had a Nepresso Aerochino previously. It cost a little bit less but only lasted a 18 month, just long enough after the warrantee expired that Nepresso blew me off. So I'm hopeuful that this model will be more useful and more durable.
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