While the convenience of standard milk frothers is taking the market by storm, there are a few individuals who will treasure the purity of a milk steamer and finding the right style for you coffees is important.

There are ideally, just two designs that most individuals will want to look at.  The first being the stovetop frother.  This device allows you to heat up water in a canister device.  Once the water is boiling and steam is being created, you can steam your milk into a creamy froth.  Although these are relatively inexpensive, they do come with a few disadvantages such as only bing able to produce froth for one or two cappuccinos.

If you are going to be entertaining on a much larger scale, then an automatic milk steamer is probably a much better bet, being able to produce around 20 cups worth of foam in one sitting.  With an internal thermastat, they can be left on for longer durations allowing for seconds and they are almost always very easy to operate and clean.

Steamers that allow for heating of milk as well as foaming will broaden your spectrum of coffees allowing you to make lattes and other hot milk drinks such as hot chocolate.

Many of the stovetop frothers are manual pumping frothers that you can take from the stovetop to the table without having to decant the hot milk.

There are a few designs on the market ranging from the Standard stovetop pump design to stovetop steam frothers.

Stovetop Pump Frothers are ideal for producing those perfect cappuccinos. The manual frother transforms hot milk into a luxuriously thick creamy foam to top your coffee or espresso. They are ideal for heating up your milk for lattes and if they are made from stainless steel which is often the case, then you can take them directly to the table. Although these are primarily used for hot milk, they function just as well for producing cold milk froth and can also be used for whipping up milk shakes and beating eeg whites to a foam.   Cuisinox produce an excellent version that is dishwater proof and has a 27 ounce capacity.

Stovetop Steam Frothers are also most often made from stainless steel and work on pressurized hot water creating steam which can then be used to produce froth.  For an authentic froth taste and texture, you cannot beat the steam frothers.  This device is very easy to work.  Just fill it up with water and heat it on the stove.  Bellman produce this model which is based on a 1960 design.  It is ideal for both gas and electric stovetops.

Black Enamel Stovetop Steam Frother.  If you are looking for something a little different, there are some more austhetically pleasing options available online.  This particular design has a convenient trigger handle for one hand operation and has a very large 32 ounce water capacity.  This design is imported from Italy and is made from Aluminum.  It is distribued through 1st Line.