When it comes to buying kitchen appliances, small or big, one of the most popular approaches is to stick with reputable brands like KitchenAid, Breville or Ninja. Of course, even products made by big brands can have their flaws but you can’t question the years of experience these companies have in developing their products and patents. The innovations laid out by these companies make it difficult for smaller brands to compete. So why is the #1 best-selling small appliance on Amazon at the time of writing a milk frother made by a seemingly low-key company named Zulay?
Zulay Milk Frother Review
Zulay Milk Frother
Summary
Overall this device is a powerhouse and is extremely effective at its job. It foams milk extremely well, and may require different duration of time or effort on your part depending on the temperature, volume, and fat level of your milk. Either way it’s easily able to handle all of the above with ease.
Pros
- Small
- Works very well
- Easy to use
- Inexpensive
- Lifetime guarantee
- Comes with stand
Cons
- Only one speed
- Battery life unclear
So what’s it like to use, how effective is it, and most importantly does it work well and do its core job? I bought one of these devices to test it and find out.
Made for the TikTok Era
If you follow a lot of folks in TikTok in the food and household niche, you might have seen one of these before. Milk frothers aren’t supposed to be centerpiece kitchen appliances but adding some splashes of color and offering an assortment of designs can make all the difference! Just ask KitchenAid! Throw in an affordable price tag and it starts to make sense; the Zulay Original Milk Frother is a sleek and stylish kitchen gadget that is sure to turn heads.
But can it actually perform? Let’s take a closer look!
Usability & Power Specifications
There’s only one setting on this device and one level of power; the frother is either on or off; there’s no speed or power adjustments.
The Zulay Milk Frother houses a 12,500 RPM motor requiring a pair of AA batteries to power. The reliance on battery power is par for the course in this price tier though and you can get this with batteries included or not, and purchase them separately. (My advice is to buy rechargeable AA batteries if you plan to use this daily so you don’t need to keep buying extra batteries.)
These specs translate to decent performance as I could froth some warm whole milk in less than a minute.
Kickstarting the Zulay Milk Frother motor requires a simple button press on the top of the wand. Some other competing brands put the switch on the body which may or may not be better for you. I found it easy enough to use the button with my thumb.
Milk frothing time and effectiveness
I used this device in a few different situations. Depending on the temperature and volume of the milk, you can froth it quite quickly in some cases. And one of my first uses it frothed up a decent amount of foam on about a quarter cup of milk in less than 10 seconds.
With larger volumes of milk it requires a little more work from you. Because it has only the one speed, you need to move the device around the container of milk in order to introduce enough air. There’s instructions on the side of the box that will help you through this, and it might be worth clipping them at off and saving for future reference. The froth or will work on either cold or hot milk and if you’re not getting enough foam you can raise and lower the small whip through the milk to introduce more air, or try using it at a 45° angle. The instructions say that it may take anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds depending on the temperature and type of milk you’re using, and I’d say that’s accurate. On a slightly larger volume of milk (about 1/3 cup) it took me more like about 30 to 45 seconds, but the Zulay device did fill the cup with rich thick foam up to the full one cup mark. Impressive.
In short, I found this milk frothing device to be extremely effective every time I used it.
Other Features
I appreciate how Zulay included a stand with the milk frother for easy and small footprint storage and to hold it upright.
Cleanup
While the non-sealed housing and battery powered guts mean this device is quite obviously not dishwasher safe, clean up is still relatively quick and easy. If you simply fill a mug or jar with warm sudsy water, then turn the device on while immersed in the liquid, it cleans up quite quickly.
Battery life: too soon to tell
The one lingering question I do have about this device is how long the batteries may last. If I’m using it for anywhere between 30 seconds to one minute a day, I’d love to know how often I will be replacing those two AA batteries. But since I’ve only had the device for about a week, I can’t make an assessment, and I couldn’t find anything online that gives me a clue either. So that has the potential to be a downside… or not.
Overall review: Zulay Milk Frother
Overall this device is a powerhouse and is extremely effective at its job. It foams milk extremely well, and may require different duration of time or effort on your part depending on the temperature, volume, and fat level of your milk. Either way it’s easily able to handle all of the above with ease.
The $19/$11USD CAD asking price for the Zulay Milk Frother is a terrific deal considering that it offers a lifetime warranty. Upgrade to the Milk Boss version and it comes with batteries included. With nearly a dozen styles and colours available, the Zulay Milk Frother is good for gifting too to your coffee and frappe-loving friends!
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