Dualit Milk Frother | Hot milk, hot & cold frothed milk | Ideal for lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, hot chocolate & milkshakes | 84135

Product Information

The Velvetiser takes just 2½ minutes to make a cup of hot chocolate. Fill it with milk or water to the line, add in the special Hotel Chocolat flakes, cover and switch on. You'll soon be treated to a creamy, frothy hot chocolate. This kitchen gadget heats drinks to the optimum temperature for flavour (that's between 68°C and 70°C), and it's relatively easy to clean afterwards. Ease of use: 2/5 (The instructions are much too complicated to figure out, but once you have the hang of the machine, it is easy; too much unavoidable wastage)

Although it’s pricey, our expert found it an adaptable piece of kit that can do so much more than hot chocolate (although it’s undoubtedly the headliner here). You can use it for impressive lattes, milkshakes and cold beverages, while the plant-based options mean no family members or guests are left out. It’s also delightfully easy to use and clean.It's not as sleek as some of the others but who cares if it is being hidden away in a cupboard anyway. This is a winner." Versatility: ★★★★☆. Craft a wide range of coffees using this machine that can happily cope with ice cubes and chocolate slabs thrown at it. Just choose your flavour. Add our flakes of real chocolate to your choice of dairy, plant milk or water. Then press the button and let the patented velvetising process deliver luxurious cloud-like chocolate velvet. The method is very similar too, although it's easier to get going. Fill a microwaveable cup with milk. Don't fill it too high as it'll bubble up if you heat it long enough. Set the microwave for a few minutes. I find half a cup takes around 3 to 4 minutes while a full cup of milk takes around 7 to 10 minutes to boil. Remove from the microwave and add the chocolate, using the residual heat to melt the chocolate. Now, the shape of your cup will determine how much stirring you can do to mix everything up, but one thing's for sure, you'll struggle to get a smooth, well-mixed result.

Salter The Chocolatier - an excellent dupe for the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser, and it's a lot cheaper. Versatility: ★★★★★. The hob, saucepan, and whisk can all be used to produce other wonderful things, like sauces and gravies, hot milk, custard, and oodles of other tasty treats. Pop the lid on and start the machine. After about a minute, take the lid off while the machine is in action and add cocoa powder. There's no guidance on how much so you'll need to try various quantities to find the right blend for your favourite drink. I'd suggest starting with around 15g of Cadbury Drinking Chocolate ° (or similar) to get an idea of blends. From there you could try making your own drinking chocolate by mixing cocoa powder with sugar, or try other drinking chocolate. The jug, lid, whisk, and spoon are all dishwasher safe so clean-up is a doddle. Drinks take up to 4 minutes to make depending on the recipe, but bear in mind the gadget can only produce one cup at a time.Versatility: ★★☆☆☆. This machine only makes hot chocolate (and only one cup at a time), and it can only handle chocolate flakes (ideally Hotel Chocolat's own). Overall: ★★★★☆. It's a good value option that can make two cups of hot chocolate at a time. The colour might not be to everyone's taste though. It would be ideal if the Velvetiser could be popped straight into the dishwasher, although the fact you can fill it with water and soap, turn it on and leave it to do the hard work for you definitely lessens the blow. All you need in addition to the liquid (water or any type of milk) chocolate of your choice is a means to heat the liquid up (a kettle for water or a saucepan/microwave for the milk).

Chocolate needed: It loves thin pieces of chocolate, so shards are ideal. Small chocolate buttons and drops can be more problematic to melt but are possible. I wouldn't go for anything larger unless you like big lumps of chocolate sitting in the bottom of your cup. Expertly make hot chocolates at home or at work with one of our tried and tested hot chocolate makers, bring the joy of Knoops to your family or colleagues. Enter: our guide to the best hot chocolate makers that make epic Christmas gift ideas – for her, for him or for yourself. Sure, they're something of a luxury gadget – and you can make hot chocolate on the stove. But trust us when we say that the hot cocoa that comes out of a countertop hot chocolate maker is softer, creamier and more delicious than anything you'd whip up in a saucepan. Plus, you can make it at the touch of a button. Best hot chocolate makers at a glance: We tested each milk frother on how easy it was to operate, pour from, clean and how much noise it made while working. Founded in 1993 by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris – two entrepreneurs on a mission to make chocolate exciting again – Hotel Chocolat was an early internet sensational, wowing fans of ‘real’ chocolate with their carefully crafted confectionery-by-post. Their first retail store opened in 2004 and, since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, fuelled by the world’s love for high-quality chocolate. Hotel Chocolat now owns and runs its own cacao farms, cafés, restaurants, a real hotel and has stores worldwide.Overall: ★★★★☆. A great value hot chocolate kitchen gadget that focuses on science to produce a wonderfully smooth and frothy hot chocolate. Heat the liquid separately, add it and the chocolate to the beaker, twist on the special expansion lid, and shake for 10 seconds. It's no more difficult to make than a cup of tea, meaning you'll find yourself making hot chocolate much more frequently. This machine has four settings, is super quiet, easy to use and you just rinse it out like a jug afterwards. I’m David and I run Chocolatier.co.uk, the UK chocolate blog that’s on a mission to find the best, the most innovative, the most exciting, and the most unique chocolate on the planet.