TL:DR Need a simple but not too crappy solution for heating/frothing milk - ideally one that my kids could use safely.
Apologies for the length!
OK - first a little background. I make coffee everyday with an aeropress and I'm happy with the coffee I'm getting from that. I also, however, enjoy milky drinks and want to add hot milk - ideally steamed/frothed to my coffee. Another key factor is that I live with chronic illness which causes pain and fatigue. Even just making my coffee can be tiring and/or aggravate pain so I want to keep things as simple as possible.
Until a couple of months ago, my milk routine was to simply microwave some milk in the mug and then press the aeropress into that. Then my wife dug out my old espresso machine (Ascaso - I can't remember the exact model.) It's not a great machine and, anyway, the gaskets have gone on the group head and it leaks terribly. I did, however, use it to steam milk. Again, it's not really good enough to get great results, but it was still the best milk I could make myself and I was having fun doing it - although it was pushing me right to the edge of what my health would allow me to do.
My kids also loved watching me do it and started asking me to make them mugs of "fluffy milk". I didn't mind doing this, but, again, it was exhausting and I certainly couldn't do it just after I'd made myself a coffee - which is when I got most requests.
I then began to wonder about an electric frother such as the Nespresso Aerocino. I hoped this could produce milk that, while not as good as steamed, was still good enough and was also simple enough to use that my kids could safely make their own "fluffy" milk.
I borrowed an aerocino from a friend and, I have to say, I'm very disappointed. As I said, I knew it wouldn't be as good as steamed milk, but even my worst steaming attempts were better. The capacity is too small and the froth is way to dense - it's a pain having to scoop it all out into the cup and it sits in a mountain of foam on the top and not integrated into the rest of the milk at all. About the only thing it seems to get right is the temperature of the milk. I may have opened a pandora's box, though. My kids love it and love being able to make their own milk drinks.
So - what all this is leading to is to ask for suggestions on a milk frothing/heating solution. An electric one at about the same price as the aerocino would make the process easier for me and would suit my kids, although I'd have to compromise somewhat on quality. I'm fine doing that, but not really to the extent I'm having to with the aerocino!
Ideally, for myself, I'd get a stand alone milk steamer, but these all seem to be either too expensive or are stove top - which makes me nervous in a kitchen that has children, my wife and myself wandering about in.
As I say, I don't mind compromising a little on quality, but I'd need a bigger capacity than the aero, better foam - much less dense so it can actually be poured out of the unit without needing scooping out!
I have a Verismo (Intertek? made in China, bought it cheap off a roommate who moved out) two cup warmer and rotary frother that sounds similar to what you found with the Aerocino or someone else's Breville -- the heat is right but you do get a pile of fairly dry foam sitting on top of a remainder of warm milk.
Here's how I've dealt with that and why I still love this setup as a result.
First, it seems to be best (at producing foam) with nonfat milk. When it's finished after about thirty seconds, I use a small silicone spatula to help scoop the foam while I'm pouring the milk. There's a handy technique that I didn't discover until just recently where you can encourage the foam to disengage from the walls of the container and ride/float atop the milk as you pour, and that's even more effective than just doing a 100% scoop-and-pour. I do it in two or three stages and it gets almost everything.
You know this I'm sure, but it also works fine with some sugar or turbinado added before foaming.
And finally there's the issue of how maybe you don't want the foam sitting so separate on top of the final coffee product while the remainder of warm milk is all that really mixes into the black coffee. Of course you can stir but that can easily be overdone and leave not enough foam to enjoy on top. My best solution to that goes like this: first add the foamed milk to my empty mug, then pour or filter the coffee over the top of that, moving around so that it passes through as much of the foam area as possible. This colors and flavors much of the foam without dragging it all down into the liquid.