The Hot Chocolate Pot will do the same but up to 16 oz of milk. Much better for 2, and even better for a party of people coming over for burnch. We’ve done the manual thing for over a year. Heat up milk in the microwave, and froth it via a french-press like frother. But we kept breaking the frother from its glass container to the inside plastic parts. They were $20+tax each and it wasn’t even automatic.

For us a milk frother will not be a uni-tasker. We will use it daily so the counterspace it takes up will be of good use and save us time. Being an automatic thing, it will allow me to concentrate on preparing the rest of breakfast without having to make sure the milk doesn’t scald and burn at the bottom. I always have to disassemble the Bodum Milk Frother each time I clean it, this chocolate pot will not be any different for cleaning.

It’s only useless if you don’t use it and not everyone does the same thing or wants the same thing. It’s about prespective. For example, I don’t own a kettle because a pot just works fine and dandy for me and it’s much easier to clean. I do drink tea every day too.

I can make incredible hot chocolate on the stove top as well, and have for years. I have children who play in the snow, too! And I like simplicity in the kitchen as well, so when I first saw this at W-S I walked on by.

Lo and behold it was given to me for Christmas.

This machine does not make what you are referring to as hot chocolate. I could NEVER possibly make hot chocolate like the heavenly concoction that comes from this machine on the stovetop. Even made with no-fat milk the cocoa is thick and frothy, not watery at all. Every bit of chocoate is evenly mixed in, and there is absolutely no skin on the surface. It’s like meeting a new species of hot chocolate.

The machine is not a nightmare to clean, either. I guess you were speculating, but I can tell you I’m not. Very easy.

And you can use it to steam milk and sundry other hot drinks.

By the way, I have a hand-held electric frother that doesn’t come anywhere close to what this machine can do.

By the way, I never needed or wanted a machine to make hot chocolate before… nonetheless for all of my adult life I have know well that SwissMiss mixed into boiling tap water does not qualify as true hot chocolate. People who think it does have clearly never been to the other side. That’s like saying a squirt bottle of margarine is the same as real creamery butter. To each his own, though…

You can #1, #2, and … uh … regurgitate into a toilet, and it still serves as a handy self-filling automatic pet waterer! That to me is the very essence of a multitasker.

It works great for mixing up hot chocolate, straight from the microwave. (as well as lots of other beverages).

My favorite recipe: 2 ts Hershey’s Dark Cocoa (100% cacao), 2 ts sugar, 6-8 ounces of microwaved milk, a splash of vanilla, and a dash of Trader Joes pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves). It’s dark, thick, rich, and decadent.

2. While it’s heating, stir together two Tbsp sugar, two Tbsp of unsweetened cocoa, 1/4 tsp vanilla. You can do this right in the mug.

3. When the milk is hot, add the milk one or two tablespoons at a time to the cocoa mixture, stirring thoroughly after each addition. The goal is to gradually mix in the milk so that the cocoa is nice and smooth.

4. Fun options: frothing with one of those wee little milk frothers, a drop or two of peppermint extract, marshmallows, etc

Dutch Cocoa on the stove-top in a pot works for me (pots and pans are multi-taskers, as savvy has pointed out).

On the other hand, I’m going to second the suggestion of using real milk and chocolate. The package stuff you mix in water isn’t in the same league as real hot chocolate.