Frothy milk is pretty much haute cuisine as far as homemade coffee goes. Top coffee-nerds will have coffee machines with steam nozzles which fire steam through milk both heating and frothing at the same time - the ideal situation. But to the amateur with just a cafetiere and yearning for latte, a simple milk-frother does more or less a similar job. And even a little frothing can produce good results.

As coffee-geek puts it wisely: "Incorporating air into the milk improves and sweetens the taste. Milk that has not been foamed at all tends to taste flat and dull by comparison."

Proper full-on frothing produces this: "microfoam--a pourable, virtually liquid foam that tastes sweet and rich.... The only distinction it has from liquid milk is a soft, slightly spectral sheen in the right light."

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After we told you about the Cuisinart Soup Maker from John Lewis, we promised we would be bringing you the top five of these.

However, why should we just stick to these when there are so many kitchen gadgets out there to help make your cooking life easier?

Therefore, we've decided to give you a treat and round up the gadgets to give you a hand in the kitchen.

By the time we're finished we think you may be able to be a strong contender on Come Dine with Me, after all it's not really cheating, is it?

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With the winter season fast approaching, it's time to think about replacing your tankini's for tights and smoothies for soup, and it seems John Lewis is giving us a helping hand with the latter.

The highstreet store has added the Cuisinart Soup Maker to its range of kitchen gadgets, which lets you make fresh hot soup, with no added preservatives in just 20 minutes from start to finish (eat your heart out Jamie and Gordon).

Now we're not the best of cooks, but we think this little gadget will make us look better than Nigella in the kitchen.

All you have to do is set your cooking time, select the low temperature setting and separately fry any base ingredients; such as garlic and onions until soft (that's soft, not burnt.)

You can then use the soup maker's stir function and add all your other ingredients such as stock and seasoning and even choose your soups consistency (does that mean we can wave goodbye to lumpy, porridge type soups then?)

However, it doesn't end there, this kitchen marvel can also be used to make sauces, dips, dressings, purées, smoothies, cocktails and desserts and it can also crush ice.

Now we recommend you hide the evidence after you cook, what's more beneficial than telling your other half or housemate that you've been slaving over a hot stove, yes that's right they have to do the washing up.

Look out tomorrow for our picks of the best soup makers around.

I know kitchen implements are there to be useful... they open tins, contain hot things and facilitate the making of millefeuille pastry. But sometimes they're so much more than that. Sometimes, they become things you want really badly with a desire that eclipses any potential usefulness they could possibly have. These are five kitchen implements that make me feel that way.

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The dark liquid that flows in the veins of the workforce, coffee is a popular drink. American coffee-drinkers consume an average 3.1 cups a day (according to coffeeresearch.org) - sadly British statistics haven't been compiled, but I imagine we're not far behind. If you're going to drink that much of it, it might as well be good. We look at the best machines for making café-standard espresso in the comfort of your kitchen.

Cafetieres, Filter Coffee Makers and Percolators use plungers, filters and steam to make coffee. We're looking at the fourth type of coffee-maker: espresso and cappuccino makers, which make stronger more intense coffees and are what you see in professional coffee shops.

To look out for in an espresso machine:
1. What kind of coffee do you use with it?
Expresso machines need extra-finely ground coffee. Some machines use coffee pods which are easier to clean up afterwards and keep for slightly long than normal coffee. Called Nespresso machines, these pod-users are convenient, but you're tied into buying that maker's selection of coffees. (Unless you hack them by recycling a pod with your own coffee and a bit of tinfoil: see a video of entrepreneurial nespresso machine hacker.)

2. Is it steam or pump driven?
Espresso machines either use steam or pressure to force the water through the coffee grounds: cheaper machines use steam, more expensive machines use pumps. Commercial coffee-sellers use pumps.

3. The bar pressure
Bar pressure defines at what pressure the steam meets the coffee granules at the correct speed. If it's too slow, it could result in a bitter taste. 15 - 19 bar is the optimum, though some suppliers claim 9-11 bar is enough if the beans have been ground correctly.
Pump machines have better bar pressure than steam machines.

4. Does it have a milk steamer?
I love frothy milk beyond reason and most espresso machines come with a steam wand, which shoots steam through milk, heating and frothing it for use in cappuccinos and lattes.

Prices range from about £40 to the frankly horrifying £999 (for a deLonghi Prima Donna Espresso Coffee-maker)

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Ever battle with the office girls for who gets to use the microwave first at lunch? Frustrating isn't it? Research has shown that many people don't even eat lunch because they're too busy/lazy to go out and get some nosh. Well Heinz have decided that's not acceptable and have created the Micro Microwave so that no one need venture down the hall in search of a device. It measures in at 150 x 160 x 190mm, and works via the USB port on your computer. As yet there's no release date or price, but hopefully the day when we'll all have our own micro microwaves isn't too far away.

[via T3]

More USB gadgets here

Sometimes you stumble across exciting gadgets which fulfill a need you never realised you had, and then you shudder back to reality as you learn it's just a concept. Well here we have a device that has all the hallmarks of an artist rendering (stylistic imagery/new age connections) but which actually exists.

Technology has long been used to aid and enhance our life. At its highest (and yes I do mean most expensive) form there are tools available to cater for your every whim - you can have a robotic maid, automatic dishwashers and computers that wake you up with a personalized hello and back massage tailored to your needs... There are also toilets that analyze your waste matter and suggest what type of nutrients you're lacking..if you must go that far!

Computers have shifted from being lumbering behemoths to super sleek devices which continually keep shrinking and the word netbook is now all the rage. Everything is slimmer sleeker, and shinier nowadays, but how does this actually affect you?

OK, I know you don't tend to take a microwave with you wherever you go, but there's no denying an office that's lacking that mean machine is like an office with no computers- simply unworkable. Sure, you can work off laptops, or go to Pret for lunch, but those options aren't ever going to be your first choice.

The mo:ben lunchbox is designed to keep your leftovers warm, and contains both insulated walls AND an AC plug. Simply plug in the box and your leftovers will be gently warned up, ready to eat!

No matter how much you strategically try and avoid it, there will come a point in the week when your garbage bin will reek of a dump site (unless you're incredibly anal and take out your trash everyday). All it takes is one banana peel and the remnants of the past few days dinner and you're greeted by an overpowering aroma of decomposing refuse. It's not nice and its ability to induce multiple gag reflexes is multiplied when you bring hot weather into the equation.

How about freezing your garbage? No silly, I'm not talking about putting your trash in the freezer! I'm talking about the Minus Frozen Garbage Container concept design.

What do they say the perfect woman should be? A maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a **** in the bedroom. Sounds like a great deal we have going there... Then again, if you add the Demy to the mix, it might make our job slightly easier. But what is this rather delectable looking device, and how does it work?

The Demy is a touchscreen digital cookbook, which can store up to 2500 recipes. You can browse through them on the device and add your favourites to your shortlist. The idea is that you use this in conjunction with the Key Ingredient site, which has masses of free recipes for you to download.

With the government's plans to oust the standard light bulb, in an attempt to make us more energy efficient in the lighting department, there needs to be another way for us to appreciate our lighting (seeing as most energy saving bulbs suck). Enter Blown Up Lamps. Now this is one way to enjoy balloon animals without getting strange looks from parents with small children.

When starting a child, you have to remember that this thing will eventually go out into the world and represent you - if that child gets down to Duran Duran, it's not going to reflect well on you. The key is to catch 'em young.

This baby bouncer has an iPod mount at the rear, which will pipe the music to the child, as well as vibrate the chair in time to the music. It's a little bit like sticking them next to the speaker at a NIN gig, but slightly less harmful for their baby ears (although how cute are the babies at festivals with those ear guards on?). That way, you can counter the inevitable nursery rhyme dross they get at playschool with some quality tunes.

$79 from Think Geek

And the prize for the most useless gadget goes to *drum roll* the Digi-Mug. It's one of those thermo flask/cup/mug thingamajigs, with a digital photo viewer on the side, should you want to take in some photo viewing each time you pull it away from your pursed lips. As far as thermo flask/cup/mug thingamajigs go, they're not even mildly exciting in the slightest, and slapping a digi photo viewer on the side doesn't really transform its boring status to something incredible or even remotely interesting.

It'd probably be best to leave the thermos/flask/mugs to do what they do best and digital photo viewers to steer clear of collaborations with common household items.

[via iGizmo]

More random gadgets here

There's a weird correlation between geeks and cooking. Whether it's Flickr galleries of cupcakes or birthday cakes in the shape of your favourite Atari icon, there's something about all that weighing and measuring that gets your average techy hot under the collar.

Following swiftly on from the 8-bit oven gloves, this is the Pacman oven mitt. And yes, they're those ones that no one ever really uses, because in their heart of hearts, they suspect that the heat of the oven will melt the plastic, permanently welding the mitt to their hand. No? Just me? Huh.

Get yours here.
[via Technabob]

There's nothing like a hot cup of tea to help you get through your day (or in my case hot Ribena). Now, the Tefal Quick Cup caused quite a stir when it made its debut into the mainstream. 'Is it actually a kettle?' was probably the most frequently asked question - which is fair enough considering it doesn't actually boil. You had those who took an abhorrent liking to it and those for which the Quick Cup revolutionised their tea drinking lives.

Well if you thought having the ability to whip up a cup of tea in 3 seconds and save on the leccy bill, using a device that comes in a neat and easy to use package was impressive, prepare for your jaw to hit the floor. Introducing the Quick Cup Deluxe - the newer, smarter and sleeker version of the Tefal Quick Cup.

A manual juicer... Really? Well, I suppose we are still in the month of improbable diets and detox resolutions. So if the thought of manually reducing your fruit and veg to a yummy pulp while simultaneously keeping control of those bingo wings, has more appeal than shoving your fruit (with the skins on) into a machine and letting technology run its course (and you're a bit on the eco-friendly side) the hand cranking Easy Health Juicer is your juice extractor. Just attach to any smooth surface, sentence your fruit or veg to a crushing death and crank away.

Based on the picture, something tells me extracting juice from anything in the grocery arena isn't going to be effortless. But on the upside - being healthy and eco-friendly... it's an environmental vegetarian's dream.

£30 from Eco Outlet

More eco-friendly stuff here

Remember the days when you and your siblings would attempt to concoct your very own catapult by snapping a branch off a tree? The day when you discovered when coupled with elastic bands and sellotape, it turned out to be a half decent catapult? Or perhaps I'm not the only one who's attempted to send their toast hurtling across the room from the toaster directly onto your plate. In retrospect, I can accept that the rules of physics just won't allow it, but that didn't stop me from wearing out the springs of my parent's toaster. Now you can fulfil your toast catapulting desires and relive those formative years with this modern twist on the catapulting trebuchet - the Toaster Trebuchet.

Now, unless you're a master of velocity and accuracy, it might take you a while to develop a certain deftness that'll get the toast directly on your plate. So luckily, you can set the angle and force of ejection to hone those catapulting skills.

Desks are very boring places, unless like me, you're a hoarder of tat and have a relatively interesting assortment of plush/plastic/metal toys on your desks and perhaps a few USB peripherals to help you through those tirelessly tedious moments. But other than the entertaining junk, that's got nothing to do with the progression of your work (unless you deem playing with toys as work), what else can you adorn your desk with so it's not just a place to rest your desktop PC? Get a desk pet (I'd love the miniature elephant from the Kleenex ads) or maybe a little desktop slave robot would do it? Far fetched ideas aside, how about something more feasible? Take the Chain Lamp - it's a lamp, yes, but a very *very* sweet looking one.

It's a light. And also a handheld vacuum. According to the manufacturers, it will mean "no more searching around the house frantically for a mains powered vacuum". Because apparently I'm the only person in the world who has a place she always keeps her mains powered vacuum. For the rest of you, this is a brilliant idea. Can I suggest maybe extending the idea to the rest of your stuff? Perhaps tie your broom to your telly. Or your mop to your bookcase. The possibilities are, quite literally, endless.

Next up, a bottle opener that is also a picture frame, a shoe horn that is also a walky talky and a mirror that is also a kettle. Can't wait. To get hold of this rechargeable handheld vacuum with a washable filter and a bagless dirt cup, pay this site £25.

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