Can You Put Milk in a Moka Pot? The Truth Will Shock You

Ever wondered ‘can you put milk in a Moka pot? 

That was a question that crossed my mind the other day as I was craving a cappuccino. 

Guess what? I did some research and found some interesting stuff that I’d like to share with you. Stick around, in this comprehensive guide I go over whether you can put milk in your Moka pot and if so, how to go about it. 

Let’s get started.

Can You Put Milk in Moka Pot? 

It’s no good adding milk to your Moka pot. The Moka pot reaches 30-40°C temperature during the brewing process, meaning that if you add milk, the odds are that it will cradle, be burnt and stick on the inside of your pot giving you a tough task to clean it. 

What is going to happen if you put milk in a Moka pot? 

Still not convinced that putting milk in your Moka pot isn’t a brilliant idea? 

Let’s go over all the different things that happen when you put milk in your Moka pot.

Putting milk in your Moka pot will increase the pressure

Milk is richer than water.

So, when you put milk in your Moka pot the pressure of the brewing process increases dramatically. Practically, this means that Moka pot might not brew coffee or even there might be accidents. 

The milk is going to be burned

Because the temperature of brewing with a Moka pot is high the milk is going to be burned.

What does this mean in practice? 

Your coffee will taste like burned milk, horrible.

And it doesn’t matter if the milk is cold or warm, putting it in your Moka pot will be burned soon and ruin your coffee. 

Burned milk is going to be all over your Moka pot

This is going to be a hard task.

Removing the milk from your Moka pot isn’t an easy and pleasant task either. 

It’s relatively easy to remove the residue; all you need to do is soak it in hot water for some time and use washing-up liquid and a sponge to clean it.

What about the smell? It might DAYS or probably WEEKS for the smell to go away.

This would probably put off many to brew again with their Moka pot. 

Less amount of coffee is going to be extracted from the coffee grounds

Why does this happen? 

If you’re a coffee lover, you’ve probably heard many times (even on this coffee blog) how important it is to use bottled or filtered water when brewing coffee. Typically, tap water contains hard minerals including magnesium. Because tap water is rich in hard minerals flavours and aromas aren’t extracted much from the coffee grounds. 

What if you use milk? 

Milk also contains magnesium and calcium among other elements that block coffee grounds from extracting coffee flavours and aromas.

The result? 

A little amount of non-aromatic coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee.

Can you put milk in the upper chamber? 

In theory, yes you can put milk in the upper chamber.

But you might run into a few issues. Let’s go over the most common ones.

The upper chamber holds very little milk

Why do you want to pour milk into the upper chamber? Typically, people want to put milk in there to make a latte or cappuccino. 

But the thing is…

The ratio for a cappuccino is 1:1:1 (coffee, milk, foam) while for a late is 1:2 (coffee, milk). 

An espresso shot is around 40ml, so in order to make a cappuccino or latte you need at least another 40ml of milk which is a portion that a normal Moka pot can’t hold. 

You’ll end up with a coffee that it won’t really taste like a great cappuccino or latte.

Milk will scald on the top of your Moka pot

This is going to be another tough task.

If you’ve managed to brew coffee with milk and the coffee now sits on the top chamber, the odds are that your coffee will be scalded, giving you another tough task. 

It will take you some time to clean it. You need to soak it in hot water for some time and use a kitchen roll to clean it. 

Coffee grounds will end up in your coffee

Who likes a beverage full of used coffee grounds? 

Because milk is going to be mixed up with coffee, coffee grounds move through the funnel and end up in the upper chamber and then in your cup.

Coffee grounds will be floating on your coffee and it will taste extra bitter.  

Are there any Moka pots that are designed to use milk? 

There are 2 Moka pots that aren’t specifically designed to use milk but they are tested and they work fairly well with milk. 

Bialetti’s Mukka Express 

The way the Bialetti Mukka Express works is pretty similar to the one a traditional Moka pot works.  

This gadget has a smart valve that releases the pressure that builds up, allowing the coffee and milk to mix up well together. It’s recommended to pour the milk into the upper chamber right before you start brewing. 

Bialetti Kremina

This is an innovative Moka pot.

It works pretty much the same as a traditional Moka pot. The only major difference is that it has a plunger on top (similar to the one a French press has). All you need to do is pour the milk into the upper chamber before brewing and then when you’re done with brewing, you can move the plunger up and down to froth milk – a great gadget to own for making cappuccino. 

How to make a latte with a Moka pot? 

The process of making a latte with a Moka pot at home is quick and easy.

Start with brewing espresso which is pretty straightforward: 

• Fill up the coffee basket with coffee grounds (It DOESN’T need tamping)
• Add water to the lower chamber right below the pressure valve
• Place the pot on a stove and turn it on

Carry on with frothing your milk: 

Pour in around 110 ml of milk in a jug and use a handheld milk frother to froth your milk. 

Once done pour the milk into the espresso and you’re good to go. 

How to make a cappuccino with a Moka pot? 

Making a cappuccino with a Moka pot is pretty similar to making a latte. 

To make an espresso shot you can follow the above steps for a latte as they’re just the same. 

In order to make a cappuccino you need 3 equal parts of coffee, milk and foam. So, you’ll need an espresso shot, around 80ml of milk (40ml will turn into the foam after frothing)

The frothing process is similar to a latte, the only difference is you need to froth a bit longer to make more foam.

When pouring the milk into the espresso, use a spoon or a small colander to save the foam and add it on top at the end.

Let’s wrap it up 

So, can you put milk in a Moka pot? The good thing is you know the dos and don’ts now when it comes to using a Moka pot for brewing aromatic espresso. I’m sure you can’t wait the next time you use your Moka pot to treat yourself to a great espresso.