Learning how to froth milk is not that difficult!
In this blog post we take a closer look at the different aspects of frothing milk. After this blog post you will be able to make a beautiful, smooth, silky milk foam, with which you can serve delicious cappuccino, cafe latte and other coffee drinks with milk.
In this blog post we cover:
- The necessary equipment
- The supplies that are important for pushing milk.
- The type of milk and milk temperature
- What type of milk works best for frothing milk
- How do you reach the right temperature?
- Milk jugs and foam stability
- The importance of different milk jugs and how their size affects milk frothing.
- Milk foaming techniques
- A step-by-step description of how to froth milk.
- Problem solution Common problems when frothing milk and how to solve them.
- Maintenance and cleaning
- Tips on how to clean your steam wand.
The necessary equipment
The basic necessities for it frothing milk include an espresso machine with steam option, a damp cleaning cloth, a milk jug and fresh, cold milk.
Milk can be frothed in various ways, such as a pan on the stove with a whisk, a milk frother that froths the milk for you, or a fully automatic espresso machine which, at the touch of a button, makes cappuccino milk foam.
However, these methods are not ideal.
For the best foam quality do you have an espresso machine with a steam pipe necessary. This steam wand blows steam at high pressure from the steam head, which helps to create bubbles in the milk and heat the milk quickly.
If you have not yet decided which espresso machine you want to purchase, but you know that you are going to froth milk, here is a golden coffee tip!
It is the best system for steaming in an espresso machine boiler system .
In a boiler, some hot water is kept warm. Part is used to make your coffee. The hot water in the boiler releases steam. This steam is stored in the boiler until you activate the steam option. Then this starts to run out of steam high pressure pressed out through the steam pipe.
This boiler steam is the best steam you can have; powerful, direct and virtually 'waterless'.
Other options, such as thermoblock systems, milk frothers or fully automatic machines, also froth the milk, but never like a boiler system does.
Espresso machine brands such as ECM, La Marzocco and Vibiemme have espresso machines with boiler systems in their range.
The type of milk and milk temperature
With eight years of coffee experience in the coffee world, I can say with complete certainty that full, fresh cow's milk foams best.
Whole milk contains a lot protein and fats that are needed to create beautiful bubbles and connect with each other. This connection results in smooth, homogeneous foam.
This is not to say that all alternatives are bad.
Alternative types of milk such as semi-skimmed milk, skimmed milk, oat milk, soy milk, almond milk and coconut milk also foam well.
The only disadvantage of these types of milk is that they contain less proteins and fats than whole cow's milk. Milk other than whole cow's milk therefore requires a little more practice.
Coffee tip: Make sure your milk is nice and cold, so you have more time during foaming before your milk reaches the right temperature.
If you are starting to foam milk for the first time, or if you encounter the same problems, whole, fresh cow's milk is the easiest to practice with.
The correct temperature for frothed milk is around 70 degrees.
At this temperature the milk is not too hot to drink, and not too lukewarm. You will know approximately when this temperature has been reached when, at the end of your foaming process, you can no longer touch the jug with your free hand.
In point five we will go into more detail about the technique for frothing milk and bringing it to 70 degrees.
It is good to know that milk that is frothed too hot will burn.
At temperatures that are too high, the milk caramelizes, creating an overly sweet taste. This sweet taste clashes with the coffee taste of one espresso or americano , which creates more bitter notes in the palate. This combination of bittersweet is usually avoided.
Different milk jugs and sizes
You've probably seen all the different sizes of milk jugs in coffee houses and espresso bars. Why is that?
Milk foaming is precision work!
The idea that you pour some milk into a jug and just get a nice foam layer is not correct.
Steam from the steam pipe has a certain pressure and does not come out gently, but with force. If you froth a small layer of milk in a larger jug (for example because you want a small amount of milk froth on your espresso), you will not get a nice foam layer.
Why does that happen?
The small amount of milk is, as it were, blown away by the steam and therefore creates many large bubbles.
Consider, for example, a gardener who blows away all the autumn leaves with a leaf blower. If there are few leaves on the street, the gardener will blow them all away. It is even difficult for him to blow all those loose leaves together nicely. But if there is a decent pile of leaves, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to check everything. In the latter case, the power of the blower is approximately equal to the weight of the amount of leaves.
Do you see how this principle also works with milk?
Too little milk in a jug that is too large will cause the force of the steam to blow away the relatively light milk.
That is why there are milk jugs of different sizes.
A small jug provides sufficient milk volume and weight so that the steam can do its work properly. A larger jug must therefore always be filled with more milk to have an equal amount of steam power and milk weight.
A rule of thumb in the coffee world is that the milk carafe should always be filled at least and no more than 1/3 of the milk carafe.
The milk surface is then usually just below the start of the spout.
More milk causes a jug that is too full and overflows when the milk is frothed. Too little milk creates too many coarse bubbles that cannot be removed during the foaming process.
Technique for frothing milk
We have arrived at the actual frothing of milk.
This is a blog part with a lot of knowledge and steps. Take a good seat; With this coffee introduction you will soon make the most beautiful milk foam.
In the many barista workshops and business training courses I have taught, I have seen the strangest techniques.
Holding the milk jug at an extreme angle. Or the pointless search for the right position. Making huge amounts of bubbles. Or not making bubbles which produces a high-pitched screeching sound.
With the technique that I am now going to discuss, many have made beautiful milk foam and have even started latte art.
Now follow the different steps that can be followed:
Preparation
Make sure you are well prepared as discussed in points 2 and 3.
Attitude.
Stand directly in front of your steam wand.
Hold the milk carafe with one hand (this can be the handle or the milk carafe itself).
Use the other hand for two actions: first, to turn your steam wand on and off at the beginning and end of the frothing process.
Secondly, you use the 'free hand' as a thermometer.
In other words, you feel with your hand during the foaming process where the temperature of your milk foam is.
Position of milk jug and steam pipe.
Standing directly in front of your steam wand, make sure your milk jug is horizontal. Your milk jug determines the position of your steam pipe. Hold your milk carafe completely horizontally and place your steam wand in your milk carafe. Your steam wand should be in the spout of your milk jug. This ensures that your steam wand is neither too slanted nor too straight. With the correct position of your steam wand, the steam is blown into the milk at a small angle.
So a horizontal milk jug in which the steam pipe rests against the spout.
Is your steam pipe built in such a way that you cannot keep the milk jug horizontal? Then perform all the actions discussed below with the steam pipe turned to the side of the espresso machine. The steam pipe is then not in the spout of the milk jug, but on the side of the milk jug.
Frothing milk is done in two temperature and technique phases.
The first technique phase is the bubble making phase.
The second technical phase is turning the milk, so that the bubbles made are 'beaten' smaller and smaller and the milk is further heated to 70 degrees.
The first temperature phase:
The first phase in which bubbles are made starts with the cold milk in the milk jug and continues until the milk has reached your body temperature.
With your free hand you can feel where exactly the milk temperature is.
During this first phase, bubbles can be made.
When the milk has reached body temperature (+/- 37 degrees), the first phase stops.
Continuing to make bubbles past the body temperature limit will only make larger and larger bubbles.
These bubbles become too hot and cannot be 'swept away' in the second phase.
You probably know the persistent, loud, knocking sound that some baristas in coffee houses make with their milk jug. They then try to pop the large bubbles in their milk jug.
With a properly completed foaming process, the last few bubbles can be tapped away with one or two taps.
But if someone is continuously tapping the milk jug on the work surface, this is an indication that the two phases have not been completed properly.
Bubbles were created in the second stage that were not eliminated at the end of the foaming process.
The second temperature phase:
The second phase starts at body temperature and stops around 70 degrees. Then the foaming process is over.
You can know when 70 degrees has been reached by continuing to feel the jug with your hand during the foaming process. When you can no longer touch the jug, the milk has warmed up to approximately 70 degrees. You then turn off the steam function with your 'temperature hand'.
Some people can touch the milk jug a little longer than others, but the principle remains.
You can experiment with this temperature limit. You can of course investigate which temperature suits you best.
So in short: The foaming process takes place in two temperature phases. The first phase starts with the cold milk in the jug up to body temperature. The bubbles are made in this phase. The second phase starts at body temperature and runs until you can no longer touch the milk jug. In this second phase, the bubbles are crushed by the rotating milk and the milk heats up further.
The first technique phase: Making bubbles.
Making bubbles in the first phase is precision work. It demands more from your ears than from your eyes. Making bubbles creates a specific sound. I always call it the "paper tearing sound." This sound occurs when the steam head (the furthest part of the steam pipe) is just at the milk surface. The steam can then blow air above the milk surface into the milk below the surface. This makes a nice crackling sound.
Do you hear a high-pitched screeching sound when you are doing your first phase? Then you have the steam head too far below the milk surface. Do you make very large bubbles during the first phase, or does the milk fly in all directions? Then you have the steam head above the milk surface.
When starting the first phase, make sure your steam head is below the surface of the milk. And as soon as you turn the steam lever or button, you lower the milk jug. This ensures that your steam head is on the surface of the milk. If you do this correctly, you will hear a nice crackling 'paper tearing sound' and you will be making bubbles.
This first phase always runs from cold milk to body temperature.
How many bubbles you want to make depends on which drink you want to prepare.
Cappuccino requires a fuller, thicker foam. If you want to make this type of foam, you will have to look for the 'paper tearing sound' more often in the first phase. This way you make more bubbles that you can dissolve in your milk in the second phase.
For example, do you want to make a nice flat white? Then you need much less foam and more liquid milk. You can achieve this by only looking for the paper tearing sound once or twice in the first phase. Then you immediately move on to the second phase.
Note: While making bubbles in the first phase, the volume in your milk jug increases.
There is a clear difference between unfoamed, liquid milk and frothed milk. This is due to all the air that has been blown into the milk. If you hold your milk carafe still during the first phase after hearing the first 'paper tearing sounds', your steam wand will slowly disappear into the milk. This is not because you are moving your milk jug, but because the volume in your milk jug is increasing. By increasing this volume, your steam head 'disappears' below the surface again. This stops the bubble making process. Because the steam head must always be on the surface to be able to make bubbles. That is why you should always 'pull down' your milk jug a little further during the first phase. This ensures that the steam head continues to reach the surface, even though the volume of your milk slowly increases.
Would you like to practice this at home on your espresso machine? Then take a look at the various workshops that I provide in the Utrecht and Amsterdam area .
The second technique phase: Microfoam and warming up.
Now that we have completed the first phase with more or fewer bubbles, we move on to the second phase.
This phase starts when you feel that your milk jug has approximately reached your body temperature. This is around 37 degrees.
The first phase has now ended. Because bubbles are only made by holding the steam head to the milk surface, the steam head must now be placed in the milk.
We place the steam pipe, which is still nicely in the spout of the milk jug, deeper into the milk. All you have to do is move the milk jug slightly upwards. The milk jug slides up along the steam pipe.
While the milk jug slides down in the first phase to bring the steam head to the surface, the milk jug slides up at the beginning of the second phase to bring the steam head back under the surface, so that no more bubbles are made.
Do not place the steam head too deeply into the milk, otherwise the milk will not be able to rotate properly. Halfway in the milk is fine. So not too high towards the surface and not too low towards the bottom of the milk jug. Exactly in between ensures a nice rotating milk during the second phase.
Now one other movement takes place, in addition to moving the milk jug up and down.
To ensure that the milk starts to rotate, the steam pipe must be moved from the center of the milk carafe to the side. We do this by turning the milk jug slightly to the right or to the left (without removing the steam pipe from the spout.) If the steam pipe is out of the center, the milk starts to rotate.
A small vortex is then created. This vortex smashes the bubbles it creates against the side of the jug, making them smaller and smaller. The milk also heats up further to approximately 70 degrees.
If you continue to feel with your free hand, you will know when the milk is at the right temperature. The steam pipe may be turned off. And the milk jug can be removed from under the steam pipe.
Et voilà! Your milk foam is ready and at the right temperature.
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Troubleshooting
I barely have time to froth before the milk is hot:
Store the milk you want to froth in the refrigerator. The colder the milk, the longer the two phases last. When milk is used at room temperature, it is already around 20 degrees. You then only have 15 degrees left to complete your first phase. That is too short for the first phase.
I hardly get any calls:
In the first phase the steam head must be brought to the surface to produce more bubbles. If your steam head is too close to the surface or if your steam head is too deep in the milk, you will not make bubbles. The heating of the milk in the first phase takes place faster in some espresso machines with a boiler function than in other steam systems. Therefore, make sure that you bring the steam head to the surface as quickly as possible once you have turned on the steam head. You then have more time to make bubbles before the first phase is over. Waiting too long before bringing your steam button to the surface can cause the first phase to almost end before you make your first bubbles .
I hear a high-pitched screaming sound:
You have the steam head too deep in the milk. Air cannot be blown into the milk. This creates a high-pitched screaming sound and no bubbles are made. At the beginning of the first stage, move your steam head directly towards the milk surface until you hear the crackling, paper-tearing sound. You are now making bubbles.
It takes a very long time for my milk to warm up:
Espresso machines with a thermoblock system have a lower steam pressure. As a result, heating milk may take longer during the first and second phases. This doesn't matter. Take your time. The advantage of a longer phase is that you can go through the phases with more precision. Making bubbles in the first phase can be done with more precision. Turning and heating the milk in the second phase requires a little more patience and practice. This is because a lower steam pressure has more difficulty pushing the amount of milk around in the milk carafe. But with a little practice and patience you can really master the technique.
I have large bubbles at the end of my foaming process:
There is a good chance that you have performed one of the following two actions: In the first phase you made way too many bubbles, which you were unable to remove in the second phase. The first phase continues beyond the body temperature limit. When you get above body temperature, the first phase stops. Continuing to make bubbles in the second phase results in large, coarse bubbles. These bubbles can no longer be broken in the second phase. So make sure you always make bubbles up to body temperature. Then you move on to the second phase and stop making bubbles.
Maintenance and cleaning
Properly keeping your steam pipe and milk jugs clean and tidy is essential.
Milk contains a lot of fats and proteins, including alternative milk and even skimmed milk. Some of these fats stick to the steam pipe during the foaming process. Fats and proteins are also sucked into the steam pipe when you turn off the steam pipe.
It is therefore important to always wipe the steam pipe thoroughly with a wet cloth when you have finished foaming. Once you have done that, you can briefly turn the steam button again. This ensures that the majority of fats and proteins are blown out of the steam pipe.
To prevent clogging of the steam pipe in the long term, liquid milk cleaners are important to have at home.
Fill a glass with hot water. Add a dash of milk cleanser to this. Place the glass under the steam pipe and leave the steam pipe in the glass overnight. This causes the fats and proteins to dissolve, leaving you with a clean steam pipe inside in the morning.
Practice makes perfect
Foaming milk is not as difficult as it seems.
A little bit of knowledge about the technique of milk foaming can go a long way.
Keep practicing and trying and you will definitely succeed.
Read this blog every now and then to understand the basics of milk foaming. Doing this will bring you back to the basics every time. And with some time and practice you will see that your milk foam will get better and your coffee drinks will look better and better.