Milk foam The perfect foam

Here is an article that tells the secret of making the ideal foam with steamed milk for making a superb cappuccino. As you'll see making the ideal foam isn't as simple as it may appear ... Most places that serve cappuccinos in the US have not trained their baristas in the art of correctly frothing milk. The foam that they create is generally a dry, unseemly, huge celled collection of bubbles that sit on top of the espresso like a meringue. With a little care, you can create steamed milk that's velvety smooth like the feel of wet shaving cream. The bubbles will be so tiny that you can hardly see them! This is the way it's meant to be, because this way, it'll mix with the espresso, making a harmony of the flavours rather than a dry, incongruous cap floating on top. Let's Begin. First off, it is important to begin with cold milk that is just out of the refrigerator. Pour the milk into the steaming pitcher till it is nearly 0.33 of the way full. Milk will double to triple in volume after the frothing process.

A chrome steel pitcher works best. It'll dissipate some of the heat, allowing more time to infuse air into the milk before the milk gets too hot. For a home made cappuccino, you may have to learn the art of making an ideal foam. Also employ a thermometer to get the milk to the proper temperature of 145 degrees. There are some thermometers made for this reason which will clip onto the side of the pitcher for simplicity. The strategy : Purge the steam wand onto a damp towel by releasing the valve for some seconds. Be really careful not to burn yourself, the steam will be intensely hot.

This cleansing will get all the water out so you do not get it in your milk. Next, submerge the wand into the milk and quickly turn the steam on full power. Duck letting the end of the wand come out of the milk. This could cause splattering and create big, uninspired bubbles. Adjust the wand so that it is pointing off center to get the milk to flowing in a quick, rounded motion. Maintaining this fast, circulating vortex is imperative.

Then, slowly lower the pitcher until the end of the wand is slightly below the skin of the milk ( keeping the circulation going ). When you can hear a hissing noise, like bacon frying, you have reached the ideal position for the wand to inject air into the milk. Attempt to maintain this hissing noise whilst keeping the milk revolving. You'll have to slowly lower the pitcher as the milk volume rises to keep the wand tip slightly under the surface. By keeping the milk flowing in a fast circle, any massive bubbles that are incidentally made will be rolled into the milk and eliminated.

Continue steaming till the milk reaches 145 degrees. Use caution not to get the milk too hot, it'll scald giving it a bad taste. That is just about it! If you've a few huge bubbles, you can try and shed them by drumming the base of the pitcher gently on the counter. Dish up immediately and enjoy some of the silkiest frothed milk you've ever tasted! Another thing, now you understand how to correctly steam the milk, notice how few coffee homes have baristas that take care in this process. Few use thermometers and finish up scalding the milk, or leaving it too cold. Most will just leave the pitcher sitting there whilst the wand blows into the milk. Some will use an up and down motion, but this does totally nothing for making small, velvety bubbles. It is the rolling action of the milk that is required.

If you find a barista that shows this talent of frothing milk, then stay with him! He has been trained and possibly takes pride in what he does.
.