Mastering how to steam milk for use in specialty coffees such as lattes, or froth the milk for a cappuccino, is part of the art of making excellent coffee.
How to Steam Milk for Coffee
- Keep your milk pitcher in a fridge. Add enough milk for the number of orders you have. Do plenty if there is a queue to save time. If you are just steaming the milk and not foaming it you can fill it to three quarters full.
- Turn the steam on for a moment to clear the jets, and wipe the wand with a clean cloth used only for that purpose.
- Bury the wand in the milk in the pitcher, well below the surface but clear of the bottom, and turn the steam on to full capacity.
- Do not move the wand, and keep it under the surface of the milk to prevent air mixing and foaming the milk.
- Use a milk thermometer clipped to the side of the pitcher to monitor the milk’s temperature. Aim for 170 degrees F or 76 degrees C. Scalding will occur at 200 degrees F or 93 degrees C and greatly changes the taste of the milk. If that happens, throw it away and start again.
- Learn to tell the temperature by the sound of the steamer, which rises as the milk heats up.
How to Foam Milk for Coffee
- Start with cold milk. Do not try to foam steamed hot milk.
- A bell shaped pitcher foams better than one with straight sides.
- Allow enough space for the foamed milk: fill the pitcher to no more than to one third.
- Turn the steam on for a moment to clear the jets, and wipe the wand with a clean cloth used only for that purpose.
- Place the wand in the milk in the pitcher, just under the surface, and turn the steam on to full capacity.
- Unlike when steaming the milk, move the pitcher up and down to mix air with the milk so that it will foam. Keep the wand just below the surface of the milk as it gradually foams. Be guided by the sound.
- Aim to keep the bubbles small and uniform.
- Heat the milk to 170 degrees F or 76 degrees C using the milk thermometer clipped to the pitcher.
- If you take a spoon of the foamed milk after 10 – 20 seconds and hold it upside down the foam should stick to the spoon. If it falls off it is not thick enough.
