Good Microfoam for Great Coffee !

(And, don't forget hot chocolate drinks: made with good microfoam, they become silky, rich and luscious!!)
Once you know the little tricks for making good microfoam, steaming your milk is easier than you think.
Nowadays you can buy special "frothing" milk, which has protein and extra milk sugars added to it so it stretches easily and tastes sweet and creamy.
But, if you only drink skim milk, or low fat, or even no-fat or soy, don't despair...


You can steam ANY milk.... with a bit of patience!


You can still create micro-foam in your milk, although it will take a bit more effort and your first couple of efforts will most likely be heading straight for the sink!


The very first and very basic piece of micro-foam knowledge is :

use ice-COLD milk!

Some baristi even put their frothing jugs in the fridge/freezer too, so they are cold when
the milk goes in.
The colder the milk, the more of a shock the milk's protein and sugars get when the hot steam hits .. and the better the elasticity will be.

The next thing you will need to keep an eye on is the steam-capacity and steam-power of your machine.
Heat-exchanger  and thermo-bloc machines will have no trouble producing plenty of steam, but some machines may do so without good steam "power", meaning that the milk will get too hot before it has been stretched properly.
Also,  do not attempt to steam a big pitcher full of milk if your machine only has a small boiler.
You'll end up squirting warm water into lukewarm milk  which you have to start all over again!  
Or, worst case scenario, if your boiler does not auto-fill when steaming, you will end up with a burned out boiler-element because you have steamed  all the water out of your boiler.

Let's get steaming!!
 


  • Fill your frothing jug with ice cold milk to just under half-full.
  • Hold the jug in one hand, operate the steam knob with the other (don't just put the jug under the steam-arm and leave it sitting there.)

  • Open the steam-valve and purge the steam-arm: on some machines you can swivel the steam arm into the drip tray, on others you have to use a small cup or spare jug to catch the waste water.

  • Close the steam valve again.
  • Lower the steam tip into the jug until the holes are sitting JUST under the  surface of the milk.

  • Angle the jug a little so that the steam arm lies along the line of the spout.


  • Carefully open the steam valve so steam bubbles start forming in the milk around the steam-tip.

  • Lift the jug a little bit so the tip sinks further into the milk and the steam starts forming a whirlpool on the surface of the milk.

  • Keep the whirlpool going and slowly lift the jug until most of the milk is being spun around.
 

  • Check the temperature of the milk by cupping your free hand around the bottom of the jug; if the jug gets almost too hot to touch, the milk is hot enough.
    Use a steaming thermometer if you want to get consistent temperature results. 

For latte- micro-foam, stop steaming the milk when it looks a little bit thickened.
For stronger, cappuccino-style foam, slowly lower the jug while keeping the whirlpool going until the milk has almost reached the top of the jug.

Pull the steam tip out of the milk BEFORE you shut the valve completely, otherwise you run the risk of milk being sucked up into boiler and tainting the water with sour milk, which requires a MAJOR overhaul to rectify the problem.

Pour your milk onto the espresso in the cup; some people find it easier to hold the cup in one hand, tilt it slightly and pour the milk along the side of the cup so the cream of the espresso floats on top of the milk.