Milk Steaming Techniques Step-By-Step:
1. Always start with cold milk.
2. Fill steaming pitcher a little over 1/3 full.
3. Open and shut steam valve quickly to blow
out any excess water.
4. Place the tip of the steam wand to just below
the surface of the milk.
5.Open the steam valve to full pressure.
6. Place one hand on the handle of the pitcher
to hold it up and the other hand on the front side of the
pitcher. This will enable you to feel how hot your milk is
getting.
7. Keep the tip of the wand just below the surface
of the milk and gently pull the steam pitcher down to bring
the froth up. You do not have to "hop" the pitcher
up and down, just smoothly lower it to expand the milk. You
will know if you have the wand too far out of the milk because
large bubbles will form or you will get milk splatted in your
face. You will know if the wand is too far in the milk if
there is a loud, jet engine-type noise and the milk is only
churning around and not frothing.
8. Milk will foam best if expanded before 100
degrees, or just when the side of the pitcher is feeling warm.
At this point, sink the wand in the milk a fraction and allow
milk to move in a clockwise swirl until heated to temperature.
This will froth milk with a creamy texture.
9. Turn off the steam wand a little before the
milk has reached the proper temperature, as the milk will
continue to heat up even after the steam wand is out of it.
10. If you do not have a thermometer, milk will
be at temperature when you cannot lay your hand on the side
of the milk pitcher for more than a second. *Milk is over-steamed
if you can see more than a little steam coming off the top
of the milk.
11. Clean the steam wand out by quickly turning
on and off the steam valve to blow out excess milk and wiping
the wand clean with a damp cloth.
It is very easy to overheat milk while trying to foam it.
You can use a thermometer to gauge the temperature of the
milk until your hand becomes adjusted to what the milk should
feel like at 150 degrees or so.
Sometimes milk will not foam if it has been
steamed already, it is not cold, or has been previously frozen.
The lower the fat content of the milk, the easier it is to
foam it. Nonfat milk foams the best.
If milk smells cooked, you have scalded it,
and you need to dump it out and start over.A customer will
generally not mind waiting a little longer for a great drink
than paying for an inferior one.
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