How To: Milk Frothing for Beginners 5 Tips

hey latte cappuccino flat white Cortado and macchiato lovers mark here from whole lotta love today I've got five tips to help you get the best straw for your milk-based espresso beverages including some bonus content with our test results for 10 dairy and non-dairy milks find out what type of milks are best based on frothing quality pouring quality and taste coming up in this video I've got some animations comparing the differences in technique for producing a barista quality superfine froth for pouring latte art we'll compare that to a drier area milk foam for a traditional cappuccino and if you're on a quest to become a latte art DaVinci get the basics down in this video then use the link up here to watch our video how to froth and steamed milk for latte art and more with nearly 3 million views it's definitely a must see if milk drinks are your thing it's a classic step-by-step guide to producing great tasting and beautiful milk based espresso beverages in that one you learn how to pour latte art including a heart Rosetta and tulip so the five topics I'll cover in this video first up it's best practices these are the things you're going to do every time you frost then we'll talk temperature for best flavor in how to get there using a thermometer or just doing it by feel after that it's frothing technique that's how to position your steam tip and when that position needs to change then onto milk types with testing data on frothing pouring and taste quality of dairy and non-dairy milk alternatives and I'll finish up with practice a clean way to practice frothing even pouring a latte art without using any milk or espresso at all is anyone up for a blue latte I will take a look at one of those now in this video I'll be focusing on manual steaming but if you're using an auto frothing wand there's plenty of information here in this video for you as well beyond that do check the video description below for links to videos on how to get the best from auto frothing steam wands if you're new to frothing I advise you to start with a 12 ounce pitcher that's about 350 milliliters it's got enough volume to do milk for a larger lot say it's easy to handle and even most entry level budget machines should have enough power to steam milk in these I've got a variety here from the classic rattle where latte art pitcher and some look-alikes on up to the s Pro toroid with a design to help encourage milk rotation that may benefit machines with less steaming power now always start with milk that's as cold as possible it's gonna take the air better and gives you more time to work it some people even store their pitchers in the freezer for fill level try going to just below where the spout starts to form and these size pitchers they'll get you about 5 or 6 ounces enough for a large latte if that's too much you can go with less but you probably don't want to add more as the milk will be expanding when froth before steaming make sure your machine is up to steam temperature especially true with single boiler machines which can take a minute to get there after flipping the steam switch and a tip for getting maybe a little more steam out of some of the single boiler machines once you know how long it takes for the machine to get to steam temperature you can start steaming a few seconds before the machine indicates it's reached full time doing that with many single boiler machines will cause the heating element to stay on generating more steam while you're profiting if you wait until the machine indicates it's ready the elements probably going to turn off and stop generating steam while you're frothing now that doesn't work with all single boiler machines especially those with thermal blocks but do give it a try with yours and you might get a little extra steam power other best practices come down to what I'll call purge wipe purge so purge your wand immediately before steaming to remove any water that's in the steaming circuit you don't want that extra water in your milk then as soon as you're done frothing use a towel to wipe your before milk has a chance to bake on then purge again and that final purge that's really important when you have finished steaming the tip is still on the milk and as the wand quickly cools milk is going to be drawn up into the wand and that final purge gets the milk out now we have had cases where people didn't purge properly and milk and get all the way back to the boiler and that's going to be a really stinky mess so always purge after steaming to recap best practices start with a 12 ounce pitcher use cold milk and a cold pitcher purge the wand prior to steaming and wipe and purge again immediately after steaming before I get to the technique of steaming I want to talk about proper milk temperature so the whole idea behind frothing milk is creating a sweet creamy texture now heating milk increases its apparent sweetness but only to a point now if you're newer to milk based espresso beverages you might be expecting a temperature closer to a regular drip style coffee and let me tell you that should never be the case milk is added sweetest from 135 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit that's 57 to 66 Celsius as you go hotter you'll lose the sweetness and go too hot and you'll scold the milk to get the proper temperature you can use a frothing thermometer or do it by feel if using a thermometer be aware of lag after you turn the steam off you can expect a temperature to rise as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 degrees Celsius so cut the steam before you see your desired temp on the thermometer if judging temperature by steel you've hit that sweet spot when the outside of the pitcher is just beginning to get uncomfortable to hold due to the heating so that's when you want to cut the steam frothing technique is all about finding the proper steam to position relative to the surface of the milk to low in the milk and you won't get enough air in too high and you'll either get too much air in or make a really big mess so the idea is to start with a steam tip just below the surface of the milk then adjust the depth so you hear the occasional riff which indicates small amounts of air being sucked into the milk now whether you want a superfine microphone for a latte or an area froth for a traditional cappuccino the start of the process is the same you want to get risks of air in as soon as possible so it's going to take air better when it's colder for a fine lot a froth all air should be in by the time the outside of the pitcher starts to warm point you position the wand a hair deeper into the milk and find a tip position and angle which causes the milk to roll that role really helps break up any larger bubbles and mixes the milk to create a uniform texture through the pitcher for an area cappuccino froth you can continue sucking in riffs of air a little longer and judge the froth by its expansion in the pitcher when you get the desired volume lower the wand into the Milka hair and continue rolling when you've reached your desired temperature shut the steam off with a tip still in the milk remove the pitcher wipe down the wand and don't forget that final purge to get residual milk out of the steam wand after steaming if you find you have some larger bubbles you can knock and swirl the pitcher a few times to help break up and mix those two recap frothing technique start with the tip just below the surface adjust tip of this into here occasional rifts of air into the milk for a latte get all that air in by the time the outside of the pitcher starts to warm for area froth continue adding air when all air is in find a tip addition and angle which rolls the milk and continue rolling to final temperature shut off the steam with a tip still in the milk wipe and purge the steam wand then knock and swirl the pitcher if needed to get rid of those larger bubbles in a second I'll get to how you can practice all this without using any milk but first a quick look at dairy and non-dairy milk types and ratings based on our frothing pouring and taste tests I've linked to our blog with the full results we even try goat milk and you can get the results up here in the cards or that link is down in the video description as well some notable results whole fat dairy milk that's the gold standard it scored 5 out of 5 in frothing pouring and taste for 15 points total our Dairy Milk runner-up was a surprise it was lactaid milk which scored 14 out of 15 points slightly edging out 2% milk which had a score of 13 our testers really liked the sweetness of the lactaid milk we had another surprise in non-dairy milks now almond milk is one of the standard milk alternatives and coffee shops it scored 8 points slightly edging out another popular alternative soy milk which scored 7 points our winner in non dairy was macadamia milk with 11 points non-dairy milks typically fall short and frothing but our testers like the sweet nutty aroma of the macadamia milk get our complete results via the links including testing of cashew o coconut and pet goat milk which frost well but putting it nicely was face twisting ly overwhelming so you really want to improve your frothing skills or a practice latte art well here's how you can do it all day long without using any milk or espresso for the milk just use plain water and add a drop or two of dish soap that combination it's gonna behave nearly identically to milk when froth them here's Sapphire a local barista who does some really incredible latte art with a really cool technique to practice pouring just add a drop of food coloring to a couple ounces of hot water in a latte Cup for contrast and then use the soapy froth you did to pour your art anyone for a blue latte yeah yeah you don't really want to drink that one but you can practice all day long and of course your equipment it's gonna be extra clean just don't forget to purge that steam on if you've got comments or questions on anything coffee use those comments down there and I'd be happy to hear from you and I'll personally respond or you can always talk to one of our coffee experts by phone chat or email contact info is down there in the video description if you like the sort of stuff I do hope you'll subscribe to our Channel I'm mark thanks for watching and I invite you to come back soon for more of the best on everything coffee brought to you by whole latte love want to learn more subscribe now so you'll know about the latest videos on everything coffee from whole latte love [Music]

Channel: Whole Latte Love

Views: 1,462,449

Keywords: How To, froth milk, Beginners, Beginner, Latte Art, Frothing Technique, Milk Test, Non-dairy, Milk alternatives, Temperature, Frothing Pitcher, Practice, Espresso, Espresso Machine

Id: svHfsziIkW4

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Fri May 10 2019