How to Steam Milk for Lattes: A Beginner's Guide

hello everyone assalamualaikum peace be upon you and welcome back to my channel it has been a couple of months since i posted my last video and in that time my video on dialing in espresso kind of took off thank you so much for all the love and support on that video the best way for me to really thank you is to listen to what you have to say and so many of you have asked me to make a video on steaming milk for lattes so here it is my only disclaimer is that i'm not a coffee professional and i'm a student of coffee just like so many of you i was unsure of whether to make this video at all because i know there are so many helpful articles and videos out there that teach how to steam milk for lattes so in an effort to not be too redundant i will emphasize key points that i personally struggled with and also noticed are specific to the breville espresso machines so everything i've compiled for this video is based on my limited knowledge and practice also i'm sharing and teaching with um whole cow's milk in mind so let's just get into it [Music] let me start with a rundown of why we steam milk for lattes and cappuccinos steaming milk isn't only necessary to achieve latte art there's actually a prime temperature and texture that makes a latte a latte though the latter can be subjective when milk is heated to a specific temperature range 135 to 150 degrees fahrenheit it achieves a peak in sweetness if you've ever ordered or had steamed milk on its own you might have noticed it tastes sweeter than like a cold glass of milk as far as i understand the naturally occurring molecules of sugar and milk which is called lactose start breaking down within that temperature range steam or heat milk for too long and you'll get milk that the coffee community calls burnt this ideal temperature range is also why baristas might cry on the inside when people like my mom request extra hot lattes while milk that's microwaved to a temperature between 135 and 150 degrees fahrenheit might attain the sweetness you're going for you can't pour latte art with just heated milk it must have some air introduced into it to volumize it in other words it must be aerated i'm not talking about those frother tools that just create these big foamy bubbles just a slight addition of air into the milk that is simultaneously being churned so we add air bubbles to the milk and since there's this vortex churning the milk the air bubbles are colliding and being thrashed around getting smaller and smaller until their microscopic air bubbles mixed evenly throughout the milk hence the term microfoam i'm sure we've all heard a lot about how steamed milk should look it should look smooth with no visible bubbles yes it should be kind of shiny and glossy looking yes and when you swirl the pitcher around it should coat the sides smoothly with minimal tiny bubbles we might not get that every time but there should be a goal in mind to actively work toward okay so there's an ideal temperature and an ideal texture and we get there in basically three steps add heat add air and churn or mix personally i know of two ways to achieve this the first way is to heat milk on the stove or in a microwave and then use a french press or a tool called the nano foamer to aerate the milk and do the mixing or churning the second way is to use a milk steaming wand to do all three steps with one tool in this video i'll be using the steaming method using my breville barista pro nearly all of the tips will apply with any steam wand but i will share some specific tips for working with the breville line of espresso machines which do come with some limitations how much milk first things first use cold refrigerated milk but how much milk should you put i personally recommend keeping the milk level below the dip of the spout here steam is hot water vapor right so steamed milk is hot aerated milk so the volume of the steamed milk ends up being more than the volume of the milk you initially put in plus while the milk is steaming the level of the milk will rise a lot because of the vortex motion you can pass the bottom of the spout and still steam your milk just fine but the reason i recommend you stay below this level is because when pouring latte art it's better for your steamed milk to take up less space overall in your pitcher it gives you more control when pouring if your pitcher is too full the milk will pour out faster so you'll be more focused on not spilling and will struggle with the latte art in my personal opinion the pitcher that comes with the breville machines is ideal for pouring a drink with a final volume of eight to nine ounces the position position the steam on so the top of it is perpendicularly facing you and the vertical part of the wand is slanting upward so the tip is a bit lifted now to find the wand tip position slide the pitcher up so the pouring edge of the pitcher is flush against the wand the pointy tip of your pitcher will be in contact with the steam wand throughout the entire steaming process you'll tilt just the bottom of the pitcher down and either left or right until the tip of the steam wand is angled toward the nine o'clock or three o'clock position and is about maybe like a centimeter away from the edge of the pitcher [Music] this is the pathway the steam will travel in and consequently create the vortex too far from the pitcher wall and the steam won't bounce off the wall to create the vortex too close to the picture wall and again not creating a smooth vortex my personal preference is the three o'clock position and i hold the picture with my left hand so that i can turn off the steam wand with my right hand the common process of shifting the wand tip halfway down and then halfway to the side is just to help you figure out the final position and then memorize it when you actually steam milk don't literally take these steps just place the wantip in that final position from the get-go [Music] okay before you steam the milk purge your steam wand this is important no matter what machine you use because you want to eliminate any possible buildup inside the steam wand as well as get rid of any of the initial water that comes out we don't want to add any liquid water to our milk it's especially important to purge your wand on a breville machine because they take their sweet time chugging along before actually emitting steam maybe that's why it's called the barista express okay this next tip might be the key to your steaming struggles if you have a breville machine i'm not talking about the dual boiler after you purge your steam wand you have to turn it off so that you can get the pitcher in position right okay but on a breville barista pro express or even probably the bambino machines the steaming mechanism or whatever it is in the machine doesn't take long to turn off so if you take your time positioning your milk pitcher before you turn the steam wand back on it's gonna chug and spit out water all over again before actually emitting steam so remember to move swiftly from purging to submerging notice that i never gave you a precise degree of angle for the steam wand the angle will vary from person to person and can depend on the picture size too so for the breville machines just focus on the wand tip location and the angle of the wand should fall into place correctly if you're using a larger pitcher that keeps hitting the drip tray i recommend rotating your steam wand out to the side of the machine and steaming your milk there instead of more from the front of your machine i don't rely on time recommendations to determine when to move through the steaming steps what takes three to four seconds on a la marzocco machine can take anywhere from seven to ten seconds on my barista pro so instead i use my eyeballs sense of touch and my ears there are two phases of milk steaming with two corresponding depth levels the two phases are aerating or air introduction and the vortex or churning phase when you first turn the steam function back on the tip of the wand should be halfway submerged under the milk no introducing air just yet once the steam one gets going then you gently lower your pitcher until the wand tip is barely touching the top of the milk this is the aerating phase you want to listen for a loud hissing sound like paper tearing don't get too intense here you want a gentle introduction of air then use your free hand to check the temperature of the lower side of the pitcher when the pitcher temperature is close to the temperature of your hand you need to shift gears into the next phase gently slide your pitcher up a teensy bit like half a centimeter alternatively you can gently tilt the steam wand down into the milk like this stop moving the pitcher up or the wand down when the paper tearing sound stops and there's a smooth vortex going i call this the vortex phase and it might sound something like this be careful not to wiggle or jerk the pitcher around when you shift the pitcher up and when you're in the vortex phase really try to hold the pitcher steady my biggest tip here is to work toward finding the perfect spot for your steam wand and pitcher so that you can rest your pitcher on the drip tray and tilt the steam wands down to shift to the vortex phase instead of having to lift your pitcher this won't work for all pitcher sizes or milk amounts but it is good for preventing those sudden jerks that end up introducing extra air when we're already past the aerating phase and into the vortex phase now the last step which is to stop steaming might be one that's hard to time i don't use a thermometer because i feel like it'll be too clunky but remember the ideal temperature of steamed milk is between 135 and 150 degrees fahrenheit so if you do have a thermometer you can check the temperature while you're steaming the milk when the pitcher is too hot to rest my fingers on it for longer than two seconds i turn off the steam wand and yes i know everyone's pain tolerance level is different but i think it's probably within that 15 degree range of ideal milk temperatures so far this gauge has worked for me on machines other than mine as well so i'm sticking to it after you turn off the steam wand wait until it completely turns off before you take the wand out of the pitcher always clean the steam wand with a wet towel at this point i highly recommend getting a designated microfiber towel for this because the paper towel is way too thin and will burn your hand so clean off the steam wand with the wet towel and then purge it into the drip tray never skip this step trust me you do not want your steam on getting clogged up because it'll just stop working and the steam might build up in the machine and come out from the drip tray and then you'll freak out and just trust me now i have just a few more tips before i let you go if you see bubbles in your milk don't freak out if you don't care to do latte art you can just proceed but if you do want a smooth latte or want to pour art you can probably still save the milk texturally by tapping the pitcher gently but firmly on the counter to pop the bubbles but doing this can and does disrupt the harmoniously textured milk into separate layers of foam and milk so be sure to swirl the pitcher around to remix any milk and foam that might have separated be sure to end on a swirl though before you pour so that your foam doesn't just sit on top in the future you should work on the vortex phase of steaming to eliminate the bubbles be careful not to move the pitcher around during this phase and also maintain a non-aggressive looking vortex maybe your angle is slightly off if it looks like there's a thick lumpy layer in the milk when you swirl it that usually means one of two things either the foam has separated because you left the pitcher sitting there too long after steaming the milk or it's an indication that too much air was let in at the beginning which results in more foam overall this is desirable for traditional cappuccinos but not really for lattes this can be fixed sometimes by swirling the pitcher gently for a while until it looks like a smoother consistency solve this issue in the future by reducing the time in phase 1 of steaming the aerating phase on the flip side if your milk is too thin or if you're using an alternative milk such as oat or almond milk you need to introduce more air so you need to spend more time in that initial aerating phase you'll know your milk is too thin if it doesn't coat the sides of the pitcher at all when you swirl it or if the milk doesn't sit on top at all when you go to pour your latte art if your oat milk lattes come out great but your whole milk lattes don't you're probably used to being too aggressive with the aerating phase and need to dial it back when steaming whole milk believe it or not that's all there is to it i know it's probably a bit overwhelming if you're new to it but i promise once you start incorporating some of these changes here and there in your steaming routine you're going to see a difference and will also get used to it until it becomes second nature that's definitely the case for me i really enjoy sharing coffee related content on my channel and i sincerely hope this video was helpful to you if you do enjoy my content please give this video a thumbs up and consider subscribing to support my channel and let me know that i should keep going i pray you're doing well and i'll talk to you in the next one

Channel: Hijabs and Aprons

Views: 340,892

Keywords: hijabs and aprons, hijab and apron, muslim blogger, breville barista pro, breville espresso machine, how to espresso machine, espresso machine, espresso beginners guide, steaming milk, how to steam milk, how to froth milk, how to steam milk breville barista pro, how to steam milk breville barista express, steaming milk for beginners, steaming milk for latte art, milk steaming beginners guide, milk steaming, how to use a steam wand, latte art milk, steaming milk for lattes

Id: 691R_H76Bys

Length: 15min 6sec (906 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 24 2022