Looking for milk steaming advice

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
ovidio
Posts: 3
Joined: 8 years ago

#1: Post by ovidio »

hi
I have a Rancilio Silvia with a PID that I custom installed myself on the face of the machine, and love the Silvia but can't seem to figure out why I have some problems with steaming milk. Basically what happens is that when I steam the milk I do get some nice micro-foam texturing but when I pour the milk in the coffee to make a latte, it pours nicely but at the end of the pour I always seem to get a "clump' of milk foam so that it sits on top of the coffee, thus not allowing me to make latte art, if I wanted.
I don't mean to make this sound like a bad problem, because the coffee tastes great :) however I would like to know why this happens. The milk texture seems perfect to me except this "clump" of foam which pours out at the end

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Just fyi I do keep the milk pitcher in the fridge so it's cold when I pour the milk for steaming.

Séb
Posts: 363
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by Séb »

Once you've finished steaming, do you swirl the milk in the pitcher many times? Because it sound to me like you are not doing it so the foam separate from the milk. You need to swirl the milk and tap it few times on the counter to get rid of any small bubbles. Or it might be because you introduced too much air while steaming. Try just a tiny bit less. There are lots of tutorials on youtube that could help you.

Here is a very good tutorial, of course bear in mind that he have MUCH more steaming power then what you get from your Silvia so you will need much more time to get to the correct temperature (which is a good thing to learn): http://youtu.be/HskGjKR0t8M

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ovidio (original poster)
Posts: 3
Joined: 8 years ago

#3: Post by ovidio (original poster) »

Thanks for the tips and the video is also a good one, I have seen others but I like this video because it concentrates on texturing the milk rather than latte art :)

I just tried it this morning, and got better results by swirling it much longer than I was originally. Somedays I wish I would have gone right for a double boiler machine so I could brew the coffee at the same time as I steam the milk, but the Silvia is a nice little machine regardless.

The only other thing I need to try is to use other milks. At home we have weaned ourselves into using skim milk (cutting down calories when kids drank more milk) but now that we rarely drink milk on its own I shouldn't compromise with coffee and use whole milk instead.

any thoughts on type of milk to use?

thx

Séb
Posts: 363
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by Séb »

I have made a lot of test recently using differents milks and i should have tell you also before that it can make a big difference. For example, i can't get any good microfoam using Natrel 2% fine filered milk (i have no idea if you have the same brand in BC), it always gives lots of fine bubbles no matter how perfect i steam it! I tried many times and my friend confirm he got the same problems. Quebon is nice but the best i've tried so far is Lactancia Purefiltre 2%. Higher fat % will give you more mouthfeel, better texture while a low fat milk will give you more foam, much more foam but less mouthfeel. A fat free milk is very difficult to get anything close to microfoam, you will always end up with too much foam and light texture. So just try 2% or 3.25% and you will see a huge improvement!

Take note that the Silvia is not a good machine to steam large qty of milk. It is good for a small cappuccino but certainly not for large latte for example. You risk burning the element of your boiler if you use it to steam large quantity of milk too often. I used to own a Silvia also.

Nunas
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Joined: 9 years ago

#5: Post by Nunas »

IMHO, you are most likely pulling too much air into the milk. I often do this intentionally when I make cappuccinos. That blob of foam is what I use for the cap foam. When doing foam for lattes, do not stretch your milk nearly so far. Also, entrain the desired air only until you hit 25 (80) to 40 (100) degrees, the lower the better. Hotter milk stretches differently than colder milk (as mentioned, putting your milk in the foaming jug into the fridge until you need it will give you more time until you get used to getting good foam quickly). After the foam is stretched to the desired volume, if you have not already done so, move the wand so that you set up a swirling of the milk, which some call a vortex. This will help combine any remaining liquid milk with the foam and it will break up any larger bubbles. Finally, don't heat too much; you should stop by 60 (140), or the milk will loose sweetness and taste cooked. Be sure to always use a thermometer (for all the years I've been doing this I still do so every time), and be aware that there is a time lag between the displayed temperature and the actual temperature, especially for the bigger, analogue thermometers, due to their greater mass.

Banging the jug on the bench and swirling it there will not overcome errors in over stretching the milk. It won't combine any deeper, liquid milk with the foam above it. That is, you can't turn cappuccino form into latte foam, but it will remove any large bubbles and will combine the thin layer of denser foam at the top of the jug with the thinner foam just underneath.

By all means, experiment with different milk brands and percentage of fat. Most milk, even skim will foam nicely, but over the years we have occasionally encountered brands/types that just won't foam well.

ovidio (original poster)
Posts: 3
Joined: 8 years ago

#6: Post by ovidio (original poster) »

thanks all, am I ever glad I found this forum !!

Seb: I will definitely try different milks, and I agree with you Nunas, I'm pretty sure I'm introducing too much air.

I used the thermometer when I first started and once I got the feel of the temperature with my hand, I stopped using the thermometer, but I think I'll start using it again just to make sure I'm staying within the desired range, although I think I am because I'm very happy with the taste of the milk

I will continue to follow your suggestions and will report back, so that other folks can benefit from this

Qays
Posts: 10
Joined: 9 years ago

#7: Post by Qays »

Based on my limited experience, I would suggest you also pay attention to the amount of milk you are steaming. If you're making a 6 oz drink then steam between 4 to 5.5 oz of milk. The steaming process will be faster and so will require more patience to develop the skill needed but the technique is closer to what is demonstrated on most videos on the net. If you use more milk then more time will be required but the best method will be different from what you'll find in most videos on the net. If anyone has a video with a slow steaming method please post - it would be nice to see one.