Why does some milk fail to froth well? I use 1 percent milk and, although the milk tastes fresh, it fails to froth well.
Thanks,
Dave G.

I think it's harder to froth milk that has very little fat in it. It tends to blow up into big, stiff bubbles if you don't stretch very carefully. You can get decent microfoam with 1%, but you need to stretch less and start the whirlpool phase sooner. Or you can just use 2% or higher fat milk, which is easy to froth and tastes better.

If you want try Lactaid 1%. Lactaid make a nice microfoam.

Most 1 percent milk froths fine; sometimes I buy a container of 1 percent that doesn't work as well. The taste is fine, but the foam is flat. I'm curious; what's going on?
Thanks again,
Dave G.

Here's some science (I googled for "latte foam whey protein casein globules"):

http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available...ed/Levy_thesis.pdf

The author starts with extremely fresh milk and subjects it to a wide variety of parameters (age (lets stand for 1 to 10 days), fat content, lauric acid fortification pre-pasturization vs. post-pasteurization vs. unfortified, pasteurization method (171F @ 15s vs. 210F @ 45s) ). He then froths all combinations, and tests a couple different measures of foam quality (volume and dissipation, and some free fatty acid stuff that I don't understand).

I'd never heard of the lauric acid variable in milk processing ... I'm gonna re-read chapter one (milk) of On Food And Cooking to see if this is talked about.

Biggest differences seemed to be due to the fortification method. Age seems to play a role the less processed the milk is. Surprisingly the pasteurization method didn't seem to make a difference, though it's important to note that he was measuring volume and not taste.

But really, as a consumer, my take-away is that there are things that can be done in processing that might really change frothing performance. We have control over two variables: brand of milk, and age of milk. So use very fresh milk, and if you find a brand that works consistently, keep buying it.

Are you seeing behavior differences between different brands, or within a single brand? If a single brand, then which one?

Costco's organic 1% is usually fine; Trader Joe's organic 1% is inconsistent.
Thanks,
Dave G.

davidl14 wrote:Costco's organic 1% is usually fine; Trader Joe's organic 1% is inconsistent.
Thanks,
Dave G.

Emphasis added. Milk is organic. Cows eat different feed. All processing is not the same. Different additives are added. Storage from cow to cup can vary enormously.

I'd take it up with your grocery store. Their dairy buyer will care about this and might have an explanation.

I've noticed some inconsistencies in Organic milk as well. I also noticed it has a different smell.