Creaming the coffee's milk

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
uziel
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#1: Post by uziel »

Hello, Sorry I am novice. My 1% milk does not froth well in steamer so I bought 25% cream from market. Now I am trying to experiment, if in 100ml 1% milk say if I add 20gm 25%cream that I bought then will it froth well in the steamer to make cappuccino. I basically want all the coffee to be full of froth. :shock:

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TomC
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#2: Post by TomC »

I'm no expert in milk chemistry, but I've read that nonfat milk holds a more stable foam and is easier to make microfoam than 2% or even whole milk, so the problem doesn't lie with your milk choice.
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bettysnephew
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#3: Post by bettysnephew »

I am on a keto diet and use heavy whipping cream instead of milk. It is very difficult to create microfoam in it for lattes. when my daughter comes by for a latte or flat white I get a bit of skim milk from a local dairy. It makes fabulous microfoam for her drinks.
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Nunas
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#4: Post by Nunas »

Uziel, with practice one can foam nearly any milk from skim to whipping cream. As mentioned by another, the lower the butterfat the more stable the foam seems to be. I used to use 1% & 2% and had no trouble foaming (I now use whole milk). Foaming cream is harder to accomplish.

I suggest the problem is probably not with the %BF in the milk but with the technique. There are articles on this web site and many posts on how to foam milk. One caveat is that certain brands of milk simply do not foam well. I ran into this when we lived in Indonesia and again in NZ. In both places changing brands made a big difference. Also, milk has seasonal differences that can affect the foam.

My own suggestions are: Start with 1/3 of a jug (foaming very small amounts can be done but is tricky). Entrain as much air into the milk as you can in fir first few seconds (don't worry about the larger bubbles). Shoot for about double the quantity in the jug for lattes (texture like latex paint) and tripple for cappuccinos (dryer, lighter texture for foam that floats). Once the level is right, then move the nozzle down a little so no more air is drawn; try to position the nozzle so that you get a vortex (whirlpool) effect. This will break the bubbles down into microfoam. I could go on, but you need just to experiment.

bogiesan
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#5: Post by bogiesan »

Foam requires denatured proteins to form the lattice that will hold bubbles od entrained air. The turbulance and heat from the steam pipe provide the forces that denature the proteins. Fat interferes with the process that allows the protein strands to bind.

What about cream that can be whipped to form stiff peaks, you ask? That process uses the force of the balloon whip's wires to denature the proteins that will trap entrained air along with the frigid fat, colder the better. Totally different process.

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cannonfodder
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#6: Post by cannonfodder »

That is why low fat milk tends to produce large soap bubble foam and high fat milk produces a finer texture but requires a bit of skill. I use good old 2% because that is what we have in the house. On the occasion I make a cream sauce and have half and half or whipping cream in the chill chest I will add a splash, or glug, to my 2% to get the fat content up to around 3-4% by guess. That produces a nice microfoam with more ease than a high fat milk. I also prefer the texture and mouthfeel. Straight half and half is to heavy for the coffee IMHO and this hits a nice mid point.
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#7: Post by emradguy »

uziel wrote:Hello, Sorry I am novice. My 1% milk does not froth well in steamer so I bought 25% cream from market. Now I am trying to experiment, if in 100ml 1% milk say if I add 20gm 25%cream that I bought then will it froth well in the steamer to make cappuccino. I basically want all the coffee to be full of froth. :shock:
I find it very interesting, almost perplexing, that you're able to get good results with cream, but not low-fat milk. This brings me to wonder if you and the other responders are on the same page regarding what one considers frothing "well". Knowing most of the other guys, I'm sure they are talking about producing a nice creamy smoothly textured milk foam that partially floats atop the milk-based espresso drink. That quality texture is very difficult to produce with milk products contains more than 4% (some whole milks in the US) butterfat, so I suspect your froth is thick and dense, perhaps standing on its own in peaks and entirely floating on top of the espresso and liquid milk drink below it. While you may well desire the dense milk I am describing, I suspect you may prefer the creamy texture of milk steamed to the quality with which one can pour beautiful latte art...or maybe I'm wrong?
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