You like to drink coffee? Let's check out this awesome guide! You'll become an expert at making steamed milk for lattes, cappuccinos, and your favorite coffees. Want to upgrade your steaming milk skills for work, or just want to make delicious steamed milk at home, don't worry. After reading this article, you're guaranteed to be able to serve even better steamed milk!
List of contents
What is Steamed Milk?
What is steamed milk? Well, steamed milk is milk that has been processed with high-pressure steam from an espresso machine. How do you do it? We slowly add steam to the milk until the natural fat in the milk expands and creates 'micro foam'. Micro foam is like a layer of super small and fine milk bubbles on top of the milk.
Well, the end result of this process is a drink with a very smooth and soft texture, perfect for mixing with espresso-based drinks. Although it sounds simple, getting the perfect result requires a gentle and accurate technique.
6 Easy Steps to Make Steamed Milk
1. Fill the Jug with Milk
The first step to making steamed milk is to fill your milk jug with cold milk. Although it seems trivial, it is very important to put the right amount of milk into the jug. This will not only produce great steamed milk, but also to keep the milk fresh.
2. Stretching
This second step is called 'stretching', aka when you start to activate the steam and position the steam wand nozzle just below the surface of the milk until you hear a hissing sound. Now, this process is what makes the micro foam, by letting air slowly enter the milk.
The important thing here is to place the nozzle just a little below the surface of the milk, so that in addition to making foam, the milk also moves to form a vortex. In my opinion, this stretching process only takes about 5 seconds, because you only need to put a little air into the milk. Once you feel the foam is enough for your coffee - which requires more foam for a cappuccino and less for a latte - you can immediately proceed to the third step.
3. Spinning
Now, this third stage is what we call 'spinning', which is when you insert the steam wand nozzle a little further into the milk – about half a centimeter (about 1/5 inch) – and then continue to swirl the milk in a whirlpool motion.
At this point, you shouldn’t hear any hissing sounds anymore, except maybe the occasional bubbling sound that the steam wand makes.
The spinning process is to mix the micro foam with the milk evenly, so the result is a 'polished' milk. The key to spinning the milk properly is to tilt the pitcher slightly - about 15° - to get the perfect whirlpool.
You should be able to find the sweet spot that is slightly off center and try to maintain that position from start to finish.
Continue swirling the milk until the pitcher is hot enough, or around 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit), then turn off the steam and immediately wipe your steam wand with a clean, damp cloth.
But, in my opinion, if you want to make it Latte Art, the milk is better if it is a little cold, around 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). You can use a thermometer to make sure it is the right temperature.
4. Lift and rest
Once the milk is ready, give the jug a good swig on the counter to break up any large bubbles, then let it sit for a while while you prepare the rest. espresso.
Now, before pouring, swirl the milk around the pitcher to polish the milk and make sure the milk and micro foam are really mixed together. The shinier the milk, the better the result. But, don't be too hard, or it will create new bubbles. Try to make the milk look like wet paint.
5. Pour Milk into Your Coffee
If the milk has been successfully made perfectly, the foam will appear first from the pitcher because it is positioned on top. You have to pour the milk into the coffee at a consistent speed (not too fast and not too slow, consistent).
The trick is to pour the milk along the side of your cup, placing the jug directly above the cup.
If you use a large jug, you will need to divide the foam into different types of coffee you want to make. Usually, the order is to pour cappuccino first, hot chocolate second, latte third, and flat white last.
Well, a tip that you can immediately practice is to 'separate' your milk by pouring half of it into a smaller container. This will give you more control to regulate how much foam you want to add to your espresso-based drink – this really helps to make Latte Art which is really cool like what I did below.
6. Done! Congrats.
Congratulations! You are now a master of steaming milk, you are ready to make various kinds of delicious and interesting coffee drinks. Don't forget to visit the article on how to make espresso. Oh yes, in short, the steps above can be summarized in one easy picture below: