Standard milk foam is foam that must be tiny in size, soft and stable in structure. Thus, when shaping or mixing drinks, it will be beautiful, not broken and above all, the feeling of enjoying the smooth foam gently touching the lips is very seductive. Standard how to froth milk can’t be done only 1-2 times but needs a very serious training process. Many people think that making milk foam is “very simple”, but this notion is completely wrong. There are many operations where you need to pay attention to fresh milk! Let’s go with KITCHENBAR to learn how to froth milk in the article below!
Which Device is Suitable for Frothing Milk?
Surely you have seen some drinks outside the shop with milk foam, the most common ones are definitely coffee such as cappuccino, latte, matochina,… The upper layer of milk foam is soft, fragrant and has a fatty taste. greasy. However, to be able to create that smooth foam layer is really not easy.
First of all, if you want to create the most standard milk foam for preparation, you need to choose the appropriate tool. Maybe you just need to search the Internet to find a variety of different ways to make milk foam from familiar tools. But KITCHENBAR dares to bet you that no matter how skillful you are, you won’t get the standard milk foam like outside.
The secret that makes milk foam different lies in the recipe, ingredients and tool control. There are many different ways to make milk foam, but the best way to make milk foam is to foam milk from a coffee machine. Milk foam is created by using hot steam to foam and heat the milk. This is completely different from using other types of tools.
However, not all coffee machines have a milk frother and not everyone has a coffee maker to froth milk. We still have other ways to create smooth milk foam. You can use a milk frother, a French Press coffee maker, a blender, an egg beater, or even a glass jar with a lid. To learn how in detail follow below!
How to Froth Milk with a Foaming Faucet at Cafe Makers
When you whip milk, you’re essentially doing two things at the same time: creating froth by introducing air into the milk, and heating the milk.
While the steam introduces microscopic air bubbles into the milk to buoy this structure, the steam also heats the milk (this is when it comes back to the protein composition mentioned earlier). In cold milk, milk proteins exist in the form of folded molecular blocks (3rd order structure) or as many protein molecules linked together (quaternary structure). As the milk warms, the proteins begin to expand to form an “air-trapping” texture. And the milk foam created will be smooth.
For the best foam quality, you should use UHT (Ultra Heat Temperature) pasteurized milk. In addition, milk must always be kept refrigerated so that it can produce foam when used (should be kept at 3 degrees Celsius). You should also note, foamed milk should not be reused. Besides, the milking shift should be kept cold before milking, and the milking bowl and milking tools must be clean and dry.
The method of frothing milk with a coffee machine is carried out according to the following process
- Step 1: Put the milk into the milking bowl and place the nozzle to sink about 1cm below the surface of the milk.
- Step 2: Open the valve to sniff the milk faucet (can open ¾ or full valve) and then put one hand under the milking bowl to feel the temperature. When the milk whisk works, it will make a long sound and the surface of the milk cup appears ripples.
- Step 3: Slowly lower the whisk down to 1cm so that the nozzle exposes the air, maintaining a prolonged squeak and foaming milk.
- Step 4: When the milk temperature drops to 35 – 40 degrees Celsius, continue to slowly raise the milking case to 1cm so that the nozzle heats the milk and melts the bubbles.
- Step 5: When the milk temperature reaches 55-60 degrees Celsius, turn off the machine. The machine after turning off the milk continues to be heated. Waiting until the temperature is up to 60 – 65 degrees Celsius is the best.
- Step 6: Steam the nozzle for 1 second and then clean the nozzle.
- Step 7: Hold the milk shaker and shake it clockwise, and at the same time use your other hand to tap the bottom of the mug to dissolve the big bubbles.
Froth milk with coffee makers? What should be noted?
- Using foamed pasteurized milk is best. If you use pasteurized milk, it must be UHT (Ultra Heat Temperature) milk. Always use cold milk, store at 3 – 4 degrees Celsius.
- The milking shift does not need to be refrigerated, but for the best effect, you should refrigerate the milk before using. In particular, the milking bowl and milking tools must be cleaned and dried.
- It is recommended to refrigerate the milking bowl before use.
- It is recommended to use a thermometer when frothing milk if you are new to the practice or are not familiar with how to determine temperature by hand.
- Do not immerse the whisk in any liquid except milk and water.
- Do not use a knife or any metal tools, abrasive pads to clean the milk faucet because it will scratch the faucet, creating conditions for bacteria to accumulate.
- Always clean the milking nozzle before and after use to avoid bacteria clinging to affect the health of the drinker. The way to clean the milk whisk is to use a wet cloth or soak it in hot water for 3-5 minutes.
How to Froth Milk without a Coffee Maker’s Froth Faucet?
As mentioned above, if you don’t have a coffee maker that can froth milk, you can still make milk foam using many other tools. Here are some recipes to help you make milk foam without coffee makers.
Froth milk with a French press
In addition to using a coffee machine, you can also create milk foam with a French press – a specialized tool for storing coffee. The method of foaming with a French press is as follows:
- Step 1: Put the milk in a glass jar or mug and heat it in the microwave for about 45 seconds. The best type of milk you should use for foaming is fat-free or 2% fat-free milk.
- Step 2: After heating the milk, put the milk in the French press.
- Step 3: Close the lid of the bottle and press up and down continuously to create foam. If you feel the foam is thick enough and porous, then stop.
- Step 4: Remove the foam in the bottle and then pour the milk into the glass. Finally, scoop the milk foam to the top.
So you can make simple milk foam without a coffee maker.
Froth milk with a coffee frother
Using a coffee frother is also a method of foaming that is applied by many people, especially in small-scale cafes. How to froth milk with a coffee frother is done as follows:
- Step 1: Put the milk foam in the microwave to warm it up for about 45 seconds. It is recommended to use 2% full-fat or fat-free milk for foaming. You can use a stainless metal cup or pot to warm the milk
- Step 2: After 45 seconds, take out the milk jug and tilt the shift, then use a coffee frother to create foam. Note, to create a beautiful, smooth foam, you must beat quickly and evenly.
- Step 3: After you have a satisfactory foam layer, pour milk into a coffee cup, then scoop the foam into the cup and create art.
Froth milk with a blender
You can also apply the foaming method with a blender – a machine that every beverage shop must have. If you know how, the milk foam created from the blender is also very smooth and porous, giving the best artistic shaping effect.
How to make milk foam with a blender is quite simple, done in 4 steps:
- Step 1: Heat the milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds. You can also use a stainless metal mug or pot to heat milk
- Step 2: Pour milk into a clean blender
- Step 3: Choose high speed grinding mode
- Step 4: Blend for 45 – 60 seconds, until there is a layer of milk foam like that, then turn off the machine. Pour the foam into the cup of coffee
Froth milk with a handheld milk frother
If you have a handheld milk frother, you can also use it to make milk foam. Small cafes often use this tool to create smooth, soft foam. The method of foaming with a hand-held milk frother is as follows:
- Step 1: Put the milk in and heat it up in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds.
- Step 2: Take the bottle out of the microwave and press the button to start the hand-held milk frother to froth the milk.
- Step 3: Turn off the machine when the milk foam is smooth enough.
- Step 4: Pour milk and scoop milk foam into the cup to be prepared.
Froth milk in a glass jar with a lid
The final way to create milk foam is to use a glass jar with a lid. This method you can do at home if you don’t have a dedicated milk frother but still want to enjoy a delicious and beautiful cup of milk foam no less than a luxurious cafe. The method of foaming with a glass jar with a lid is as follows:
- Step 1: Put the milk in a glass jar with a lid and close the lid tightly.
- Step 2: Shake the glass bottle well until you see milk foam.
- Step 3: Open the lid of the glass jar and put the jar in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
- Step 4: Take out the bottle and pour milk, ladle into the drink to be mixed.
Does Skim Milk Really Make the Best Milk Foam?
You may have heard someone say skim milk foams better than regular milk. Then another barista thinks whole milk is best for froth.
In fact, the fat in milk doesn’t do much other than destabilize the foam. That’s because the hydrophobic part of the milk protein (casein) is able to attach to the fat instead of the air bubbles. So the more fat there is in the milk, the less microfoam we have. With this in mind, skim milk should deliver air bubbles with the most stable and durable structure possible. However, this type of foam is difficult to artistically pour a latte, instead of flowing smoothly out of the cup, skim milk tends to “float” on the cup.
In a nutshell, whole milk tends to produce a smooth, stable lather and is more suitable for brewing. After all, the purpose of steam milk is to create an emulsification system between milk, protein, and fat, not just “swallow” a lot of foam.
Therefore, bartenders recommend pasteurized foamed milk as best. If you use pasteurized milk, it must be UHT (Ultra Heat Temperature) milk. Always use cold milk, stored at 3 – 4 degrees Celsius. Fresh milk with 2% fat concentration is also popular with baristas when foaming milk.
In particular, to create milk foam, you must use fresh milk. The fresher the milk, the better, milk that is left too long will not be able to foam anymore.
Final Words
Milk foam is an important ingredient to create delicious and greasy drinks. There are many different ways to make milk foam. Hopefully, the sharing about how to froth milk of KITCHENBAR will help make your drink more delicious with smooth milk foam.