How to texture your milk so that it's nice and silky.
Milk texturing is an important skill that all baristas should master to perfection.
It takes an enormous amount of practise to achieve this goal.
Let’s set out the process for you here.
Firstly, you need to pour the correct volume of milk for each of the drinks you are creating into your jug. This is an important step to avoid leftovers or indeed wasted milk.
You need to keep an eye on the milk as it starts streaming. Keep focused.
Position the steam wand approximately 20 to 30 degrees towards you. It needs to be directly in front of you to avoid working on an awkward angle.
Keeping the pitcher parallel to the counter, lift it straight up to the wand. Make sure only the tip of the wand sits in the milk. With the jug in one hand, place your other hand on the side of the jug to feel the temperature change as you are heating the milk. You need to feel the heat and not rely on a temperature gauge. With practise you will develop ‘hand memory’ and become consistent in time.
Finally, whilst tilting the jug to the side, start steaming with full power. You should be hearing little stretch noises. If you are hearing quite loud noises, it could be too much air is going into your milk and it will not get silky. If you hear sharp screeching noise, move the steam wand away from the edge of base of the milk jug. When it is stretching well, it is stretching quietly.
After a few spins you will notice that your milk is starting to get warm. Stop stretching it. At this stage you just need to spin the milk as you will probably have sufficient foam. Find the place in the milk jug where the spinning will be faster as it will make the milk silkier.
Once the heat of the jug becomes too hot to touch, remove your hand from the jug and leave it spinning for a couple of seconds and then turn the steamer wand off. Your milk will be ready. (Optimal Temperature is 65 to 68 degrees).
If you are not familiar with temperatures, it may be an idea to start your process by attaching a thermometer to your milk jug. If you use a thermometer make sure your temperature does not exceed 65 to 70°C. You will see the temperature rise on the thermometer even after you turned the steam wand off. Some customers may ask you for extra hot milk. However beware that going above these temperatures will negatively affect the quality, texture, and consistency of the final coffee – in both appearance and taste. Only ever do this if it’s a customer request.
Temperature gauges can give a false reading if you have preheated leftover milk in the jug. There can be a time lag in the true temperature indicator. So do keep your hand on the side of the jug to be sure.
Learn to feel the heat… And keep that milk spinning before you pour.
Related Tags: Australian Coffee
