What type of milk is best for creating milk foam? Which milk brand produces the best-tasting foam? Professional methods and techniques for creating perfect milk foam

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Latte contains espresso and milk, with milk making up the majority of a latte (FrontStreet Coffee's latte has a coffee-to-milk ratio of 1:6). Therefore, the quality of milk greatly affects the taste of a latte. Of course, when making lattes, choosing the right milk also makes it easier to create a perfect latte. FrontStreet Coffee will share how to select milk for making lattes.

How to Choose Milk?

The choice of milk is essentially the choice of milk fat content. Currently, there are 3 types of milk on the market: skim milk with less than 0.5% fat content, low-fat milk with 0.5%-1.5% fat content, and whole milk with more than 3% fat content. Typically, milk used for latte art is whole milk with about 3% fat content, because milk with less fat produces harder foam, while we want smooth foam.

Therefore, when choosing between whole milk and skim milk, it's recommended to use whole milk with higher fat content for making lattes.

Milk pasteurization methods are divided into ultra-high temperature sterilization and pasteurization. The former uses short-term ultra-high temperatures to kill bacteria, which also destroys many nutrients while killing bacteria. Although it has a longer shelf life (180-360 days), its taste is inferior, and it can be stored at room temperature. The latter uses heat at 80°C for continuous sterilization, which preserves most nutrients and has better flavor, but requires refrigerated storage with a shelf life of about 12 days.

We generally call ultra-high temperature sterilized milk "room temperature milk" (pure milk), while pasteurized milk is called "low-temperature milk" (fresh milk). FrontStreet Coffee recommends using low-temperature milk to make lattes. As for brand choice, it's recommended to use local fresh milk brands.

How to Foam Milk?

(1) Pour about 225g of chilled fresh milk (about 5°C) into a latte pitcher (about 1/3 full).

(2) Turn on the steam wand. Before placing the steam wand in the milk pitcher, let the nozzle release some steam first. This both preheats the steam wand and flushes out condensed water from inside the wand. Then, insert the steam nozzle shallowly at a 30-40 degree angle just below the milk surface (nozzle tip inserted about 0.7cm deep), or tilt the steel pitcher at a 30-40 degree angle, inserting at a position 1/4 from the center to the left (or right). The steam wand should be about one finger's width from the inner wall of the milk pitcher. The purpose is to create a vortex. If the steam wand is too deep below the milk surface, no vortex will form in the pitcher, and the milk will only heat up without producing beautiful foam.

(3) Then turn on the steam machine switch (milk control button), but don't turn it up too much, otherwise the milk foam won't form before the milk boils, making it impossible to create foam. Similarly, it can't be too small, as insufficient steam won't create foam either. Usually, start with the button halfway, then open it to maximum once milk convection begins. Initially, you'll hear a "hissing" sound. When it feels warm (or when you think there's enough foam), a vortex will clearly appear on the surface. At this point, the foam volume will increase, and the steel pitcher should be lowered (keeping the nozzle insertion depth consistently at 0.7cm). The purpose is to make the foam denser. Continue until the foam reaches about nine-tenths full in the pitcher or the temperature approaches 65°C. If the "hissing" sound is particularly sharp, it indicates incorrect foaming.

(4) When the cup is slightly hot, turn off the steam and immediately move the latte pitcher away. If you continue foaming, it will make the foam too hard. When hard foam is poured into coffee, it won't mix with the coffee but will accumulate on top like fluffy, whipped fresh cream. If you continue longer, it will separate into 90% flowing milk with a thick, hard foam lid floating on top. When poured into coffee, the milk will flow out of the latte pitcher first. Overheating will also cause the foam to disappear. The prepared foam shouldn't sit too long, or it will also separate. The temperature after foaming should be around 65°C, and foaming time should be 8-15 seconds.

The texture of properly foamed milk: It should be neither rough foam nor soft, fluffy foam. Ideal foam should have a dense texture, pour out like yogurt, and be overall thick and smooth with a moderate sense of richness.

(5) After finishing foaming, clean the machine. Turn on the steam, remove the steam wand, and spray out residual milk. Otherwise, dried milk will block the nozzle and breed bacteria. Wipe the milk stains from the steam head, and finally return the steam head to its position.

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