Milk Frothing – Getting Started

Any milk steaming or milk frothing mechanism you use should work fine as long as you use it correctly and know what your goals are. As a starting point, you can purchase one of the products offered in most coffee shops. They tend to be cheaper and usually come with instructions that are easy to follow. When you’re ready, you can always upgrade to a finer product.

Here are some tips:

1. Milk frothing increases the volume of the milk. Start with cold milk at roughly two thirds of the required volume, and work your way from there.

2. Ideally the milk should be silky, smooth and creamy rather than airy or bubbly like foam. As you froth your milk, make sure there are no bubbles.

3. The milk should be served at about 155 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, milk reaches its peak texture. Beyond this point the milk boils and the delicate texture and taste are gone.

4. Your drink isn’t complete without some latte art (the beautiful patterns of hearts and rosettas that only a skilled barista can create). Fortunately, a few shortcuts are available for us. The easiest one is to cut or buy cool paper or plastic shapes. The pattern is the ‘cut-out’ part, and is used to form the cinnamon or cocoa shapes on top of your coffee. With those, anyone can show off delicious, artistic lattes and cappuccinos!