Steaming Trick for Awesome Milk

I haven't written many posts on coffee or recently, so thought I would rectify that with this brief post. Given I am still developing my "milk steaming skillz" (I'm a level 6 Milk Steamer with a +3 Jug of Steaming ;), I need all the help I can to get that velvety smooth texture that one wants on ones milk. One snag I often find is that I am still mucking about trying to stretch and texture the milk by the point it gets hot, and figuring that burnt milk is worse than poorly textured milk, I usually give up at that point. I know I have already mentioned this, but its worth mentioning again ... to give myself a bit more time, not only do I make sure that the milk is cold to start with, but I keep the jug in the freezer till needed. I reckon that using a frozen jug gives me an extra 5 seconds or so texturing the milk. Give it a try and let me know if it helps.

Making Perfect Milk with Miss Silvia

Actually, the perfect bit was just a hook. I'm not at all confident that I am yet making perfect milk with my Rancilio Silvia, but I thought that I would write down some of the things I'm doing in my pursuit of a better cup of coffee. This article is probably of little interest to those who don't like coffee, so I won't feel offended if you push off at this point ... honest.

1. The first thing I am doing is trying to give myself a little more steaming time to get the milk right. I keep my milk chilled and the milk jug in the freezer. I reckon this gives me a few extra seconds to get the milk right before it's "cooked".
2. Next, I am making sure that the steam is dry before starting steaming. At some point after flicking the steam switch on and before the heating light has gone off, I am turning the steam handle and letting it run into a spare jug or cup. I do this till the steam runs dry.
3. Once the steam light is off, I am pouring my milk into the jug I have just removed from the freezer and beginning steaming. To start with I steam to get as much volume as possible while not letting the bubbles get too big. I'm aiming to have the steam wand just below the surface so it makes a sort of slurping noise, while having the steam wand at the lower left corner of the jug so that the milk swirls round the jug in a fast whirlpool. If the bubbles start appearing to large, I lower the steam wand a little.
4. While doing this I keep my hand under the left hand under the jug to measure the heat. Once it's too hot to touch I assume the milk will be at perfect temperature with another few seconds steaming.
5. I am aiming (for a latte anyway) to get milk where the volume has almost doubled, but I can see no visible bubbles. The surface of the milk should have a velvety sheen. If I get these two factors, plus the milk isn't too hot, I figure I have done a good job.

Thats how I do it anyway. Let me know if you have any tips for me, or you do it differently.

Coffee with Miss SilviaCoffee Silvia RancilioCoffee Milk