Andreja Premium Espresso Machine
11
Steaming Milk - Technique
As you face your espresso machine, point the steam arm over your drip tray and open up
the steam valve in order to purge out any unwanted water that may have collected inside
the wand due to condensation – you do not want that added to your delicious beverage!
Next, position the steam arm so it is facing directly toward you and slightly angle it 45
degrees from the base.
Holding your half-filled steam pitcher with the handle facing you, submerge the tip of the
steam wand approximately an inch below the surface of the cold milk. Your pitcher bottom
should be parallel with the countertop. The steam arm should gently rest in the spout of the
steam pitcher. Now slightly tilt the pitcher left, keeping the arm away from the side of the
pitcher. Open the steam valve completely and position the pitcher so the tip is just below
the surface of the milk. This action creates the
„stretching‟
of the milk – in other words,
adding air to the milk. When done properly, the sound you hear at this point resembles
„sucking‟. You continue this until the milk reaches an approximate temperature of 100
degrees or “body temperature”.
After your milk has reached this „body temperature‟, submerge the tip of the steam arm
approximately one inch below the surface of the milk to get the milk spinning. This process
continues to roll the milk over itself again and again – breaking the large air bubbles into
tiny air bubbles – resulting in a new creamy and sweeter
texture
of the milk. When your
milk has reached approximately 155 degrees or the bottom of the pitcher becomes too hot
to hold then turn the steam valve off.
Using a steaming thermometer is helpful when you are learning to steam milk. As you gain
more experience and become more comfortable with the process you will be able to steam
milk without the help of a thermometer. If you notice in the procedure above we mention
temperatures and we also mention “body temperature” and the pitcher being “too hot to
hold” We mention this because body temperature is 98.6 which is real close to 100 degrees
and when the pitcher becomes too hot to hold the milk will be around 150 degrees. This
makes it very easy to steam milk without a thermometer. You will “
stretch
” the milk until the
pitcher becomes body temperature and then you start the “
texturizing
” of the milk until the
pitcher becomes too hot to hold on the bottom and then you‟re all done.
