Chapter 02: Section 02 Milk Steaming Basics
Hello. This time, I'm going to show you some helpful tips on
how we can easily steam milk using the coffee machine
Since we will be using the coffee machine, before the steaming tips
Let's learn some of the basic principles
I'll keep it nice and short. Depending on the type of the coffee machine
I'm using the Dalacorte XT coffee machine
It has lever-styled steam
If you lower it like this, steam comes out like this
When I put it up, It only spits out
You may either have a lever type like mine or there's the twisting one
With those two types, as the switch works right now
What this steam is as you can see, is basically water vapor
If you follow this tube and look inside the machine, there's a boiler
There's water in the boiler, and the sensor keeps the water
in a certain temperature boiling it consistently
If we steam the top of the vapor,
It comes out as steam that we can use
The boiler inside as this is a great coffee machines, it keeps the temperature at a certain degree
When the temperature drops, it keeps it up again
If there is not enough water due to excessive steam release, it refills it on its own
It automatically adjust these things inside
These days, all the coffee machines are so good that they're almost automated
If you look at the steam and nozzles
There are three holes in mine
These days, the standard is three-hole or sometimes four
These are fixed within the majority
But there are also ones with two or five holes
When I'm explaining about steaming today, I will try not to be too influenced by my tips
So if you concentrate and participate
You'll be able to learn all about steaming in just a day
Now, how can we steam well?
By putting steam into a liquid such as milk for us
If you add a certain amount of heat, the volume expands
which results into velvety milk
If you imagine it, by putting your cold milk into
We call this a nozzle
We heat up using a steam nozzle
It's really loud when you heat up milk alone
So we add air using a steam
and add it to the milk like a bubble wrap
Then it acts as a buffer, so it doesn't get loud and gets steamed quietly
But if it's too quiet
It means that you put in too much bubble wrap, so it's saturated
So that is why people practice
by put in the right amount
to make that thin and glossy milk
And that is why we are here today to get that right
But as you just heard, it's not that you can't understand the explanation
If air isn't added to the steam it gets really louds
I'm going to let you guys hear that sound
When it's too noisy, it means that the air didn't go in
But when this air goes in to a certain extent, if I try to express it in sound
It makes a sound like this
If more air like 'chichichik' goes in
It turns off with a sound like 'chichichichik, wheeeeeeong'
So when making milk for cappuccino, there is a lot of air
So when it turns off, it makes a low-pitched sound
But today we're going to steam that makes a moderate sound
We're going to hear that sound and proceed
I'm going to prepare three types of pitcher
But why am I pouring water?
Because I'm not doing latte art, I'm just steaming
If you mix milk and water, with a ratio of 9 parts water to 1 part milk, you will able to froth it
Steaming is also possible with water and a drop of detergent
But if you test it with a detergent
Then you must wash it after it either with water
If you plan to use it for consumption next time
So, for now, I have prepared three pitchers filled with 90% water
I will then add about 1cm of milk
So, how much milk that is
If you look here, for me, the milk has come in up to this point
If you look at it in terms of milliliters, there is about 300ml in each pitcher. First, let's hear the sound
If no air is in, is it really noisy?
When the molecules called milk collide with each other
Because there is no material to act as a buffer inside
The sound of them colliding is very sharp
Are you ready for the sharp sound?
Usually, when you go to a cafe, like hot tea
So when we make tea, or when we just heat up the syrup
When making hot chocolate with chocolate powder it might sound really loud
Because the powder particles reduce the amount of air going in
Then get ready for that loud sharp sounds
This is with no added air
The more it heats up, the louder it gets
Oh, it's no joke, right? We say it's like scraping metal
I've heard that kind of sound before, and because of that, I'm scared to steam
So anyway, we have to let air in to make the steam sound quieter
The air is an essential ingredient to us
Second, there's no air so far correct?
But I'll try putting in a little air. Listen
Unlike before, there's a bit of air, right?
It's easier to listen to than before
It makes a sound like this. Listen, when I turn it off
If it sounds like 'weeee', this can be heard when you're at cafe
Or is the sound you hear when you're making lattes
There's definitely a difference, right?
After using the steam wand, there's still some
milk residue in the nozzle so make sure to release it
Think of it as a cleaning step
We always clean the nozzle like this, right?
You have to use it cleanly so that the nozzle can be used for a long time without clogging
For the third one, it was too noisy at first because I didn't add any air
It made a loud sound like this
For the second one, with a bit of air, it made a whooshing sound in the end
For the third one, I'll try adding more air to see if the sound gets quieter
Compare the sound to see if it’s the same as before
The sound of air entering is much longer than before, right?
Oh, it's much quieter, right? Let’s listen to the sound when turning it off as well
It's much quieter than before, right?
You can also listen to your steams
The reason steaming is unstable is because the person who is doing it is unstable
As the coffee machine don't change. Let me release it one more time
Okay. So, if you look at it this way, I will show you these three
If you look here, you can see the height difference
The first one almost reaches the lip
It’s almost the same as the milk we poured first
Shall we take a look at the second one? If you compare it to the first one
The height is a little higher, right?
And if we compare the second one with the third one
If you compare, this one is higher. This one is quieter
So, I realized that I can also differentiate steam by sound
I wanted you guys to know by just the sounds
So, how can we handle the steam wand well now?
I think the sound is quite scary
There is a specific way for generating steam
I am grateful to be able to provide education for every age group
So, before I found my steaming method
Thanks to my students who were in their 50s and 60s
I think I found a way to explain these a little more in detail
So, I will share that method with all of you
First, you can test the steam in two ways
The first one is, can I adjust the amount of air I add?
You might get orders where a customer
want flatter coffee or with extra froth, right?
And the amount of foam is different for a latte and a cappuccino
You should check it yourself if you could adjust to that
The second one is, can you adjust the amount and the size of the particles?
With a lot of small particles of air
it produces that stretchy velvety milk
So then is it possible to adjust the amount of that?
These two are the things you should check
Today is mastering steaming. You can check it yourself
Can I adjust the amount of air? This is the first thing
Can I adjust the size of the air particles?
These are the things you should check with yourself
If you can adjust the amount, but if your steam is coming out a little rough
then today's class will be really beneficial for you
Even though this is an online class
You may wonder how this will be well conveyed
I am going to get rules
To be good at steaming, we are going to set a position
That way, you can follow my instructions
So, those three elements are
Firstly, we call this the steam nozzle
And this is what we call steam tip and it can be detached using a screw
If you look here, a steam tip is attached here like this
You can remove it when cleaning
This is called a tip. Steam tip
If you look here, the first thing for mastering steaming
is where to place the steam nozzle
We will decide on the steam nozzle position
The second is how much to immerse the steam nozzle tip
We are going to decide how deep we are going to immerse it before we start
How deep should I immerse the nozzle tip?
Third, in which position should I be holding my pitcher?
We will match these three things
How will we decide on the position for the pitcher?
First, I will determine the position of the steam nozzle
The pitcher looks like this
I use the spout as a reference
Because when using the spout as a reference, it has the widest width
You don't have to go in a narrow direction
When dividing it in half with the spout on the middle,
We will use the right section
When divided in half, the steam nozzle should be positioned in the center of the right section
So if we base it on the spout, it will be like this
It doesn't matter much if it goes a little beyond this range
But it shouldn't stick too close to the wall or go too high up
It's better not to go too low or too centered
Secondly, how deep should the nozzle tip be immersed?
The nozzle tip looks like this
However, depending on the machine, it can also look like this
There are also ones that are long like this
But the holes of the tips are all on the bottom
Some has three holes, four, and five of them
But in the end it's always in the bottom of the tip
So you shouldn't look at the depth in 360 degrees of the tip
Instead, you should divide it in half and immerse only 0.5cm from the end based on the center line
This one is also 0.5cm, and this one is also 0.5cm
0.5cm is the standard
‘When I filled it with 0.5cm, too much steam went in’
‘It seems too strong’. Then,
Since here was the standard of 0.5cm, let's try 0.6cm instead
But is it still strong? Then the maximum would probably be 0.7cm
On the contrary, when it's too weak
When you tried 0.5cm, the air didn't go in. So let's try 0.4cm
But if it still doesn't go in, then 0.3cm
So, 0.5cm is just the standard
We also have to decide on the depth of the nozzle tip, right?
Third, what position do you hold your pitcher
We place it in the right section
If you consider this as a clock, this is in the 3 o'clock direction
You can think of it as the right side, or the 3 o'clock side
We will tilt it 1-2cm towards the position where we place the nozzle tip
So we tilt it 1-2cm here
The reason is that is when we, for example, make steamed eggs,
we don't crack the egg and whisk it upright, correct?
We slightly tilt it when we whisk it as that mixes it much better
So you can think of it as the same principle when it comes to tilting our pitcher
So we have decided on these three things
This is where the spout is and the handle, right?
Because we tilt it 1-2cm to the right or in the 3 o'clock direction
The milk will be tilted like this
Where did we decide to place it? In the middle, to the right
We decided to dip it only 0.5cm here, so it will look like this
The second reason for doing this is,
If it is in the middle, it creates a swirl
The swirl extends to a very deep part
Then when the steam enters and a lot of unwanted air is also then added
If you tilt it slightly, this wall becomes a bit shorter
Because it becomes shorter, this swirl becomes a bit shorter
So you can steam more stably
And another thing is, it shouldn't be way too close to the wall
because the bubbles here cannot enter
So it should be in the middle, back to the center point
Because it gets mixed as the entire range comes in here
it can create that smoother surface much more easily, you guys understand what I mean right?
I'll draw an enlarged tip here to explain it a littler further
As I mentioned, the one we have here has three holes
As you can see here, there are one, two, three holes, right?
If you look, there is one hole in the right section in this tip where steam is coming out
So this is the hole on the right
Using this as the center point, we title the milk like this
Then the other two are submerged in the milk
Only this one stays on the surface
That's why this one hole is responsible for air injection
Then what do the other holes do?
They are responsible for swirling the milk
So whether there are four holes, two, or five
Because the position of the hole in the right section serves as an air injection role
Even if there are multiple holes, it won’t greatly affect your steam
Look here. This one is for air injection
So, when we dip it only 0.5cm and tilt it to the right
When we release our steam, a sound is generated. What kind of sound?
It makes a hissing sound like this
Why is makes that sound
is because the sound is produced when the tip of the nozzle hits the surface of the milk
But if you heard a different sound when steaming it
that's usually because
the nozzle tip is lowered too much above the surface, causing the holes to be way too exposed
So, a large amount of air injection causes a bubbling sound
Before the bubbles can be controlled, the temperature will be already too high
causing for you to turn your steam off
So if you hear that hissing sound from the start
that would be the position you need to remember
First, You can let that sound go on as much as you like
As much as you like? Yes
It will take about 2-3 seconds, or longer, 4-5 seconds
Oh that's the sound of air injection, air being added to the milk
So after that, after letting that sound go on as much as you like
Second, lift it by only 0.1cm
and we're going to do that three times, 0.1cm, 0.1cm again, pause then again 0.1cm
You'd be done with your steaming by the time you lift it three times like that
Once again, by following the position of your pitcher, set the nozzle in position
And when you release the steam, you can hear the desired amount of that sound
If that's enough
then lift 0.1, pause, 0.1, pause, 0.1
By doing this, you can turn it off when it reaches the desired temperature
Why do we have to divide it into three parts by 0.1 each?
Because we need to keep impacting the surface while steaming
If you hear too much sizzling sound and immerse it too deeply
It will pass through the bubbles on top
So the bubbles will be heated separately from the liquid
They won't mix evenly inside, but rather stay separate
And why do we do it three times? It's to make sure we don't have any extra air
Because when we do it once extra air can enter when it's swirling
Then let's try this in action
The reason why we follow this step and listen to the sound is
What we'll be practicing is, first
You'll tend to move your steamer like this while holding on to your pitcher
So that's why the first practice will be following this step so we don't move like that
The second practice is moving by 0.1 each time
Because we need to practice moving in units of 0.1
It wouldn't be good if the person steaming moves a lot
If you keep moving more than you think
I have a tip for you.
You don't have to detach your elbow like this when holding the pitcher
If you put your finger all the way in, your knuckles will touch the pitcher
Then it's too hot. So, what do you do?
You can hold it with three fingers like this leaving out a finger
and then cover the top with your thumb like this
Or you can just hold it with two fingers like this
Then, you stick your elbow to your body like this
That way, this will be steady
But if you try to hold it like this, you might unintentionally move
So, you stick your elbow to your body
In this position, I'll head to my steamer
If you look here, you can see how the steam wand is way to the right
and because of that people end up moving their wrists like this
Instead of doing that, it's better to move your body to the side to keep this straight
Then, place the steam wand in position like this
Like this, it'll be easier to keep the position fixed without lifting up the steam wand
You shouldn't be lifting up the steam wand, so this is what we do
Keep touching just here and practice moving back and forth like an elevator, 0.1cm at a time
And that is why these steps are important
Keep your body fixed, place the steam wand in the spout
Practice moving this back and forth by 0.1cm
One more thing, even when doing this, you might move a little
In that case, I'll show you how you can fix that
As you're going to turn off your steam and check the temperature
Don't just hold this in the air like this
Instead when the steam wand is still inside, it's good to support it with your pinky finger like this
So, on the left side, I'm holding it like this
As for the right side, I'm holding it like this
So, it would be good to fix it like this and feel the temperature, right? Do you understand?
And one more tip is when I've positioned it like this
You don't have to lift your body up to turn off the steam
Because when you lift your body this part of your body moves with you
So what do we do in this position
Just the eyes, look with your eyes when you're turning it off
Since we are practicing not moving this area
Another thing is, you can move with your eyes or without looking
you can estimate that this is here
So, you don't have to actually look at it when you're turning it off
The reason why your milk didn't froth well could probably be because
You must have moved a lot without realizing it
or even the position of air entering the milk could have changed
Or as you're learning that you should lift it 0.1cm at a time here
you could have lifted 0.5cm instead of 0.1
You understand, right? Let me repeat that again
Keep the elbow that's holding the pitcher close to your body
Align it with the steam wand to make it straight
then place the steam wand in the spout and in the middle of the liquid
immerse the nozzle by 0.5cm
Placing it in the spout, immerse the nozzle by 0.5cm in the middle and tilt it to the right
Turn on the steam and you'll hear the sound
lift 0.1, pause, lift 0.1, pause, lift 0.1
After moving in three steps, stop the steam when it reaches the desired temperature. That's it
Let me summarize it
Hold the pitcher like fixing it to my body
Let the nozzle tip touch the spout, and when it touches it like this, see where the center is
After seeing where the center is, immerse 0.5cm of the nozzle in the center of the milk
Then, tilt it to the right
After hearing the sound of steam, lift 0.1cm three times
And done. End the steam. Just do it like this
Let me show you this in action
Let's watch how it is done
Let's me show you
Place the steam wand in the spout and see where the center is
By placing it slightly diagonally, you can determine the center
I will immerse it only 0.5cm in the center. Tilt it to the right
I'm going to turn on the steam, and steady it with my little finger
After turning it on don't move. Okay let's turn it on
It will make a sizzling sound. Listen as much as you want
That's enough for now. Lift 0.1, again 0.1, pause and lift 0.1
Check if it's hot. Look how glossy and velvety it looks
Check the temperature and if it’s hot, turn it off
This method will only allow very small particles to enter
So, that's why no big bubbles come out
I will show you two more times in a row. Watch
Fix the elbow on the body
If you approach like this, you have to turn your wrist, so go to the side
Find the center and dip only 0.5cm and tilt it to the right
It's much better to keep your eyes on the pitcher when turning it on
Turn it on and listen to the sizzling sound
It's making that sound, right?
And I will lift this by only 0.1 once and stay there
One more time, lift 0.1, pause and lift it again by 0.1
Check the temperature and turn it off if it's hot
If you look at my posture, I’ll just position it, and I will try it while looking at you guys
Where is the center position, tilt it to the right, and listen to the sizzling sound in this state
You hear the sound and if you want the sound to stop
I'm going to lift it just once
And one more time lift it by 0.1 and one more time,
Check if it's hot
It's hot, so turn it off
And you get that velvety frothed milk
So, you just need to practice this motion
So that froth was for latte
But now you might ask what about cappuccino froth, right?
Fixing the position and listening to the sizzling sound is expanding the volume
Of course, there should be more in cappuccinos
This time, what you do is lower the sizzling sound by 0.1 each time
Listen to the sound first
It's the same. Fix the position
Put it on the spout. Find the center, put in 0.5 and tilt to the right
Lower it and listen to the sizzling sound, then lower it little by little
Lower it down and lower it again. Lower it down so that you can hear the sizzling sound
If you look here, you can see becoming more frothier
Stay in that state for a moment
Then, move up by 0.1 once, again by 0.1, pause, and up again
It became very quiet. I mentioned that it becomes quiet when the foam is dense
If it's hot, turn it off. You didn't hear much noise did you
Now if we look at this close up, we have milk for the cappuccino
Can you see it? That velvety cappuccino froth
But, in the end, this is what it is
Who can bring it down continuously by 0.1 each time?
Because most will abruptly pull down their pitcher, they pull down a lot and move a lot
and by the time you try to fix it, the milk is already too hot
So that's one of the reason why your milk isn't velvety
So the method I did right now made that sizzling noise
but this time I will try to lower it abruptly as well
Let's hear what it sounds like when there is more air added
And actually, because you get more air into your milk and it makes
that loud sound it doesn't mean your milk is ruined
Even for myself, when I get too much air in my milk
I'll try to fix that
But you need to start off in a position where you don't need to fix it to reduce the risk
I'm not saying that this is the wrong way
but the method I just showed you is just so convenient
So there's no reason for you to not do it
Since I'm so used to this
I just hold on to my pitcher which gives this hand a freedom
So I'll just keep steady with my little finger for this and would turn this off with this hand
hold on to this and even greet people
But when it's your first time, you might get scared when the pitcher gets too hot
So it's okay to practice while holding the handle
So now instead of that sizzling sound, let me lower it to make a different sound
Have a listen
That's right, this is not that sizzling sound but more like rippling sound
Now you need keep your eye on it and try to fix it
As I can fix it, I'm keeping my eyes on the milk to try to fix it
I'm trying to smooth out my milk
But you need to change your position multiple times while doing it
So that means if I am moving around
I'm trying to fix something
But what I'm saying is by following and practicing the method I showed you
it'll make things so much easier
You just saw how rough that sounded, but like I said I can fix it
so if you look at it, it's still velvety. So it doesn't mean it won't work
It's just in general, it'll be a bit frothier
I tend to draw a lot of complex patterns
So I practice controlling the air injection so the particle size is as small as possible
This is what I told you in the beginning
Can we control the amount of air?
Yes, we can. How? By going down 0.1 to increase the volume
If that's enough froth you stay in the same position and slowly lift it up by 0.1
is how you can control the amount of air
Can you control the particle size? It's basically the same
So it's either staying in the same position and slightly moving by 0.1
to let the air in through the side
Or you could pull down the pitcher to expose the nozzle
to let the air in
The method that I told you today
it's hard for the air to produce those big particles
Then since it is much easier to control
I highly advise to follow these two steps
Also, because the particles are small, they are not greatly affected by temperature
For example, one of my students runs a cafe under Soorak mountain
And they told me that most of the customers who are climbers want something hot
and that was one of the thing that stressed them out
But if you use this method, even if it gets hot
It won't ruin much of your froth. Why is that?
Because there are countless tiny particles inside
Which makes your milk silky and velvety. You get that right?
If you have a coffee machine, try out this method right away
Because you are going to be so satisfied
Okay then, I'll see you next time