The related skills of making milk foam in the technique of coffee flower drawing.

The treatment of milk foam, the key step

After the milk is dismissed, it is not the ideal foam, but in a layered state. The lower layer is the heated milk, and the upper layer is the "foam" after the milk is dismissed, so we have to deal with the milk after discarding. Shake up and down to remove the coarse foam from the surface; shake so that the hot milk is fully mixed with the upper foam to form foam. This step can also be achieved by reversing two jars (I prefer this method). This step is very critical, some friends do not attach great importance to this point, then all previous efforts will be wasted.

Pour the finished product back and forth several times in two jars, fully mix the hot milk and foam, then divide them equally between the two jars, and then pour back and forth a few times "in a small amount" so that they are evenly distributed. Many friends only do the front action and do not do a small amount of distribution in the back, so there will be unevenness. Of course, it's hard to understand if you describe it in words, but you'll understand if you try to do it a few times. To put it simply, it is to allocate the amount of milk foam. By using this method, the thickness of the foam in the two cups can be achieved.

A few tips: first, before pulling flowers, the milk foam has been in a shaking state in the flower jar to avoid the stratification caused by this to appear again, this is a professional habit, which must be developed. Second, if there is a small ball of milk foam concentrated in the middle of the vortex formed when shaking, which proves that the milk foam is unevenly distributed, it needs to be distributed again; third, before the product is produced, pour a little to the side, try the feel of the milk foam and then make the product. Fourth, when making a double-ring cappuccino, pay attention to the foam concentrated at the bottom of the flower jar, and try to live and stretch when scraping with a spoon.

Requirements for the quality of milk foam

The first standard is that the surface should be reflective. Delicate, velvet-like, slippery. The second criterion is that there is no coarse foam on the surface. This requires a lot of foam control ability, of course, this is also the premise of reflection. Those larger than the diameter 1mm are called coarse foam. The third standard is: in the case of the same amount of milk (all added to the position at the bottom of the cylinder mouth), whether it is 60% full or 70%, 80%, 90% or full, the temperature should be the same. The fourth standard is to make two cups of cappuccino, using the WBC standard cup. After the foam is poured into the cup, there is no drop left in the jar. The above four standards have been achieved, and I think it is at least a good jar of milk foam in terms of vision, feel and technology. Earlier also mentioned a sense of hearing, which depends on the milk, just hit the milk foam, must not hear a very continuous burst sound, which can ensure the persistence of the milk foam in the cup.

Milk foam can not be injected into espresso to solve the problem that milk foam can not be successfully injected into espresso when making cappuccino coffee. Why?

The first is that the milk foam is 80% to 90% full, which can be solved by 10% less than dry.

The second is that the crema surface of the espresso is too shallow from the bottom of the cup, causing the foam to float on the crema as soon as the foam is injected.

Solution: tilt the cup as much as possible to increase the depth of the surface and bottom of the crema meter. When injecting, inject it to the deepest point.

The third is that the milk foam is close to the cup when it is injected with espresso, resulting in insufficient strength for the foam to penetrate the crema.

Solution: 10-15cm higher than the cup mouth to inject milk foam, increase the acceleration of foam injection into crema, so that it can smoothly penetrate crema.

The fourth is to solve the problem by means of integration. If the foam is still white on the crema when it is injected (for a small amount, the surface is about 1 beat 3), then immediately reduce the amount of foam injected, make a circle in the cup, and then lift the flower jar up, you can flush the whitened one under the crema.

Fifth, when you pull flowers with seven-point full or six-point full milk foam, the crema will be washed away without increasing the flow. Solution: reduce the foam flow and slowly circle the entire crema until the blend is in place.

On the Classification of cappuccino

If I understand this question correctly, I can classify cappuccino into three categories according to the quality of milk foam, one is wet cappuccino, one is dry cappuccino, and the other is half cappuccino in between. So how do we distinguish between these three kinds of cappuccino? If the foam technology passes, you can use the quality of the foam to distinguish as follows: premise: 600ml (medium) pull the flower jar around, and fill the milk at the bottom of the nozzle. First, the wet cappuccino milk foam is 6 or 7% full; (this milk bubble to do leaves and other lines require more pattern is very good-looking, at the same time, this milk foam can also be used to do latte). Second, the dry cappuccino milk foam is full. Third, the half cappuccino milk foam is 80% full; I prefer 90% milk foam. This foam is great for heart, apple and tulip patterns. In fact, what we usually use most is this kind of milk foam, which is used to make the cappuccino that is common in our daily work.

Tip: practice now. I want to hit a jar full of 70% milk foam, never 90% full. Let's do it!

Five misunderstandings of milking

For milk foam, there are several misunderstandings that we need to understand, so that we can better understand milk foam.

The first misunderstanding: the use of shaking up and down to pull the vat to remove the rough foam on the surface. This is a very good method, but many friends have a strong dependence on this method, their own milk foam did not play well, do not summarize why they did not play well, but use this means to make up for it. In the long run, there will be dependence. Here I must say that if we only rely on this way to get rid of the coarse foam, there is no way to improve the foam technology, nor can we practice the advanced skills of pulling flowers.

The second misunderstanding: scoop off the coarse foam with a spoon. This method is what I reject most. Although some contestants use some methods in the competition, I think this is because their milk foam technology does not pass, the surface is too thick to shake off, can only scoop. For those who use similar methods to deal with milk bubbles, be sure to strengthen your steam control technology in milk foam.

The third misunderstanding: after beating up the foam, put it aside for a while. This method is very annoying, which is a form of expression that the milk foam technology has not been introduced yet. This will aggravate the layering of milk bubbles, and the integration of hot milk and foam will not be easy to complete. if you don't pay attention to it, it will become milk and foam. The whole cup of coffee doesn't balance the taste.

The fourth misunderstanding: the two jars will fall in a very high position, the original purpose is to merge, but to arouse more coarse bubbles.

The fifth misunderstanding: the milk foam is not good, blame the steam. The author believes that the steam pressure of the coffee machine (that is, boiler pressure) is relatively easy to grasp in 0.8BAR, this pressure is very long, and it is easy to understand the principle of milk foaming, but it takes about 13 seconds to make a cup of milk foam, ah, not as fast as the pressure. If the air pressure is 1. 0 or 1.1BAR, the way and method of bubbling will change, but the principle is the same. (at this point, it is necessary to rule out the phenomenon of "vomiting" caused by impure steam, and the flower jar is also shaking violently. If this happens, please empty the steam and try to heat it fully again.)