# Cravendale milk, I just can't get it to foam!



## JohnnieWalker (Aug 24, 2011)

I've had my 2nd hand Gaggia Classic for a week or two and although my results are improving I'm still having the occasional rubbish result.

More of a concern was that I just couldn't get my milk right, however after reading an article on the best/easiest type of milk to use I realised that I was using Cravendale filtered semi skimmed.

I went to the shop, purchased some ordinary semi skimmed and the result was a massive improvement!

I don't know how or why this is the case, but there must be something about the filtering used in cravendale that makes it difficult/impossible to use.

Has anyone managed a decent microfoam with Cravendale milk?


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Cravendale is the milk of choice for many baristas. To my knowledge, there are no inherent problems with it, and as I understand it you should actually get better microfoam from Cravendale than other milks. I've been using Tescos milk until recently, and I find it goes off very quickly and curdles into a horrible cheese in the milk jug after just a few days. I've switched to Cravendale and had improved results.

I know you've just started on your espresso journey, JonnieWalker, and what I'd say is that milk steaming on a small domestic machine, with a small 8oz boiler and hence not much steam pressure, is something that it takes a lot of time to get right. Months. Years for some. For others... never. And every Gaggia Classic machine has it's own unique challenges. It's natural to look for reasons why your steaming isn't working as well as you'd like... the milk, the jug, the machine, your technique, and that's a good thing. But you may never find the answer. Some days you will steam lovely thick microfoam and do beautiful rosetta latta art, and sadly others you might manage nothing more than a spodge of shite dry foam on top of a thin mixture of milk and espresso. Welcome to the world of the home barista on a budget









Having said that, I don't know the science behind why Cravendale is supposed to be better and I welcome someone challenging it, if only to help bring the facts to light.


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## jimrobo (Aug 5, 2011)

It's going to take a while. It took me well over 3 months to actually get proper microfoam regularly but you'll get there!

I usually just get tescos semi when I use cravendale I have to stretch the milk way less because it foams too thick for me and the milk ends up just sitting on the espresso.


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## JohnnieWalker (Aug 24, 2011)

Looks like it's my lack of skill then!

I'll keep trying.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Maybe, maybe not







If you get better results with other milk then use that milk. My mother is visiting at the moment and brought her own milk (the type of strange think mothers do!!). I don't know what the difference is, but she says it;s a sterilised milk. I thought all milks were sterilised, but apparently not. Anyway, it is absolutely awesome for steaming and latte art! It's slightly more yellow/cream coloured, but I checked and the fat content is still 3.6% just like Cravendale whole milk. So I'm going to try to find a local supplier ... there's a dairy a few miles from us.

It's a constant search for perfection


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

Sterilised milk is taken to between 110c (230f) - 130c (266f) when it's treated. The reason it 's a more yellow colour is the natural sugars have burnt, it should have a slightly caramel taste to it.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I get the best results with Cravendale. The biggest improvement I made was placing the milk carton and jug in the freezer whilst preparing the shot.

Then when ready to steam , whip the milk out , into the jug and get steaming straight away. It gives you a few more precious seconds to get the foam and liquid combined into a really tight microfoam. Saying that my pours are still rubbish!


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## thomss (May 9, 2011)

I'm using Cravendale with my Classic with steam arm mod and it works very well.

I sometimes use full fat too Mmmmm.


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## Franzpan (May 11, 2010)

I use full cream milk, find it foams up much better than semi skimmed. It also tastes much better in a latte. Will have to get some cravendale sometime to try it. As Garydyke1 said, keep your pitcher in the freezer between uses, it give you an extra few seconds of work time with your milk which I fond it takes to make the perfect micro foam.

Also are you using a thermometer? I went without one for six months, with mixed results of micro-foam. I then bought a thermometer and am able to see how much work time is left in the milk and my results are so much more consistent now.


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

JohnnieWalker - tell us step-by-step how you are steaming milk and let's see if we can help.

Personally Cravendale Full Fat is the best.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Franzpan said:


> Also are you using a thermometer? I went without one for six months, with mixed results of micro-foam. I then bought a thermometer and am able to see how much work time is left in the milk and my results are so much more consistent now.


I'd also highly recommend TempTags, which Glenn (who runs this forum) is the UK Distributor of. There's a link to the webshop here...

http://5mcoffee.com/coffeeblog/index.php/5m-coffee-company-has-become-the-uk-distributor-for-temptag/


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## JohnnieWalker (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, I start by filling my pitcher approx half full with semi-skimmed milk, place it in the fridge and then pull my shot/s.

When it comes to steaming the milk I purge the steam wand and then place it into the milk, open the steam knob and lower the pitcher until the hole is just under the surface of the milk, as the pitcher gets hot at the bottom I then raise the pitcher so the end of the steam wand is deeper in the milk and try to get the milk to swirl.


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

Personally, I think Cravendale milk is the best although Tesco Pure milk is acceptable as well.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I have had issues with it, but my thinking is that it's probably more to do with how retail outlets store it before displaying it than it is to do with Cravendale themselves. Letting it warm up, then recooling etc.


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## JohnnieWalker (Aug 24, 2011)

Maybe I've caused trouble for Cravendale?

It is possible that my problems were just due to my poor skills and/or the fact that my Gaggia Classic probably isn't the best machine for steaming milk?

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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Never used their whole milk, too rich and calorific for me. The semi though does mis-behave sometimes with the seasonality clearly there, Waitrose Organic is very consistant tho.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

The sell by date means nothing if it has been mistreated by the outlet


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

You'd be surprised at how delivery drivers treat things, I'm just assuming it's the same elsewhere, or some places at least. We get fridges left open (Resulting in all stock being binned) boxes squashed and thrown about, they damage our walls, scuff the nice clean floors resulting in me mopping them at quarter past 7 in the morning!







But you never know, assumption is never the best thing to do!


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## Coffeeruss (Jan 9, 2012)

I know im bringing back a bit of an old thread here but i have the exact same problem after being able to do perfectly good micro foam on the same machine with cheaper milk.

It has been cheap in our local supermarket recently (Cravendale) so treated myself but whenever I foam the milk its very thin underneath and then bubbles come quickly through and the foam vanishes into the coffee. With cheap full fat milk i can get a really good head of foam and produce latte art but this recent switch has thrown me.

I also work in a coffee shop so I am used to foaming milk and sounds to listen for etc so I should be able to at least get a semi-acceptable result. Iv also tried it on 2 different machine with 2 different size jugs with the same end result, bubbly foam that dissipates fast.


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