# Why pour from one jug to another?



## mathof (Mar 24, 2012)

I sometimes see baristas in YouTube videos and in Third Wave cafes pouring their freshly made microfoam into another jug for making their milk drinks and latte art. Sometimes they even pour it back and forth from one jug to another. Why would they do this? To eliminate the larger bubbles?


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

They are juggling ??

I think it's to get rid of any sturdier bubbles atop their perfectly steamed microfoamed milk - I sometimes tip an inch off the top but mine goes down the drain. I suppose they reuse it. I know Costa etc seem to use gallons of milk, big pitchers, and seem to pour it here there and anywhere there's a pitcher handy!


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Think the action would help emulsify the microfilm (much like swilling the milk in the jug does) as well as popping the bigger bubbles. It could just be they prefer to pour out of a smaller jug than they steam in too.


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## -Mac (Aug 22, 2019)

Yeah, pouring off the stiffer, bigger bubbles on top helps you pour latte art more easily.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

many baristas let a milk jug sit on drip tray or a stack of saucers (or whatever suits them) to free their hands to pour another shot or clean up etc. while steaming larger amounts of milk to temp.
steaming for multiple drinks (anything above 2-3 cappuccinos, depending on machine) naturally creates thicker top and thinner bottom layers.
when they return to steamed milk, pouring forth and back is a pretty reliable and fast way to homogenise consistency across the whole jug.

I do it all the time, except for these seldom moments of preparing one individual cuppa


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Hasi said:


> many baristas let a milk jug sit on drip tray or a stack of saucers (or whatever suits them) to free their hands to pour another shot or clean up etc. while steaming larger amounts of milk to temp.
> steaming for multiple drinks (anything above 2-3 cappuccinos, depending on machine) naturally creates thicker top and thinner bottom layers.
> when they return to steamed milk, pouring forth and back is a pretty reliable and fast way to homogenise consistency across the whole jug.
> 
> I do it all the time, except for these seldom moments of preparing one individual cuppa


 Ghost steaming ?


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

When I'm doing more than one milky drink I use two jugs (bigger one for frothing and a smaller one for pouring) as I simply can split the milk better that way and get equal amounts of hot milk and microfoam. It might be due to my lack of proper barista experience, but when I'm using just one jug for two drinks I end up losing a lot of microfoam for the first drink ?‍♂


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

One view point on it https://3fe.com/blog/2017/12/18/no-use-crying-over-split-milk


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## Deidre (Aug 13, 2019)

I completely agree with hasi's comment about improved homogenization with a back & forth swap. I do this when frothing milk manually (aka french press/no steam), before pouring any latte art. It makes it even textured top to bottom, much silkier, and can also compensate/hide mistakes when the milk prep is a little less than stellar!?


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

jlarkin said:


> One view point on it https://3fe.com/blog/2017/12/18/no-use-crying-over-split-milk


I like that!

I've sensed some delay from steaming anything above .5l but wouldn't have questioned the technique  stupid me! Now I know better, will kick out the large pitcher and live happily ever after...

PS: only you need to reach a certain level of general prep speed before it starts making sense. Maybe the average prosumer wouldn't benefit from individual steaming too much


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

I have started doing this and found two benefits (disclaimer, I am a total rookie at latte art)

As others have said, if your bubbles are not all the same size, pouring between jugs mixes them up somewhat. I found this useful if I have some big bubbles on top (i.e. a coarse foam that just floats straight away), this seems to mix that top layer in.

The other benefit is it lets me watch how well I've steamed the milk before actually pouring, for example when I pour between jugs, I might see that 90% the milk is good and then there's 10% pure liquid at the end with no bubbles. Now I know to stop pouring the latte art a bit early. Because that pure milk with no foam is just going to sink and ruin my pattern.


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