# Milk Like Gloss Paint



## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Since changing my steam wand on my Classic a few weeks ago I have been practicing non stop with my milk texturising technique. I have looked at dozens of video's on You Tube and the consensus is that the finished milk should have the appearance of gloss paint. Is that correct? It is a steep learning curve with the Silvia wand when compared to the rubbish paranello frother that came with the machine, but I think I am getting there. As each day goes by and the more I practice I feel that it is really coming together.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Yep. You know when you've got it right - will have a satiny gloss shine on the surface. If you over-foam, the volume will have increased too much, so it will be difficult to control a fine pour and the surface of the milk will have a matt appearance instead of gloss.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

It's more important how it tastes ..

I often taste the milk I've steamed to make sure it's at the sweet spot to test my hand thermometer









sweet not too hot that it scolds the mouth not too cold that it's not suitable for a drink

yes " wet paint " is the image that is often thrown up , but that can conceal milk that over heated etc.

so get the texture right but don't forget the taste !


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Another thing occurred to me though. Yes I find it easy to get the milk like gloss paint now, but for cappuccino the ratio is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 foam, so how do you airate the milk sufficiently in order to get enough foam with microbubbles, but without altering the structure of the milk or over cooking it? The gloss like milk that I am getting now resembles a latte more than a cappuccino.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

As I understand it, for cappuccino milk is more frothed than microfoamed, so you introduce more air to get bigger bubbles so the foam sits on top of the coffee like a duvet. You see baristas using a spoon to extract the foam from the jug. Ratio is as you put it above.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

m4lcs67 said:


> Another thing occurred to me though. Yes I find it easy to get the milk like gloss paint now, but for cappuccino the ratio is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 foam, so how do you airate the milk sufficiently in order to get enough foam with microbubbles, but without altering the structure of the milk or over cooking it? The gloss like milk that I am getting now resembles a latte more than a cappuccino.


Thats a traditional definition

if you look at ukbc cappucinos they do not conform to that

afain this doesn't mean your drink it wrong or right , the taste is what counts

again on vimeo origin roasers have a good set of clips re now much foam for each drink it your inclined to be exact and want to know .


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## Atilla (Mar 31, 2014)

If you don't fancy wasting loads of milk when you practice, just use the same amount of water as you would milk and add a single drop of washing up liquid to it then steam. If you can get that right, you can get milk right.


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

That's a brilliant idea, Atilla, so you can practice over and over until you get it right without wasting loads of milk. Nice one.


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Just continuing on this thread for a moment. What then is the optimum temperature that the milk needs to be at when finished texturising? I heard a figure of 70 degrees c mentioned.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

60-55-ish but you don't need to go that high. One barista I spoke to said she does her milk just past warm


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Too hot and you lose both texture and sweetness.


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Thanks for that guys. On the Vimeo tutorial that I watched the guy recommends getting it so the pitcher is just too hot to touch. I practiced this morning with my pitcher and put my thermometer in and initially filled it with cold water then topped it up with hot water from the kettle to get it to 70, so I could feel what 70 degrees c was like. Obviously milk and water are two different animals and I take it that if you took milk to 70 degrees c it would start to alter the structure of the milk and begin to take it beyond where it should be?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

shoot for 60 degrees .......


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Also, remember this is not a Japanese game show. No need to endure second degree burns.

I know that when I want to take my fingers off the bottom of the jug and shut off the steam, I'll get milk somewhere in the 60 to 65 degree range.

Bear in mind also that when you are steaming smaller quantities of milk, you will have less time to react to stop heating before overshooting the sweet zone.


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