# Sage Barista Express milk texturing



## borojohn (Dec 20, 2018)

Hi, A new owner of the above machine and loving experimenting. Anyone any advice please on milk texturing. I seem to be doing it right as per the online videos but my milk is quite thick 'foamed' at the end. Looking at more silky texture rather than thickish foam. Thanks.


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## tuk (Nov 24, 2018)

1) Point the steam wand into the gutter and turn on steam.

2) Wait until you can hear the steam has come to full pressure(to be 100% sure wait until the pump start thudding, over time the sound of the steam will be enough to tell when its right).

3) Turn off steam and quickly submerge the tip of the wand just under the surface of the milk.

Note:

In the following steps you want to avoid creating big, wild and violent bubbles caused by allowing the end tip of the wand to rise out of the milk at any point, you must keep the wand tip hole submerged just under the surface of the milk, not too deep either. You will hear when the nozzle is too high or above the surface, it might be a loud gurgling or sometimes a finer chirping sound. The sweet spot is a quiet/gentle hiss, it will feel like the clutch point on a car, hold just right it will make a quiet hissing sound while maintaining a strong swirling vortex of milk within the jug.

4) Once you have the quiet hiss and swirling vortex of milk on the go(have this underway in 2-3 secs of turning the steam back on). *Then slowly lift the nozzle hole about 1-3mm above the surface of the milk, you will hear the noise changing from hiss to a focussed drone sound but not wild gurgling, remember no big bubbles, count for 3-4 secs then put the nozzle back under *and use the rest of the time to blend the micro foam( bubbles you've just created ) from the surface into the main body of the milk ..continue blending/swirling until milk reaches 65c

5) Swirl the milk in the jug to blend further in between superstitiously tapping the base of the milk jug on the worktop.

I would suggest making a couple of rounds of milk with the nozzle tip submerged the whole time, just so you can see what its like with the minimum amount of foam, then try a few rounds lifting the nozzle above the surface for 3-5 secs to see the difference, see bold in step 4). You want to create these bubbles at the start of the process so you have more time blending and swirling the bubbles from the surface into the main body of the milk.

If you need more/thicker foam then increase the number of secs the nozzle is above the milk surface making bubbles. Start with zero then 3 secs and increase until you have the foam you want.


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## RazorliteX (Mar 2, 2014)

Great advice above, normally if it's too foamy at the top it is because I have been aerating the milk for too long (usually should not be more than a few seconds).

Great video here


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## borojohn (Dec 20, 2018)

Wow, fantastic well structured advice. Thanks.


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## borojohn (Dec 20, 2018)

Great video, will help no end. Thanks for sharing.


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## Wrinklyninja (Feb 14, 2020)

I can't wait to try this having just got the same machine.

Great help


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I'm pretty good at producing rather thick foam. The foam is super fine. Something I may sort out one day but I don't drink milk based and have switched my wife away from it as well.

Mine can produce amazing peaks  . I'm pretty sure it's a combination of 2 things - overheating and the "heat balance" between foam and the milk itself. Perhaps I should switch to mainly heating the milk sooner or even the other way round.

I have had suspicions that some who do excellent flashy milk work produce rather cold drinks.

John

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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

This is my regime.

Stick jug and milk in the freezer for 15 mins, milk will start to ice up a bit. This buys you much more time. (for both introducing AND getting your swirl on)
On the BE you want around 150-250ml in the jug.

Always use a thermometer, especially with different jugs the temp can feel different to the touch.

Steam wand at an angle and get ALL air in before the milk hits 20 degC. After this do not introduce a touch of air in. 
If you are going for thinner flat white foam you could even stop introducing at 15.

Drop the wand in just enough to get a whirlpool and now watch the temp and wait.

Whirlpool the milk till the temp hits exactly 60C (full fat milk) or 55 (Semi), more fat needs slightly higher temp.

Turn steam off. 
Put jug on side and purge steam wand.

Now polish milk, i.e. swirl in jug until you suddenly see the reflection of your lights! Thats the key moment. Once you see that your milk is polished and ready to pour.

If you see large bubbles one hardish tap of the jug on your kitchen side

Then pour!

Two positions. 2 inches above surface (to half fill cup and sink foam under the rising crema) then drop to almost the surface to do your art!


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## Wrinklyninja (Feb 14, 2020)

Such good advice on here I'm so stoked to give some of this a go tomorrow.


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