How to Steam Milk

After a hard day at work, nothing refreshes you as much as a cup of perfectly brewed coffee. You can create your own flavored cup of coffee at home, without having to visit the Baristas, Costa Cafes or any other coffee house. Though an espresso coffee is good enough, if you add some milk to it, the taste and aroma increases manifold. However, in this case, adding steam milk is what adds to the experience of drinking a cup of coffee. In fact, the proper steaming of milk is extremely vital to preparing a perfect cup of coffee. Whether it is the Cappuccino, Café Latte or Café Mocha, adding steamed milk to the cup will give you that perfect hot cuppa that you are craving for. The best part is that you can easily steam milk at home. All you need is a steam wand and the right instructions. We have provided a recipe in the following lines, to help you know how to steam milk, easily and within the comfort of your home. Just read it thoroughly and explore all about steaming milk.

How to Steam Milk

Items Needed

Stainless Steel Pitcher
Milk
Frothing Thermometer
Steam Wand

Instructions

Keep the milk inside the refrigerator and make it as much cold as possible. The colder the milk, the better will be the steaming.
Put a medium-sized stainless steel pitcher in the refrigerator. Keep it there till it feels cold to the touch.
Pour the cold milk in the pitcher till it gets half-full. The empty half is for the milk to foam properly.
Attach a frothing thermometer to your pitcher. Ideally, steamed milk has temperature between 145 and 170 degrees F.
Place your pitcher under the steam wand. While doing so, make sure that the tip of the wand touches the bottom of the pitcher.
Turn on the power and move the pitcher slowly, so as to bring the wand tip ¼ to ½ inch beneath the surface of milk.
Continue keeping the wand just under the milk's surface, till the time you feel that it has steamed fully.
Alternately, you can also use a milk steamer for the process, which will make it easier and faster.

Tips

Always try to obtain the best quality of un-skimmed milk, as this will make your cup of coffee thicker and foamier. You can also use skimmed milk if you prefer your cup to be skinny and half-and-half if you prefer it to be breve. Standard coffeehouses normally use 2% milk, which is very vital to create the perfect cup of cappuccino.
In case you don’t have a thermometer, you can check by gently touching the side of the pitcher, as the milk boils. When the sides become too hot to touch, the milk can be considered warm enough and can be conveniently used for the purpose. However, make sure that you do not burn yourself during the process.

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