Espresso Machines

Off-topic
1

This is driving is kind of crazy and I KNOW it’s not normal to be this obsessed.

There’s this espresso machine at work and there’s a milk frothing tip which I’m CERTAIN works. The problem is, none of the people I spoke to know how to work it and no one uses the frother mostly because no one really cares - coffee is coffee.

I’ve googled and STILL am without a clue how to use it because all the help I find uses fancy words that aren’t descriptive at all. Please, someone here MUST WORK AT STARBUCKS AND KNOWS HOW TO OPERATE ONE OF THOSE THINGS.

2

Just because you work at Starbucks does not mean that you can froth milk. Usually Starbucks’ cappuccino froth is the equivalent of dish soap. It shouldn’t be that way.

I have a Starbucks Barista espresso machine that I have been producing 2-4 capps, mochas, and lattes from per day for over a year. I am the barista of the household, and my parents (and myself) love our espressos.

When we bought the machine, I was determined to learn every technique and step involved to extract quality shots and steam delicious milk. I’ve definitely mastered the machine, so I’ll give you a few tips on how I steam milk.

First, fill your chilled metal pitcher with very cold milk. I leave my pitcher in the freezer when not steaming, and just get the milk out of the refrigerator. Do not fill it very full, because you’ll get over an inch of froth on top of the milk if you do it correctly, not to mention the fact that the milk expands when hot.

Press the Steam button, and wait for the machine to heat to steaming temperature. Usually this is indicated by a light coming on. You may want to clear out any excess water in the valve by squirting it into the drip tray or an extra cup.

Place the pitcher (with thermometer inserted) into the milk, and turn on the steam valve. You should have the valve at a steep angle against the milk, as to induce a nice swirling.

Now comes the fun part. Slowly bring the steam wand tip to the surface of the milk; just enough to get a sound of spirting milk. The swirling should continue, but you will begin to see froth on top. If you do it right, the bubbles should be almost invisibly small. Think whipped cream, not dishwater. This is part that will take practice to get right.

Next, around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, lower the tip of the wand deeper into the milk. This should eliminate the swishy spirting sound, and allow your coworkers to hear their Family Guy episode again. This part is fairly easy, and is the point where most people set the pitcher down and shove the steam wand in it. I admit to doing this on occasion, and there is really nothing wrong with it. As long as the wand is deep-ish in the milk, and the swirling is vigorously continuing, you’re fine.

Once the temperature reaches anywhere from 150 to 165 degrees (you usually can’t be exact), turn off the steam wand. Pull out the pitcher, clean off the encrusted milk on the wand, and open up the valve again to clear any leftover milk.

Finally, pour the milk. You’ll want to pour milk first, with froth last. Spoon the froth if you absolutely must.

OK, were done! Enjoy your espresso drink!

All of this takes practice, but if you do it a lot, you can perfect it. And then, you will be ashamed to drink most horribly-made Starbucks drinks.

3

Look for the brand name and model of the espresso machine and see if you can find the manual in pdf form online. There should be a button to turn the steamer on independent of the espresso water flow. If not, you have a cheap, steam driven unit which will make good froth but bad espresso.

Frothing milk is somewhat of an art. The shape of the tip of the frothing nozzle plays a part in the frothing efficiency and I don’t know what yours looks like. Use a stainless steel frothing pitcher about half full of cold milk product. Start with the froth tip about 3mm below the surface of the milk. Open the valve as wide as you can without splattering the milk. The steam should scream as it enters the surface of the milk but not splatter. Adjust the height of the surface of the milk with respect to the tip and the opening of the steam valve as the froth forms. Put your hand on the bottom of the stainless steel container so you can feel the temperature rise. Don’t scald the milk.

The closer the tip is to the surface, the faster the froth forms. Submerge the tip slightly to warm the milk faster without forming froth too quickly. Low fat content milk froths more easily. Non-fat milk froths the easiest and heavy cream is the most difficult. After frothing, the water compartment is filled with high pressure steam. You don’t want that to run through espresso grounds. Turn off the steamer switch and run steam through the nozzle to cool it until you get nothing but water. The up-to-temperature light may go out. Now it’s ready to deliver hot water to make espresso again without blasting the coffee with steam.

4

How on earth do you make cappuccinos without knowing how to froth milk?! I started work in a cafe 6 weeks ago and have learnt all about the coffee machine and had great fun using it. I steam the milk slightly differently to the above versions, for example, i dont go as high as 150 degrees, we tend to stop at 120-140 as 120 makes it hot enough to drink but over 140 and the milk burns (but to be honest most people cant taste the difference between burnt and hot milk).

The way we do it is to put enough milk in the jug, then stick the nozzle in a turn the steam on full to heat the milk with the jug at an angle so it passes the heat around the milk. when the milk is getting close to hot enough we pull the jug down a bit to get the froth, more for capucinos than lattes, but not big bubbles, so keep the nozzle close to the surface but not almost out of the surface. We turn the steam off when the thermometre is reaching 140, but if weve mislaid the thermometer we touch the base of the jug throughout the process and when its too hot to touch its hot enough. When the milk is done bash the jug down on a flat surface a few times to get rid of the big bubbles that you dont want.

Also, i find the art of making it look good and have the right consistency is in the pouring, with capucinos they should be a third coffee, a third milk and a third froth, so dont hold back when pouring, let the froth come out with the milk, and if you have the right amount of froth in the right consistency it will pour perfectly - and if youre like me you will be able to pour it so that the froth looks like a heart with coffee around the outside - a skill my coworkers are quite jealous of!
For the latte dont make much froth and hold it back when you pour, as only a tenth or less of this drink is froth - basically just a bit on the top.
With hot chocolates and mochas the amount of froth is personal taste, some people dont like much as it traps the heat in whereas others love eating the froth first!

One other thing, make sure you have a damp cloth ready when youve taken the nozzle out of the milk, as you have to wipe it clean within a couple of seconds to stop it scanking up.

Other than that - just play! the only danger with the steamer is the end of the nozzle, the rest of it doesnt get very hot, and you can even turn the steam on with out anything on the end of the nozzle as it just turns to water, the bit that burns is the inch of steam closest to the nozzle and the last inch of the nozzle tip.

Anyone whos used one before, any idea whats best - semi skimmed or full fat milk? we alternate between the two at the moment, but i dont drink coffee so wouldnt know which is nicer, although i do know that making it i prefer the froth from full fat, but maybe because im used to that more and know how how much frothing it needs to be right.

5

I always put a heart on my wife’s cappuccino.

The less fat, the easier it is to froth. Also, less flavor. But who cares? They’re all foo-foo drinks anyway. I only drink espresso straight.

6

You guys rock! Thanks a lot. I made my first bubbles with the machine today.

Tomorrow, foam!