Comments on: Why won’t my milk foam? http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-wont-my-milk-foam James Hoffmann's blog. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:29:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101459 David Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101459 Hey Jim, just came across by doing a search on google for "why won't my milk foam". I thought I was crazy in thinking that different brands steam better than others. For instance, I frequently use milk from Costco and I'm able to get a rich, creamy and velvety texture time after time without fail and I'm able to pour some art patterns as well. I ran out of Costco milk and had to switch to Tuscan temporarily and I just can't get it to steam properly. I checked the labels for both containers and couldn't see any real disparity among the fat content but didn't think to check the protein. Thanks for an informative read. Hey Jim, just came across by doing a search on google for “why won’t my milk foam”. I thought I was crazy in thinking that different brands steam better than others. For instance, I frequently use milk from Costco and I’m able to get a rich, creamy and velvety texture time after time without fail and I’m able to pour some art patterns as well. I ran out of Costco milk and had to switch to Tuscan temporarily and I just can’t get it to steam properly. I checked the labels for both containers and couldn’t see any real disparity among the fat content but didn’t think to check the protein. Thanks for an informative read.

]]> By: Gavin http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101442 Gavin Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:54:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101442 I like the idea of cappuccinos being 'seasonal'. I like the idea of cappuccinos being ‘seasonal’.

]]> By: Stu http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101430 Stu Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:27:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101430 Wow! Found this blog as a result of a google search. My 6 years of perfect frothing fell apart this week, all 6 years with the same machine. Desperate I turned to google for answers.....now I know - it's the Whole Foods organic skim milk. Phew, thought I had lost my frothing mojo. Off to the store I go, no more Whole Foods organic for me! Yay!! Wow! Found this blog as a result of a google search. My 6 years of perfect frothing
fell apart this week, all 6 years with the same machine. Desperate I turned to google for answers…..now I know – it’s the Whole Foods organic skim milk. Phew, thought I had lost my frothing mojo. Off to the store I go, no more Whole Foods organic for me! Yay!!

]]> By: Luke http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101417 Luke Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:29:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101417 this article goes someway to explain the effect of the various treatments upon the protein content of the milk : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0958694604000834 if we are to use this as a guide then pasteurization of milk has  an optimum temperature of between 72-77 depending upon your interpretation (as this is an article about cheese) we found we got bad batches of milk without explanation, this is possibly due to incomplete pasteurization or even over pasteurization. this article goes someway to explain the effect of the various treatments upon the protein content of the milk :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0958694604000834
if we are to use this as a guide then pasteurization of milk has  an optimum temperature of between 72-77 depending upon your interpretation (as this is an article about cheese)
we found we got bad batches of milk without explanation, this is possibly due to incomplete pasteurization or even over pasteurization.

]]> By: Gavin http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101414 Gavin Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:28:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101414 I taste tested the following three both cold from the bottle and steamed to a latte texture: All three steamed well. A - Fresh form the farm - Unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk B - Jess' Ladies - pasteurised and unhomogenised milk C - Cornershop milk - pastuerised and homogenised Pastuerisation didn't seem make any difference to the flavour, if anything, A tasted slightly... farmy. Cornershop milk tasted fine, everyone from Starbucks to barista competitions have been using something similar for years, whether cornershop, Tesco or Dairy Crest, they are all processed to give extended life and no separation. The unhomogenised milk tasted delicious, creamy and sweeter than the others. In fairness it is organic, and if you read Jess' website, she seems to take pretty good care fo the cows too. I'm after as little process as possible, and where pastuerisation is both giving longer life (and therefore commercially viable when these small farms wouldn't deliver small orders to London daily) and removing the risk of bacteria, homogenisation takes just a few shakes and the milk is good to go. Seeing cream in the corners of the bottle is for one thing nostalgic, but another shows the customer that it's barely processed. Proper milk. Does cost a fair bit more though. However where 8oz is the largest size you do, it goes further. I taste tested the following three both cold from the bottle and steamed to a latte texture:
All three steamed well.
A - Fresh form the farm – Unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk
B - Jess’ Ladies – pasteurised and unhomogenised milk
C - Cornershop milk – pastuerised and homogenised

Pastuerisation didn’t seem make any difference to the flavour, if anything, A tasted slightly… farmy.
Cornershop milk tasted fine, everyone from Starbucks to barista competitions have been using something similar for years, whether cornershop, Tesco or Dairy Crest, they are all processed to give extended life and no separation.
The unhomogenised milk tasted delicious, creamy and sweeter than the others. In fairness it is organic, and if you read Jess’ website, she seems to take pretty good care fo the cows too.
I’m after as little process as possible, and where pastuerisation is both giving longer life (and therefore commercially viable when these small farms wouldn’t deliver small orders to London daily) and removing the risk of bacteria, homogenisation takes just a few shakes and the milk is good to go. Seeing cream in the corners of the bottle is for one thing nostalgic, but another shows the customer that it’s barely processed. Proper milk. Does cost a fair bit more though. However where 8oz is the largest size you do, it goes further.

]]> By: Barb L http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101387 Barb L Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:55:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101387 Very Interesting, Nancy!!! I switched to AltaDena, Whole Foods and Trader Joes's, and all three refused to foam. No lattes for a week...misery. I'm now back to Knudsen's milk. Foams perfectly. I use an AeroLatte, which will foam just about anything, very powerful. It may the cows' diets, pasteurization, or something. Anyway, back to regular supermarket milk from now on. After many decades, I haven't died from it yet and am not going to give up the wonderful lattes that start my day on the right track. Very Interesting, Nancy!!! I switched to AltaDena, Whole Foods and Trader Joes’s, and all three refused to foam. No lattes for a week…misery.
I’m now back to Knudsen’s milk. Foams perfectly. I use an AeroLatte, which will foam just about anything, very powerful.
It may the cows’ diets, pasteurization, or something. Anyway, back to regular supermarket milk from now on. After many decades, I haven’t died from it yet and am not going to give up the wonderful lattes that start my day on the right track.

]]> By: Flower http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101283 Flower Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101283 Thanks for the info but your article doesn't explain why my fresh unpasteurised milk, straight from the farm, doesn't froth. We're in switzerland and lucky enough to be able to buy milk almost straight from the cow ( it doesn't get much fresher than that!)...so why doesn't it froth when UHT works perfectly? Thanks Thanks for the info but your article doesn’t explain why my fresh unpasteurised milk, straight from the farm, doesn’t froth. We’re in switzerland and lucky enough to be able to buy milk almost straight from the cow ( it doesn’t get much fresher than that!)…so why doesn’t it froth when UHT works perfectly? Thanks

]]> By: Small problem with Latte Art http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-101140 Small problem with Latte Art Thu, 12 May 2011 01:13:02 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-101140 [...] [...] [...] [...]

]]> By: Phil http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-100792 Phil Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:34:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-100792 Thanks. We have a friend who owns a dairy. We are going to try getting some very fresh milk from their and see if we can have nice fat-full creme AND a frothy cappuccino! Great post. Thanks. We have a friend who owns a dairy. We are going to try getting some very fresh milk from their and see if we can have nice fat-full creme AND a frothy cappuccino! Great post.

]]> By: Cengelmeyer http://www.jimseven.com/2006/12/16/why-wont-my-milk-foam/#comment-100770 Cengelmeyer Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:56:00 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=307#comment-100770 Where is your stand located in Portland? Where is your stand located in Portland?

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