I’ve got this really groovy 50’s style “cappuccino maker”.
It’s got the proper nozzle for steam, and steam comes out of it fine when it’s all heated and I turn the handle, but the milk just won’t froth up. I’ve tried holding the nozzle in the milk - it gets warm and eventually bubbles, but the moment I remove the nozzle it dies back down to hot milk again. Similarly if I hold the nozzle just on the surface of the milk, it makes lots of bubbles and looks frothy, but dies back down and leaves maybe two teaspoons of froth on the top of warm milk.
Clearly, as an Englishman in Ireland, you are not properly equipped to make cappuccino. You need to move to Italy, where the steam is more condusive to frothing the milk. An Englishman in Ireland should be making Irish Coffee, not cappuccino. Irish Coffee does not require frothy milk, and it does require Irish Whiskey, and is therefore an appropriate beverage for Englishmen (and women) that find themselves in Ireland. If you persist on insisting in your quest for cappuccino, and are insistant on persisting in your Irish locale, I think that you need to wait longer before opening the nozzle. You need extra steamy (seriously steamy) steam (those Italians are notoriously steamy you know), not just pressurized water vapor. Also, use smallish amounts of whole milk (skim milk is difficult to froth). If you have access to an Italian cow, so much the better. Extra steamy, wonderfully creamy, frothy Italian milk makes the best cappuccino. Ciao.
It’s very difficult to get the hang of, though once you do, it’s easy. It’s impossible to explain without showing you with my hands. Go to a coffee shop. Although the machines are bigger, they work the same way.
Assuming you have enough pressure, steam velocity, the right kind of milk, metal frothing container, etc., put the steaming wand near the top of the milk until you hear a “ripping” sound. Move the milk slowly downward to continue the sound. When the milk reaches 100 degrees (when it’s warm), move the wand to the bottom and side of the cup. What you want to do is to create a “whirlpool” effect. If you don’t have the right equipment, you won’t get it, and you won’t end up with good foam. Before the milk boils, shut the steam off and remove it. Bang the milk on the table, swirl it around a bit. Then pour into a waiting cup with a shot of espresso in it. Do not spoon the froth. If you have to spoon, you did something wrong. When you pour, the milk should mix with the espresso to create a rich, thick, brown liquid. When almost done, shake the milk you are pouring to dislodge the top, which will put a nice white cap on the brown microfoam.
If you aren’t willing to put some work into this, including getting the right equipment, it’s hard to create good froth.
In fact skim milk is usually easier to froth - but it’s the protein content of milk that determines its frothability - not its fat content.
(In the UK and at a WAG the US too, fat content of milk is controlled, but protein content isn’t - so ease of frothidge varies from one pint to another - IIRC coffee places use special higher protein milk)
Yup–excellent directions, but I can get pretty damn good froth using a cheapo machine on skim milk in a glass mug.
It just took some practice to get the hang of it. If you follow Avumede’s advice, and suffer some failures, just keep trying.
Still no luck? maybe your frother-thingy ain’t cuttin it, and you may need to invest in a new machine (which, long haul is still cheaper than buyin all your cappucinos at the 'Bucks)…
Thanks for the advice - Avumede has at least a method I can try.
The steam is 100% guaranteed Italian, because the machine is an Elektra Cappuccina. Since it was a gift and cost €350(!), I’m not going to replace it. I must learn.
Alas (or maybe “hurrah”) we don’t have Starbuck’s here.
Yes, skim milk is definitely much easier to froth up than whole milk. You get a different texture of froth, but it’s stiffer and will last longer than whole milk. (At the coffehouse where I’d work we’d sometimes cheat and add the froth from skim milk to a cappuccino. For whatever reason, the occassional batch of whole milk would just refuse to produce a manageable froth.)
Avumede’s directions are fine. We did it slightly differently. Fill a metal container half-way with cold milk. Stick the nozzle all the way in and turn on the steam. As the milk warms it starts making a different sound. When it is slightly warm to the touch (we did it by sound), lower the milk container so the nozzle is just slightly below or at the surface. It should start foaming. Slowly follow the foam up with the nozzle and when your milk has foamed to the top, dip the nozzle all the way down in the milk again and heat it up for a few more seconds to get it nice and hot.
It’s easy once you get the hang of it. I’ve never tried it on a home machine, and I’ve heard they don’t produce anywhere near the pressure a proper coffeehouse machine does, so don’t feel too bad if you don’t get it. The two main points are to first warm up the milk to the right temp (too cold or too hot and it won’t foam), and to follow the foam with your nozzle once it gets going.
It’s one of these things that are a bit tricky to explain in writing, but if shown you’ll get after a couple of tries. So find someone with experience, if you can. Good luck!
To stress one point (already mentioned in the article I linked to): The whirlpool effect you want to create will emulsify the froth into the milk, and also “puff up” the milk to some extent as well. The emulsification is important, it’s what distinguishes a good cappuccino from the dreck that is served almost everywhere. That’s why the question “what is the proportion of milk to froth” is invalid - you create an emulsification, and it will seperate out a bit on it’s own in the cappuccino cup. What you pour is not a certain amount of milk and a certain amount of froth, it’s all this emulsified mixture.
I have a plunger style one from Bodum. Works fine on warm or cold milk and will do anything from lightly frothy to concrete hard milk-foam in a couple of plunges. Been using it all summer to make iced coffee drinks.
