What's with the milk lately?

[ianboughton]

Sod's law - the full text of Drewry's article appeared as soon as I had posted the above!

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As the Grass grows…..so shall the Cappuccino froth!
By Drewry Pearson, MD of Marco Beverage Systems

It is well known that low fat skimmed milk is easier to froth and gives greater volume than full fat milk. The downside is that the quality of the foam and its smoothness is not so good and collapses more quickly. What is probably not so well known is that milk is more difficult to froth at some times of the year than others. Why?

Well, Protein is the main factor determining the quality and stability of the foam. The concentration of Beta Lactoglobin, the predominant whey globular protein found in bovine milk, varies throughout the year. It depends on the lactation cycle of the cow, with its related hormone changes and also upon the growing season.

And that’s where the grass comes in….

The concentration of protein levels in the grass fed to the cow is a significant factor in the protein levels of the milk produced and hence the quality of your Cappuccino froth.

The periods of low protein production by the cow are those of early lactation (February to April) and late lactation (September to December). These are months when the milk will not give such good quality froth, but which could be improved with correct feeding.

What can be done to fix this natural variation without resorting to Genetically Modifying our cows? A quick fix is to add whey (protein) which gives a limited improvement in quality (in a similar way that adding skimmed milk will enhance foam values).

A more satisfactory solution developed in Germany is to produce full fat UHT milk during the optimum mid-lactation period, which is then stored and sold during the winter months -Milk dedicated for Cappuccino.

So, if your cappuccino frothing varies despite your best efforts, remember it may not be your fault. Blame the grass!

Drewry Pearson, Marco Beverage Systems (quoted by IanB)

[Joey]

that's my excuse in winter, too, but nobody believes me
BTW, they are working on a milk with more protein for the gastronomy. i got to test some liters and it works GREAT. As it's still a production secret I won't tell the company.
I just hope that product will be produced in the future. The foam was much more silkier, fine-bubbled, and staid x-times longer then foam from the other milk brands. Fat content was the same as the others - 3,5%
And it tastes more neutral, too, not so "cowy"...what is even better for using it in coffee.

Joey Wechselberger live from Coffee-News, Austria
Good day!

[ianboughton]

Seeing as we're on the subject, here's some stuff I picked up somewhere:

Cow's milk is 3.5% milkfat, 8.5% milk solids and 88% water
Camel's milk - 5.5% milkfat, 7.5% solids, 87% water
ewe's: 8%, 11.5%, 90.5%
Mare's: 1%, 8.5%, 90.5%
Reindeer's: 22.5% milkfat (!), 14.5% solids, 63% water
Water Buffalo's: 7.5%, 10.5%, 82% water

This comes from James Ehler, a chef in Florida. So, which milk do you choose?

(I have tried to get a British buffalo farm to let baristas experiment with their milk, ut they weren't interested)
-IanB

[Steve]

Reindeer Milk sounds interesting but my local sainsburys dont seem to stock it

I'm a straight semi skimmed kind a guy when I feel the need to froth buts those days are few and far between for me. I'd like to hear others experiances with other milk though

[Joey]

I had to froth soja-milk (soy-milk?) for a friend once. it works well, but tastes awful...
here the 3,5% milk makes better foam.
today I heard that the special-high protein milk is out on the market already - but only for the gastronomy and I have to find out the name and price yet...
joey

[anette]

What you put in is what you get out, so of course the feed will affect the milk! There are some interesting articles on milk on www.extraordinarydairy.com, search the site for cappuccino, steaming, foaming etc.
Not being used to the huge selection of milk you get in the UK, I'd be very interested in more opinions on who has the best stuff! The milk I get from our ASDA across the road is just rubbish, so I've started a log and I'm determined to track down the good stuff. But shortcuts are appreaciated!
Personally I find that talking to your cow and playing Barry White to it always helps the smoothness of the foam.

[simonp]

Link should be www.extraordinarydairy.com the one above has a comma after the 'com'. Sorry for correcting, but it makes it easier for everyone.

Hi Anette, by the way, welcome

[simonp]

Unfotunately their search engine seems to br broken

[phil]

Link should be www.extraordinarydairy.com the one above has a comma after the 'com'. Sorry for correcting, but it makes it easier for everyone.

Fixed. The forum software generating links like that automatically can be a bit of a nuisance if someone (entirely reasonably) puts punctuation into their sentence!

The trick of course, once you get used to the environment, is to use the url bbcode. Unfortunately you don't get to see the option to use this if you only use the quick reply. Since Anette is our very newest member she wasn't to know that.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the lady who makes some of the best espresso I've ever tasted!

[kingseven]

Where is this good espresso? London?

[phil]

Anette works for a coffee importer Jim. I got to taste some of her produce when we visited.

[kingseven]

Oooo - which one? Mercanta?

[simonp]

Since Anette is our very newest member she wasn't to know that.

I didn't mean to sound critical, sorry if I did, I just thought I'd point it out to avoid others scratching their head as I did for a minute

[phil]

Oooo - which one? Mercanta?

Yup

[kingseven]

They seem to be the loveliest people. I rang up some months ago on the hunt for coffee cherries. They said they had no fresh but some dried, I asked to buy some. They said they'd just post em to me for free. I think I also trained one of their newer employees but I am not going to start naming names as its a bit odd when people start talking about you on an internet forum!