How to prepare a Perfect Cappuccino – Milk Emulsion

“Uuuuhhh what a beautiful cream!”

This is one of the best compliments a bartender can get from a customer.
The technique to emulsify milk is fundamental to create an excellent cappuccino, for this reason
let’s face it in a simple and sequential way.

How to emulsify milk properly: 9 basic steps

Fill the milk jug up to the correct amount then go to the steam lance and let out a bit of steam. How much? The time it takes to heat the lance to prevent the steam, that passes inside, from condensing immediately.
The starting position of the steam lance is crucial!
Tilt the lance towards you to create an angle from 20° to 45° (depends on the type of machine you use) relative to its perpendicular. If you are uncomfortable and you’d rather move it sideways be careful not to tilt it laterally, but turn it.
Now insert the milk jug holding it by the handle and not by the body. This will help you to manage the temperature of the milk. You can safely use the beak of the milk jug
as a support for the lance , so that you have more “play space” during the emulsion.
Looking at the milk jug from above, imagine creating a cross with the line that goes from the spout to the handle and its perpendicular. You’ll form 4 quadrants. Choose one and position the tip of the lance : neither too close to the edge nor too close to the centre. My advice is to use the quadrants on the left side, possibly the one by the spout.
Insert the steam lance vertically until you cover the holes in the tip for about a couple of centimeters. Now open the steam to maximum. Put your hand on the side of the milk jug (not below) and wait for a kind of vortex. About a couple of seconds and then it starts to slowly descend with the milk jug, making sure that the mechanical action of the steam helps the milk proteins to store air.
You’ll notice that the volume of milk will start to increase. When the desired amount of foam is reached (according to the type of drink that you have to prepare) raise the milk jug just enough to cover the holes so they don’t get any air, allowing the steam to turn the large bubbles on the surface into increasingly smaller bubbles (in jargon to micronize or microbullize), thus creating a silky foam.
The moment to stop is given by the heat that you feel with the support hand. Usually the milk inside has a temperature of a few degrees lower compared to the temperature of external part of the milk jug (as a result of the dissipation of the heat).
Stop with the steam. Clean the lance (WELL!),also underneath and purge some steam to remove the milk residue inside the lance itself. [Find out how to always keep clean your station].
Now you’re ready to pour: twirl the milk jug to mix the freshly made emulsion, pour the milk from a few centimeters above the cup, approach with the milk jug to the edge and fill to the brim.