The preparation of a good Cappuccino requires the same attentions needed for a cup of Espresso. Moreover, obtaining an excellent milk cream is fundamental, and also essential if you want to create pictures on the beverage surface, making your Cappuccino not only tasty but even a work of art. So far, before analyzing how to make it, some information about milk are required.

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Milk is defined as the product of a regular, complete, and continuous milking of healthy animals with a good alimentation and correct lactation. The main components are: water, fats, proteins, sugars, vitamins, mineral salts, and nitrogen substances. It could be classified by its commercial use or the thermic process occurred.

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• Full Cream:more than 3.2% fats According to commercial use milk is classified as following:

• Partially skimmed:1% to 1.8% fats

•  Skimmed:from 0.5% fats

• Concentrated:with a partial evaporation of water at 40  to 50°C

• In powder:nearly total evaporation of water
  The thermic process determine those categories:

• Fresh pasteurized:pasteurization at low temperature

•  Pasteurized:pasteurization at high temperature

•  Sterilized, long conservation:indirect sterilization, expiration in 90 days

• UHT, long conservation:direct sterilization, expiration in 180 days

 

A fresh milk has a protein content higher than a long conservation milk. The whipping process to create the cream is easier because proteins reduce significantly the surface tension of milk making it more elastic: it is an ideal condition for the volume growth when air is added. On the other hand, when the milk is also full cream it has a fat content higher, making the beverage more consistent. Let’s analyze then the whipping operation. The temperature shouldn’t be above 65°C, to prevent alterations in proteins with consequent losing of their tension characteristic. Once the proteins are destroyed, a process that usually occurs at 70°C, the milk is irremediably damaged.

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Moreover, a good cappuccino does not present a clear distinction between the liquid phase and the whip phase. To achieve it the cream must be perfect. You can choose to make it with a traditional vapor nozzle or a turbo-steam dispenser.

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While the nozzle is more suitable for artisanal making, having that it’s mainly based on the barman’s ability and requires more time, a turbo-steam dispenser permits to warm and whip higher quantities of milk without intervention. It’s easier in usage and cleaning granting a cream with a constant quality.

The difference is that a nozzle whipping requires manual movement to mix vapor and air, while in the turbo-steam air is added by a compressor that stops when reaching the desired temperature.

The phases of whipping are the following (in the case of a traditional nozzle):

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• Empty the condense

• Half-fill the milk pan, no more

• Put the vapor bulb into the milk

• Keep the pan rotated roughly at 45° from the nozzle

•  Open the vapor dispenser

•  Warm and verify the milk is rotating

• Return the pan in a standing position and close the dispenser

• Empty some vapor from the nozzle to prevent milk residuals

•  Clean the nozzle with a soft rag 

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  Also in this case, we can identify the typical numbers of the perfect Cappuccino:

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•  Espresso quantity:25 to 30 milliliters

•  Milk quality:fresh, full-cream (3.2% to 3.5% fats)

•  Milk temperature:4° to 5°C

•  Vapor temperature:60 to 65°C

• Final quantity:150 to 160 milliliters