Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Restaurants I want my micro-foam
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 3:22 PM
I start every day by making a latte. Because I'm lactose-intolerant, I make the foam with Lactaid, a brand of milk in which the lactose is broken down to make it more digestible by peeps like me.
For about two months, I've been unable to produce the appropriately thick micro-foam with my machine, an Estro-Profi. Instead I end up with large-bubble foam that quickly dissolves into my espresso, turning my drink into a cafe au lait.
I began to think that my machine had literally run out of steam but decided to try foaming some low-fat regular milk. Hurrah! I got the perfect topping for my latte.
This almost certainly means that the Lactaid is getting frozen somewhere in the production and delivery line. I've run into the problem a few times in years past, but, now, every container of the milk I buy from Publix is lousy for frothing.
I've emailed Lactaid's producer, but have yet to hear back. Please, I don't want to drink soy milk.
Comments (14)
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Have you tried almond milk? (you can get it from the aisle (non refrigerated section) of whole foods. there's also hazelnut milk..
Have you tried the Kroger brand lactose free milk? I like it better than Lactaid and it's cheaper.
I'll give Kroger's a try but I'm gonna skip the almond and hazlenut "milk." It's the handling of the Lactaid, its apparent freezing, that is screwing up my morning coffee -- not the product itself.
Cliff, You're obviously a man of wealth and taste but, with your preference for a frickin' latte for breakfast, it's hard to sympathize with you on this one. Seriously, espresso is an inferior product made from the burnt beans real coffee drinkers won't touch. If you want the best part of waking up to be the coffee in your cup, try a good, naturally sundried, ethiopian coffee brewed in a french press--if you must, a mere tablespoon of half'n'half will help bind to the tannins with it's delicious milk fat (if that's your thing). The fine folks at Octane will be happy to put you on the right path, but real coffee drinkers do it at home, before dawn, in the dark. Besides, naturally fermented Ethiopian coffees taste like blue berry muffins--how can you beat that?
Our local barristas will know better, but I believe it also has to do with the composition and size of solids suspended in the liquid you are steaming. I have my cappuccino every morning too. I find that the quality of froth varies with different brands, and even within the same brand of skim. You might just be pickled given Lactaid's composition.
A man of wealth??? A friend and I were just congratulating ourselves for a lifetime of adventurous but impoverished living, since we don't have investments to watch shrink like our friends. We just watch our memories and libido shrink. You know, I will visit Octane and try the recommendation, but I can't take this criticism of my taste seriously when the flavor of blueberry muffins is being advocated. There's little I like less than muffins. Brian: I had no regular trouble frothing the Lactaid until the last month or so.
Try Smart Balance Lactose Free Milk, I have only seen it at Publix, its available at most but not all of them. Its the best tasting and creamiest lactose free milk I have found.
Have you been using fat-free lactaid?... because that would explain why you're getting large-drink-ruining-evil bubbles! Maybe try one of lactaid's 1% or 2% milks. That or give Land o' Lakes lactose free milk a try (personally I think it tastes better) but be sure it isn't fat free.
The problem is... if your milk doesn't have fat you are essentially burning some milk proteins into submission around really really hot air/steam bubbles. And burnt protein bubbles are not small, not tasty, and are not "soft" like micro foam. Furthermore, lower fat contents in milk make it more acidic... and acids do not like to be bubbly. Think of them as being kind of bitchy and dark. Where as basic liquids are very bubbly (and quite charming) - soaps are basic and hence they bubble and foam up! Milk and egg whites are two of the very few basic foods. For example - remove too much fat from cream and you can't get whipped cream. Remove too much fat from milk and you can't get good micro foam. Embrace the milk-fat!
AH! I'm losing my mind! AND... Fat stablizes proteins is what I meant to say - proteins make bubbles, but fat will keep those bubbles small and keep them from "burning" and becoming hard and large...
Nah, I'm using lactaid whole milk and get macrofoam not microfoam too. I think the lack of lactose... not necessarily fat content makes it too frothy. I've also noticed that when cooking other things like omelets and casseroles lactaid performs differently...
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