A combination of the SCAA exposition training sessions in Atlanta and a training session yesterday with a customer has really highlighted the importance of proper milk handling procedures.
Careful use of appropriately sized pitchers will make a huge difference to the quality of your cappuccinos and lattes as well as cutting down levels of milk wastage.
From my experience most food service outlets tend to encourage larger than necessary pitchers and here I'm talking about pitchers of 1 litre or larger. I reckon that the largest pitcher necessary is 1 litre and in fact there should be an increasing focus on using 0.6 litre pitchers or smaller with a real sensitivity as to exactly how much milk is needed to make just one cup of coffee.
Reheating milk or re-charging milk does not deliver consistent quality as the milk flavour will change dramatically from coffee to coffee. Best every time to start with fresh milk.
The message review the pitcher sizes you use.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Espresso machine cleaning
An issue that has arisen over the last couple of months has been the clogging up of the valves found behind the group head of espresso machines. When engineers have attempted to establish why the water flow is being restricted they have found undisolved crystals of cleaning powder. The immediate reaction is that the crytals are not disolving as they should during the cleaing process. This it turns out is not the case. The actual problem is overdosing the cleaning powder.
Other products such as liquid cleaners are available as an alternative to powder, but are not as effective as the slower release of powder cleaners. Liquid cleaners tend to be flushed away after the very first cleaning cycle and thus there isn't a prolonged cleaning action taking place.
The message therefore is to closely follow the manufacturers instructions and not overdose the cleaning powder when cleaning; not only will you save money on cleaning product, but you'll also have a clean operational machine which shouldn't require the attention of an engineer for some time.
Other products such as liquid cleaners are available as an alternative to powder, but are not as effective as the slower release of powder cleaners. Liquid cleaners tend to be flushed away after the very first cleaning cycle and thus there isn't a prolonged cleaning action taking place.
The message therefore is to closely follow the manufacturers instructions and not overdose the cleaning powder when cleaning; not only will you save money on cleaning product, but you'll also have a clean operational machine which shouldn't require the attention of an engineer for some time.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Top down for great milk foaming
Making great foam for cappuccinos isn't rocket science, although you might think that when you see the varying quality dispensed at various food service outlets. A little understanding of what makes milk foam helps at this point.
Cows milk is full of fat and protein and it is this combination that allows the Barista to foam the milk. The problem is that if you don't make any attempt to foam the milk prior to simply heating it, the fats and protein will all melt away and it is impossible to foam anything.
Knowing the above now leads to an understanding as to why milk should always first be "stretched" to create foam prior to heating the milk. Then then leads me on to the top down theory. That is, when wanting to foam milk, the steam wand should be placed at the surface of the milk to ensure that steam and air are driven into the milk. Tilting the milk pitcher and angling the steam wand should ensure that you get a vortex effect in you milk.
Once you've created sufficient foam, you can if necessary heat the milk further by lowering the wand into the liquid. Take care not to overdo it.
So top down it is
Cows milk is full of fat and protein and it is this combination that allows the Barista to foam the milk. The problem is that if you don't make any attempt to foam the milk prior to simply heating it, the fats and protein will all melt away and it is impossible to foam anything.
Knowing the above now leads to an understanding as to why milk should always first be "stretched" to create foam prior to heating the milk. Then then leads me on to the top down theory. That is, when wanting to foam milk, the steam wand should be placed at the surface of the milk to ensure that steam and air are driven into the milk. Tilting the milk pitcher and angling the steam wand should ensure that you get a vortex effect in you milk.
Once you've created sufficient foam, you can if necessary heat the milk further by lowering the wand into the liquid. Take care not to overdo it.
So top down it is
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Another grinder sick note
April seems to have got off to a challenging coffee grinder month. This morning I got a call to check out the setting on a coffee grinder which had been installed as a temporary measure.
Everything looked ok, however the coffee was taking an age to grind any volume. The problem - blunt grinder blades. The impact on the coffee taste profound!
The problem with blunt grinder blades is that rather than cut the coffee bean they tend to crush them. This results in the average particle size of the coffee to be all over the place. Anything from powder fine to quite gritty. It makes it impossible to set the grinder accurately for the espresso coffee machine. It also has the effect of putting a lot of excessive heat into the bean which in turn can result in the coffee tasting burnt.
Moral of the story - make sure you have a programme in place that ensures that the grinder blades are changed every so many kilos. A number I have seen used is 300 kilos of coffee per set of blades, but it will vary.
One of the easiest ways to remember to change the grinding blades is to change them when you have a major service on the coffee machine. There again, if you are in a high volume site the discs may need to be changed more often.
Grinders are always in my experience the last piece of kit that coffee shops consider when they experience problems with their coffee, it should in fact be one of the first places to look.
Tell tale signs of blunt blades - coffee appears quite powdery, the coffee appears to be taking an excessive amount of time to grind and finally the noise level of the grinder appears excessively loud.
Everything looked ok, however the coffee was taking an age to grind any volume. The problem - blunt grinder blades. The impact on the coffee taste profound!
The problem with blunt grinder blades is that rather than cut the coffee bean they tend to crush them. This results in the average particle size of the coffee to be all over the place. Anything from powder fine to quite gritty. It makes it impossible to set the grinder accurately for the espresso coffee machine. It also has the effect of putting a lot of excessive heat into the bean which in turn can result in the coffee tasting burnt.
Moral of the story - make sure you have a programme in place that ensures that the grinder blades are changed every so many kilos. A number I have seen used is 300 kilos of coffee per set of blades, but it will vary.
One of the easiest ways to remember to change the grinding blades is to change them when you have a major service on the coffee machine. There again, if you are in a high volume site the discs may need to be changed more often.
Grinders are always in my experience the last piece of kit that coffee shops consider when they experience problems with their coffee, it should in fact be one of the first places to look.
Tell tale signs of blunt blades - coffee appears quite powdery, the coffee appears to be taking an excessive amount of time to grind and finally the noise level of the grinder appears excessively loud.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Re-grinding coffee - just don't!
Had an experience today which if you are a coffee roaster tends to send shivers down your spine. We had a call from a customer who was experiencing problems with their coffee grinder. For some reason the coffee was coming out extremely coarse.
When I got on site I found to my horror a coffee hopper full of a mixture of bits of coffee beans and coarsely ground coffee. When I asked what had happened the member of staff said that to try and reduce the size of the grounds they had decided to re-grind the coffee. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Re-grinding coffee that has not been correctly ground in the first place is an absolute no no. To get a bit technical, the spread of the particle sizes will be so great as to make it impossible to get any consistency of flow of liquid through the coffee. On top of that all that re-grinding will result in so much heat getting into the coffee that it will materially affect the taste of the coffee in a very unpleasant and burnt way. Finally you'll end up jamming the blades, the hopper entry point and restricting the flow of beans. Not bad!
If you find yourself in this unfortunate position there is nothing to do but throw away the incorrectly ground coffee and then gradually reset the grinding blades. As a rule of thumb the coffee needs to have the consistency of fine sand to produce anything like a decent espresso.
If you do find yourself trying to unravel the above scenario, ensure that the hopper gets a good wash and is thoroughly dry and that the entry point into the grinding discs is also clear.
When I got on site I found to my horror a coffee hopper full of a mixture of bits of coffee beans and coarsely ground coffee. When I asked what had happened the member of staff said that to try and reduce the size of the grounds they had decided to re-grind the coffee. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Re-grinding coffee that has not been correctly ground in the first place is an absolute no no. To get a bit technical, the spread of the particle sizes will be so great as to make it impossible to get any consistency of flow of liquid through the coffee. On top of that all that re-grinding will result in so much heat getting into the coffee that it will materially affect the taste of the coffee in a very unpleasant and burnt way. Finally you'll end up jamming the blades, the hopper entry point and restricting the flow of beans. Not bad!
If you find yourself in this unfortunate position there is nothing to do but throw away the incorrectly ground coffee and then gradually reset the grinding blades. As a rule of thumb the coffee needs to have the consistency of fine sand to produce anything like a decent espresso.
If you do find yourself trying to unravel the above scenario, ensure that the hopper gets a good wash and is thoroughly dry and that the entry point into the grinding discs is also clear.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Bodum cafetieres - where spare parts come as standard
In the last couple of weeks we've had customers come into our store and purchase brand new Bodum cafetieres in the belief that if they had broken the glass insert that it couldn't be replaced. Wrong! In fact it's one of the main reasons we stock this product. Unlike so many cheaper reproductions virtually every part on a Bodum cafetiere can be replaced saving you a fortune.
We currently carry glass liners and metal filters as standard. That means that after your first Cafetiere purchase you probably won't ever need to buy a complete new Bodum cafetiere again unless you want to downsize or upsize.
That's why we stock Bodum
We currently carry glass liners and metal filters as standard. That means that after your first Cafetiere purchase you probably won't ever need to buy a complete new Bodum cafetiere again unless you want to downsize or upsize.
That's why we stock Bodum
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Old Brown Java - challenging but outstanding espresso
Yesterday I was on-site at a new restuarant in Alderney trying out various combinations of espresso coffee. From experience I find that you never know what is going to work until you run the coffee through the clients espresso machine on-site. What tastes great in Jersey can taste awful elsewhere.
I experimented with Old Brown Java and what a coffee it is; however the challenge is setting the grinder up correctly. If you're thinking of using this great coffee place close attention to the speed at which the coffee is flowing through the ground coffee. The grinder settings are completely different to any other coffee I know.
Once right the extraction is almost syrupy in appearance and delivers a really smooth espresso. I was actually most impressed with the Macchiato that I made.
Why is OBJ such a challenge? - good question. It's an "aged coffee" that is it's left in a warehouse to "mature" for a couple of years before being shipped. As a result we roast this quite dark without making it oily to kill off the "sacky" smell which I believe to be undesirable. Something though of this process clearly impacts on the ability of the water to get through the coffee. Anybody have any suggestions?
I experimented with Old Brown Java and what a coffee it is; however the challenge is setting the grinder up correctly. If you're thinking of using this great coffee place close attention to the speed at which the coffee is flowing through the ground coffee. The grinder settings are completely different to any other coffee I know.
Once right the extraction is almost syrupy in appearance and delivers a really smooth espresso. I was actually most impressed with the Macchiato that I made.
Why is OBJ such a challenge? - good question. It's an "aged coffee" that is it's left in a warehouse to "mature" for a couple of years before being shipped. As a result we roast this quite dark without making it oily to kill off the "sacky" smell which I believe to be undesirable. Something though of this process clearly impacts on the ability of the water to get through the coffee. Anybody have any suggestions?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)