Aerating / stretching

Steaming the milk for the perfect cup of coffee is one of the things people find the most difficult. An important step in this process is called aerating or stretching. What this exactly means, we will clarify in this article.   

Who doesn’t love some foamy milk on top of their cappuccino? To get to this, steaming the milk by aerating the right way, is important. 

Aerating / stretching 

Aerating is the first stage of steaming the milk. At this moment, air will be added to the milk to give it more volume. During this stage, the milk increases 50% of its initial volume.  

Texturing vs stretching 

Some people think lightly about steaming milk, but there is more to it than you might think. The first thing you need to understand, is that there are two phases to steaming: stretching and texturing. You need both phases to get creamy and velvety milk with enough body. With stretching the milk, you add air to create foam. Once the milk has increased 50 percent in volume, you drop the tip of the steam wand deeper into the pitcher and create a milk vortex in the jug. 

aerating/ stretching

Any questions or would you like to find out more about roasting and coffee? Check out our knowledge base.

Updated on 10-01-2023