UK based barista here.
So, coddling ie soya milk turning clumpy is down to a variety of factors, acidity, rapid temperature change, brand of soy used, whether it has been refrigerated first. In my experience it tends to be more likely when soy is added to an Americano than a latte, flat white or cappuccino. I've only had it happen the once in about a year as a barista. Some beans will be more acidic than others and you can't tell via taste.
We use in-house soy milk (I work for Marks and Spencer) with a 4 day shelf life and store it in the fridge. Our store and café soy milk is always kept in the large fridges upstairs or the small fridge in the café. There doesn't seem to be any difference in results from the shop floor vs café specific one. I have a DeLonghi coffee machine at home and I'm using Alpro on it with no issues.
WhateverBeansNecessary says
Most soy milks are UHT treated so they are shelf stable - like long life milk
Soy should only be taken up to 55 degrees c.
Technique wise, open up your steamer the whole way, angle the nozzle at the side but not edge of the jug, if doing latte milk you want about three seconds of the 'sss' hiss then you move the nozzle so it is swirling around the jug, cappuccino milk you get the three seconds and sort of follow the hiss up the side of the jug. Make sure you tap and swirl the milk before it goes under the steamer to get rid of large bubbles (pouring into a tilted jug like you would pour beer to end up with less head helps with this so try and get the two edges of the milk jug and the milk carton relatively flat to each other) and when it comes out from underneath it. If you're doing a latte the milk should be an emulsion, glossy and smooth like a tin of freshly opened emulsion paint and you pour from the spout of the jug slowly in circles until you get near to the top and then you make any patterns. Cappuccino you pour from the side, touch the jug to the cup.
Sometimes the milk will look over frothy - this just means more tapping and swirling until that fluffy clumpy island in the middle of a cappuccino goes or until the latte milk recombines and goes glossy.
I hope this helps a bit! Good luck with your barista (have you tried asking why she stores it out of the fridge?) and your milk!


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