Foamability of different milk types, and stability and structure of the foam produced

Long-lasting, small-pore foam with a pattern of scattered-on cocoa, which does not cause the foam to collapse: That's how most coffee drinkers envisage their perfect milk coffee or cappuccino. Coffee with foamed milk generated for single cups is becoming increasingly popular – a situation reflected in the growing research efforts into milk foaming characteristics. In this application report, we summarize a published scientific study [1] on milk foam, which we compiled in our application laboratory.

In the course of the study we investigated four different milk types (pasteurized milk and UHT milk with 1.5% and 3.5% fat respectively) using our Dynamic Foam Analyzer – DFA100. The measurements focused on the foamability and the foam stability, both dependent upon the milk type and temperature. We also analyzed the foam structure in terms of the bubble size and bubble size distribution in order to investigate the relationship between these measurement results and the stability parameters determined.