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Date: 18 Oct 2006 07:36:55
From: brett
Subject: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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I try to stop frothing when I reach about 150 degress. Anything below
and I have pretty much flat milk (very little froth). I'm trying to
get micro froth and have gotten better since I started. I'm frothing
close to 8oz of milk up to 145 or 150. After stopping, it idles up to
155 - 160.
The second I lift the tip to the milk surface for the first time, I get
a few bubbles on the surface. These aren't very small, which is bad.
They eventually pop and go away. Thing is, if I don't lift and get
those first few bubbles, I will have flat milk no matter what. That
initial lift raises the level of milk and I start getting froth from
then on. I don't understand this because you aren't supposed to break
the surface. Yet, if I don't, I might as well just pour regular
microwaved milk into my drink.
>From there I'm pretty careful and things seem to go fine, from the
tip's perspective. However, I see little bubbles forming. Not suds,
just smaller bubbles. Enough that they ruin the texture and prevent
micro froth.
If I'm not creating bubbles at the tip, how else can I control the
creation of these little bubbles? I have a Silvia with three hole tip
by the way.
Thanks,
Brett
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Date: 19 Oct 2006 13:26:23
From: Rusty
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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"brett" <account@cygen.com > wrote in message
news:1161182215.244373.204970@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I try to stop frothing when I reach about 150 degress. Anything below
> and I have pretty much flat milk (very little froth). I'm trying to
> get micro froth and have gotten better since I started. I'm frothing
> close to 8oz of milk up to 145 or 150. After stopping, it idles up to
> 155 - 160.
>
> The second I lift the tip to the milk surface for the first time, I get
> a few bubbles on the surface. These aren't very small, which is bad.
> They eventually pop and go away. Thing is, if I don't lift and get
> those first few bubbles, I will have flat milk no matter what. That
> initial lift raises the level of milk and I start getting froth from
> then on. I don't understand this because you aren't supposed to break
> the surface. Yet, if I don't, I might as well just pour regular
> microwaved milk into my drink.
>
>>From there I'm pretty careful and things seem to go fine, from the
> tip's perspective. However, I see little bubbles forming. Not suds,
> just smaller bubbles. Enough that they ruin the texture and prevent
> micro froth.
>
> If I'm not creating bubbles at the tip, how else can I control the
> creation of these little bubbles? I have a Silvia with three hole tip
> by the way.
>
> Thanks,
> Brett
Hi Brett,
Try raising the tip S L O W L Y. I find fast movement causes bubbles to
form.
Cheers,
Ken
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Date: 18 Oct 2006 18:26:06
From: Sylvain
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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On 18, 10:36 am, "brett" <acco...@cygen.com > wrote:
> If I'm not creating bubbles at the tip, how else can I control the
> creation of these little bubbles? I have a Silvia with three hole tip
> by the way.
>
> Thanks,
> Brett
I'm no pro, but what got it working for me was trying to generate a
pinhole just south of the tip. That's were the air goes in. It
obviously forms as little bubbles but it's almost microfroth
immediately. When the pitcher starts to get hot I lower the tip just a
bit to remove the top "foam" that sometimes form (still having the
pitcher at a slight angle). When the pitcher gets almost too hot to
handle at the bottom I stop frothing.
Since I'm no pro, to me it works best with 2% milk. Also I abondoned
the use of a thermometer, it helped me focus on what is going on at the
surface of the milk a lot more.
hope this helps,
Sylvain
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Date: 19 Oct 2006 15:03:00
From: brett
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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All of this sounds nice and you follow the instructions but it never
seems to work out. I start with the tip in the milk. Turn it on and
raise the tip just under the surface to get air. I get the sheet
ripping sound and no big bubbles. Problem is, that is going to result
in flat milk. Basically, it will be watery by the time I pour. If I
try to raise the tip any higher at all, I create large bubbles and
smaller bubbles in the froth. I agree, it's lots of practice to get it
right.
Here's one thing I've never seen that would help people trying improve
this technique: good online video of some one doing it. There are so
many articles and photos but no one has posted a video to this tedious
little process. It would make a big difference.
Thanks,
Brett
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Date: 19 Oct 2006 11:49:08
From: gscace
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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Hey there:
One important thing to keep in mind with the Silvia is that the boiler
is full of water when you switch from brewing to steaming. That means
that you're gonna get very wet steam to start with, unless you bleed a
lot of steam off before frothing. I used to bleed a good bit of steam
off while the thing was heating up, then starting my steaming when the
PID controller's thermometer indicated 140C. If you don't have such,
then you'll have to wait for the heater light to go out or something in
order to know that you are at max temperature. That's a little
problematic because you'd like the heater to be dumping heat into the
boiler to keep steam pressure up.
Anyhoo, once you have dry steam the procedure is to shove the wand into
the milk a ways, off center about half way to the side of the pitcher,
then open the valve full tilt boogie. Raise the wand in the milk (lower
the pitcher) until you start hearing air come in. The right amount is
to get a little air injection. If you get a slurping sound then the
tip was raised too high and you'll get coarse bubbles. After a few
seconds of air injection you'll want to stretch the milk by getting the
milk to swirl in the pitcher. Lower the tip in the milk and position
the tip off center and directed so that the milk is forced to swirl in
a circular pattern. I don't think depth is all that important except
that you don't want the tip so high that air gets injected and you
don't want the tip so low that the top of the milk doesn't swirl. The
milk is done when you can't hold your hands on the outside of the
pitcher - around 140 degrees. Good milk has a shiny surface texture.
You can often fix milk that is too thick by swirling it in the pitcher
until the texture is shiny. Don't be afraid to swirl aggressively.
A good thing for you to do is to froth a whole gallon of milk. That's
a lot of pitchers. If you do em back to back you'll get somewhere with
your technique. It's a lot harder to improve if you only froth one
pitcher a day. Don't forget to add water to your boiler occasionally
so you don't run it dry.
-Greg
brett wrote:
> I try to stop frothing when I reach about 150 degress. Anything below
> and I have pretty much flat milk (very little froth). I'm trying to
> get micro froth and have gotten better since I started. I'm frothing
> close to 8oz of milk up to 145 or 150. After stopping, it idles up to
> 155 - 160.
>
> The second I lift the tip to the milk surface for the first time, I get
> a few bubbles on the surface. These aren't very small, which is bad.
> They eventually pop and go away. Thing is, if I don't lift and get
> those first few bubbles, I will have flat milk no matter what. That
> initial lift raises the level of milk and I start getting froth from
> then on. I don't understand this because you aren't supposed to break
> the surface. Yet, if I don't, I might as well just pour regular
> microwaved milk into my drink.
>
> >From there I'm pretty careful and things seem to go fine, from the
> tip's perspective. However, I see little bubbles forming. Not suds,
> just smaller bubbles. Enough that they ruin the texture and prevent
> micro froth.
>
> If I'm not creating bubbles at the tip, how else can I control the
> creation of these little bubbles? I have a Silvia with three hole tip
> by the way.
>
> Thanks,
> Brett
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Date: 20 Oct 2006 10:15:19
From: Alex_chef2000
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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Hi there, the secret is to have the correct pressure and the proper
steam tip in your machine. For proper steaming your machine should
have up to 1.3 bars. It is the easiest way to make micro foam for art
latte. Totally fool proof.
Regards from Mexico,
Alex.:
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Date: 20 Oct 2006 07:10:42
From: gscace
Subject: Re: Getting rid of those little bubbles?
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Well I do what I just posted and it works just great. Practice and use
up a gallon of milk or so. Also, use whole milk. It froths a lot
easier. Ultra-pasturized whole milk seems most consistent for me.
Horizon Organic is expensive, but easy to use.
I don't use a Silvia much any more, but a coupla months ago I
demonstrated how to froth on a Silvia to someone who was in the same
boat as you. The technique I posted gave the correct results for me
and him.
Where do you live?
-Greg
brett wrote:
> All of this sounds nice and you follow the instructions but it never
> seems to work out. I start with the tip in the milk. Turn it on and
> raise the tip just under the surface to get air. I get the sheet
> ripping sound and no big bubbles. Problem is, that is going to result
> in flat milk. Basically, it will be watery by the time I pour. If I
> try to raise the tip any higher at all, I create large bubbles and
> smaller bubbles in the froth. I agree, it's lots of practice to get it
> right.
>
> Here's one thing I've never seen that would help people trying improve
> this technique: good online video of some one doing it. There are so
> many articles and photos but no one has posted a video to this tedious
> little process. It would make a big difference.
>
> Thanks,
> Brett
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