Date: 06 Nov 2006 12:48:15
From: phreaddy
Subject: waffling on PIDing Silvia
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Should I really get a PID for Silvia? And if so, should I go all the
way and get steam control too? While I enjoy striving to be "one with
the machine," I've never had any interest in learning temp- or
time-surfing. There is indeed some variation in the quality of the
shots, but we rarely drink straight espresso, so the variations'
effects are somewhat muted. I usually make a hot, skim-milk double
cappuccino with no sugar for myself, and an iced, sugared one for my
wife. I do notice a quality difference from the espresso, but even more
so, I notice a difference from the steaming of the milk. Sometimes I
have lots of microfoam, but more often, I get a lot of hot milk that
pours first, from underneath the microfoam. And no latte art. And
I've noticed that when I run out of skim, and use the kids'
full-fat milk for steaming, that it is a lot easier to get more
microfoam, more consistently. (No, I never end up with stiff foam
requiring spooning.) If I do get a PID, I know that with a
single-setpoint PID, you can still control the steaming temp simply by
starting the steaming shortly before the t-stat turns itself off. Is
that enough?
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