We have 3 guests online





Lost Password?
No account yet? Register

Whole Latte Love!

What's New?

EspressoTec.Com


Baratza Inc.

Baratza.com - Creators of the Virtuoso!

Transcend Coffee

Home arrow Forum
Welcome to the CoffeeCrew forum for registered users. - feel free to make yourself at home. This forum is dedicated to coffee and espresso based issues.

Forum spammers, link referrers, link placement, scam artists, confidence artists, crooks and obvious commercial shilling is discouraged. Violation of this one simple rule will result in you and your immediate geographical region being banned from the site so do not post ads or links to your site here unless approved by me! Violators of this one simple rule will find their firm, employer, and your pitiful self invoiced $1000 per violation of this simple rule. Enjoy!

The coffeecrew guestbook and forum has been alive for more than 10 years! Please consider it your one-stop resource for finding out about all things coffee, espresso, specialty coffee and all associated gear and equipment.

We welcome long posts - there is no word limit in fact. Keep in mind that you can only type for 15 to 20 minutes in the forum-post submit window (session timeout)- so consider composing your posts or responses in a text editor - then cut and paste! Thank you and enjoy the forums!

CoffeeCrew.com Discussion Forum and Guestbook  


Boardwalk :: Forum List Grinders, Beans, Toys and Tools All the tools
dave
Admin

Admin
Posts: 195
graphgraph
Karma: 42  
Re:Gaggia steaming capabilities - 2005/08/18 18:10 My usual method is to start purging almost immediately after flipping the switch. I purge at least twice, briefly at the end but early on I will sometimes let it ride for a bit, to boil off some water and give myself some more headroom (if I have the time). The key, as Glenn points out, is to steam with the element on. I start steaming early, many seconds before the temperature-ready light illuminates.


How much milk you steam depends on your expectations and your steaming vessel, imo. You could froth copious amounts of milk if you are happy with coarse foam (Glenn is certainly not) or even good dense foam, but producing decent microfoam can reduce the quantities some. You need to be able to fold the milk over itself continuously, which can become difficult with lots of milk and especially if you have a large pitcher. This task generally wants for a fully-open steam valve, further complicating steam recovery.

The pitcher should match the volume of milk being foamed. The narrower your pitcher the better, while still large enough to contain your milk during spinning. My ideal pitcher, I think, would be about 14oz. My 10oz jug is big enough for traditional cappas, but a bit small for pouring an 8oz latte -- attempting the last risks spinning milk out of the jug. I have been using a 20oz jug for those, but the dimensions of the jug makes folding the milk difficult beyond about 8-10oz. Heating the milk to temperature is never the issue; maintaining a strong "whirlpool" to constantly mix and re-incorporate the foam is. The trick is in maximizing the spinning time before you get up to temperature.

Technique, of course, is a factor here as well. The more mature your technique, the more successful you will be at achieving the desired results despite less than ideal conditions (too much milk, too little milk, incorrect pitcher size or shape).


Being able to reach down into deeper pitchers, far enough to be able to spin the milk properly and incorporate all of the milk, well ... that is another story. Some froth with the bare wand, though it has a large hole and leaves you rather short. Others froth with only the inner portion of the turbofrother (either the Gaggia or Saeco wand, which looks better). Still others adapt their technique or adjust their frothers to cut off the air intake, allowing them to froth larger amounts in deeper pitchers. I have been working with the last for a little while now, and while a bit harder to control the stretching it can be made to work -- [i]for the newer-style frothing aids, you slip the red o-ring down one space, cutting off the air flow and allowing a product rather close to microfoam, if still often a little coarse.

:dave Dave is an Ottawa resident and Coffee Expert
  | | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.

      Topics Author Date
    thread link
Gaggia steaming capabilities
glenns 2005/08/16 03:29
    thread link
thread linkthread link Re:Gaggia steaming capabilities
colin 2005/08/16 04:28
    thread link
thread linkthread link Re:Gaggia steaming capabilities
dave 2005/08/18 18:10
Boardwalk :: Forum List Grinders, Beans, Toys and Tools All the tools

Joomlaboard Forum Component 1.1.2 Stable
Two Shoes M-Factory
How is the current economic crisis effecting your coffee habits?
 
Powered by Joomlaboard

EspressoTop50.com