After seeing Chris's Coffee video on proper steaming have determined to get a good thermometer to get as close to 150 degrees as I can. Have used finger on side of pitcher up to now.

Bought nice probe from Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday. Bought the Oxo small because it said "instant read". Ha. After unsuccessful steaming readout tried it in water out of steamer. Even then it was slow as molasses.

May have to call Mary to see what Chris was using.
What do any of you use?

Just my finger on the side of the pitcher, works every time

I also have tried a few from Rattleware and other espresso accessory makers. It seems to me that unless you get something like what Eric uses for his E61 group temperature thingy (digital thermal probe), you will have to live with a certain lag. This is why i went back to the good ol' hand on the pitcher technique as Tekomino has suggested.

you don't have to live with lag, but you have to be willing to spend the money if you don't want it...you couldn't pry my thermapen out of my hand (though I haven't used it for steaming milk)

http://thermoworks.com/

not thermapen fast but still fast at ~5sec., on sale for $16, I may even pick one up since they are on sale
http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt600c.html

genecounts wrote:... Bought the Oxo small because it said "instant read". Ha. After unsuccessful steaming readout tried it in water out of steamer. Even then it was slow as molasses.
...

You want fast? Look here. (It also tells you what's not fast... )



I need to test mine. I think my $10-$15 digital Polder is about 5seconds. (I think from BB&B).

Finger is not very accurate if steaming just after walking the dog, chopping wood, cleaning gutters in winter.

Lag is easy to adjust. Steam to 140°F and note end temp after a few seconds. Adjust accordingly.

ALSO, determine when to plunge the tip by milk volume, not temperature.
When the volume is almost double, plunge.

yes, like I said, I love my thermapen, they are also extremely accurate

I like this thermo label. It's always out of the way and always on the pitcher.

http://www.idrinkcoffee.com/Espresso_Ge...-therm.htm

You want to use a thermometer with a probe which can stay in the milk during steaming, instead of an instant read -- which not only ain't so instant, but forces you to stop and restart steaming if you miss your target. You want something you can keep an eye on while the wand's in the pitcher.

With the probe in the milk from jump street, the thermometer doesn't have to overcome inertia to get a reading. By way of example, this is the thermometer Chris uses.

idrinkcoffee's stick-on liquid crystal thermometer seems like a good idea if you don't mind the way they look on your pitchers. Slawek's a champ, but those thermometers would make me nuts. If I were the one in our couple who drank the milk drinks I'd probably put up with it, but since I'm not I use the finger on the side of the pitcher method like the other trogs.

BDL

cafeIKE wrote:Finger is not very accurate if steaming just after walking the dog, chopping wood, cleaning gutters in winter.

Agreed. Different people have different level of heat tolerance. Also, subjecting our fingers to heat over a period of times is no good either.