Hello all,

I finally bought a semi-decent machine Gaggia Classic (after trying Gaggia Accademia and getting disgusting shots with it), now meddling in manual world.

I finally got to a point where I can produce a decent espresso after shelling more money on a decent burr grinder (my La Pavoni burr was apparently not up to par) and tamper. However, even after installing the Silvia Wand, I cant seem to get a hang of making any decent cappuccino worthy foam. I tried the panarello wand and it also either produces too big of bubbles that just disappear or not pulling the milk.

The Silvia wand is hard to control a small tilt produces huge useless bubbles but when I do get pulling the milk seems to get too hot too quickly... I saw multiple videos, I don't see anyone producing any cappuccino worthy foam anyway mostly latte microfoam, I seem to get that occasionally also. I am not sure what to blame, I certainly wish I could just get a La Marzocco or Rocket, but I am not sure me spending money will remedy the problem. So is this me, is it the machine? I checked the temperatures and they are within norm... perhaps someone can shine some light on this. I am ready to give up and just get a Capresso frother...

My Nespresso produces perfect foam

The classic was my starter machine and after using two other machines (one of them a professional La Marzocco at a barista course) I can tell you that the machine does make a difference.

My personal experience is that the quantity and quality of the milk makes a very noticeable difference.
You mention that the milk gets too hot too quickly when pulling - have you tried using more milk? That might help with getting big bubbles as well.
I do notice that if I don't have enough milk in the pitcher I would get the very hot milk with bug bubbles.

Then there are a number of topics on the best kind of milk - it seem that Horizon organic whole milk gives great results (I usually use Organic Valley).

Also, if you have a Counter Culture training center around you you can probably just walk in and ask questions and they will probably let you try on one of their machines.

I, too, started with a Gaggia Classic. Biggest issue there is temp stability during shot. I found its good for milk drinks (as long as you steam before the shot!) I made more lattes than caps though, so I don't remember how cap foam was. I used the pannarello wand and got silky microfoam so I know it's capable of that. Slow, but capable.

A lot of people remove the panarello and steam with the nozzle, I had much better results like that.

Me too.

Also srated with the GC, and indeed also found it was hard to get nice foam.
Quality and freshness of the milk are important so do experiment with brands!
Steaming a larger qty works better, in the end I could make OKish foam but reverted to using a foamer as I only make two or three cappas a day.

The foamer is still in use btw, my current machine is way too powerfull to only steam 3 Oz of milk for a cappa but when I make more than two cappas the steam wand is used.

Think the TS has the Silvia wand, and I do'nt know if that also has a weird object stuck to it like with the original GC wand but if so I'd also try it without.

In the end steaming is a delicate matter with the GC, lot's of testing was required before I got it right, if you want to try techniques I read here that some folks use water with a drop or two of dishwashimg soap so you don't have to keep cows in your garden.

HoldTheOnions wrote:A lot of people remove the panarello and steam with the nozzle, I had much better results like that.

I have the Silvia Wand that i installed instead of the Panarello, that is not an issue..... I think its a nice basic machine and pulls a good espresso if you work it... (a lot) ... Perhaps it is better to invest once into a Rocket ... or something of the sort with a double boiler of larger size....

The Classic is very finicky in terms of steaming, from what I read the thermostat leaves a lot to be desired... oh well I will continue playing.

Soap is a good suggestion..

//Mtech wrote:I, too, started with a Gaggia Classic. Biggest issue there is temp stability during shot. I found its good for milk drinks (as long as you steam before the shot!) I made more lattes than caps though, so I don't remember how cap foam was. I used the pannarello wand and got silky microfoam so I know it's capable of that. Slow, but capable.

I had a conversation with someone a little while ago who said they use to get really good foam out of the panarello, then it broke, got a new one and then steaming was horrible. Wondering if they changed it at some point.