Ok, I steamed milk on Gaggia Classic modified, on Cremina also, and I got decent microfoam most of the time. So I thing I got basics covered. Now I own la Scala HX machine, two hole tip, a lot more power and steam and this is what happens:

- I have a very short stretching phase (just a couple of seconds is enough)
- than I go deeper and very nice whirlpool is forming milk is going all around, but when milk gets hotter it starts raising a little, I go even more down the pitcher but all of the sudden sound completely changes (couple a seconds before there was actually no sound). There is no surface brake I thing but there is that sound like there is layer of air somewhere in the middle of the pitcher and I suddenly brake into it. When I leave milk on the counter surface looks good, but when I swirl milk couple of times millions of tiny bubbles comes to surface and they are incorporated all the way into milk, there is no way I can brake them...

I tried what Jim once suggested not to have stretching and texturing phase just to put pitcher in the middle and let it do his thing but again it starts really good and then brakes at the end... If i stopped earlier then there is not warm enough, and there is thin foam...

Tried couple of milks, 3,8%, 2,8%, 1,5%. Now I am stuck with fresh 2,8% milk I saw they use in coffee shops and get really nice microfoam.

Strangest thing is that when I bought machine 2 months ago I was getting way better results, and I do not think anything changed... I will try to measure milk before and after steaming to see if the foam is to wet maybe.

I had a similar problem when I went from a thermocoil machine to my Magister Stella (HX). So much steam...so little time! One of the resident sages here told me that it was probably just technique. He suggested plugging one of the steam holes with a toothpick, which I did. That still gave lots of steam compared to my thermocoil, but much less than before. Once I got used to this, I pulled the toothpick and voila...in a few tries I was making good foam.

kidloco wrote: - than I go deeper and very nice whirlpool is forming milk is going all around, but when milk gets hotter it starts raising a little, I go even more down the pitcher but all of the sudden sound completely changes (couple a seconds before there was actually no sound). There is no surface brake I thing but there is that sound like there is layer of air somewhere in the middle of the pitcher and I suddenly brake into it.

Have you tried not doing this part? I've always found that once the milk is "rolling", the best results will be achieved by leaving the wand and pitcher stationary until steaming is finished. If you move the wand too low, or into the wrong position, it will start making different sounds, and that is something which generally should be avoided. A quiet roll is a good roll.

The best position for this is going to be somewhere between halfway down the pitcher, and the point where the holes of the steam tip are just completely submerged. The more powerful the steam wand and tip, the closer to the surface (without being above it) the tip can be.

I got this 4 weeks ago and can not repeat results since then

Since moving up to my Profitec Pro 700 from my Silvia, the milk texture and microfoam issue has really become clear and improved for me. Incorporating air is easy with either machine. But with the Silvia, i couldn't come close to any latte art. I'd have what I thought was good foam and then end up pouring a white blob at the end. It was a running joke every morning with my wife.

The Profitec makes stretching/aerating just as easy as the Silvia did, but it happens more quickly. A few seconds and I'm done. I've found that stopping when the milk reaches 80F works well. The difference in my results came from the later texturing phase. The Silvia would slow as the milk temperature rose and it's steam depleted. On the Profitec, the steaming actually enhances as you go and the milk heats faster and faster. This added power makes it easy to really texturize the milk without adding more air. I can finally make some latte art.

Here's a basic way to critically evaluate results. If you aerate and texturize seemingly well but pour a blob of white foam, aerate less next time and texturize longer. Conversely, if you pour your whole pitcher of milk and don't make any white shapes whatsoever, you need to aerate the milk longer before texturizing. Letting the milk sit just makes a more dense foam surface and gets foam blobs when you pour.

It sounds like you're plunging the wand too deep in the later phase. I think this is causing the air to be insufficiently incorporated into the milk, which is why you're getting weird bubbles.

There should be only two phases: stretching (letting air into the milk at the surface) and texturing (swirling the milk by lowering the wand into the milk a bit deeper). The difference in depth between the two phases isn't much. Maybe half an inch at most. Stretching shouldn't take long either. Just suck in enough air to get the milk to expand by 25% or so from where it started. Then lower the wand slightly under the surface and let it swirl until it's up to 140 or 150 degrees. Once it feels a bit hot to the touch, immediately turn off the steam and tap and swirl on the counter, then pour.

This is one of the best how-to videos I've seen for steaming milk. It lays out all the steps clearly and in an easy visual way. It's worth watching several times to get all the steps right.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/63338928[/vimeo]

I am getting better thanks to your advice guys

Looks good! Practice makes perfect.