Why can't Anita steam as well as her sister machines?

[quar]

Hi All,

I've always assumed that the key reason that Anita is a much slower steamer than the Andreja and Vetrano, is it's (intentionally) slow stock tip. I recently ordered the 4 hole tip that Great Infusions recommends for Anita. It now takes 47-ish seconds to get 8 oz of water from 40 to 160 degrees. It's a decent increase in performance, and is only a hair slower than the Alexia.

However, as they all share the same boiler and element, I don't see why Anita can't steam as fast as the Andreja and Vetrano. Is it simply the differences between tips, or is there some other underlying reason that I'm not considering?

Mike

[Beezer]

I think it's just the steam tip. The stock tip is really slow. I replaced the stock steam wand with the four hole wand from the Spaziale and it steams much faster. Now I can steam 6 ounces of milk in about 30 seconds, whereas before it took almost a full minute. The microfoam is smoother and creamier, too.

[uscfroadie]

I just upgraded my stock steam wand on my Alexia with the no-burn steam arm that comes standard on the Andreja and Vetrano ($45 from Chris), and the difference is unreal. For starters, the steam is dryer. With the old arm, I had to purge a fair amount of water the first time I was going to steam and a had to purge a little each time afterwards. With the new arm, I purge for no more than a second, and the steaming performance is considerably faster than with the stock arm. FWIW, the no-burn arm I have has a two hole tip. It's a highly recommended $45 option for anyone looking at an Anita or Alexia.

I'd like to know 1) why I'm seeing such a difference in the moisture in the arm that needs to be purged being so much less than with the stock arm, and 2) why the steaming performance is so much quicker?

[matthyx]

This might be heat conduction. The no-burn wand doesn't take heat from the steam as it is isolated by a layer of teflon, and therefore stays cold.

[cannonfodder]

Wet steam is usually a byproduct of the boiler level not the steam wand. You will get some condensation in the wand that will need purged before you start but wet steam is from a high boiler water level most of the time. The insulation will make a difference. I put insulation on my steam and water tap lines on the inside of the machine. It helps to hold in the heat and I get hotter steam and water.

[mhoy]

I borrowed a 4 hole steaming tip from a friend, wow, Anita can steam quickly with the right tip. It didn't give me enough time to do the milk properly. I've since returned his tip. I may have to borrow it again so that I can prepare myself for steaming milk with my Elektra.

Mark

[zin1953]

(As an aside, Mark, the Elektra is a joy! when it comes to steaming milk . . . )

[cannonfodder]

With a fast steamer, sometimes you can do away with surfing the wand tip on the milk. The vigorous swirling and agitation produced by volumes of steam will do the work for you. Just put the tip a quarter inch deep in the milk and open the valve. 15 seconds later you are ready to go.

[quar]

Anybody have any idea why I simply can't manage to make microfoam with this tip? I can't manage to whirlpool or even roll the milk. I've tried tilting the pitcher, tilting the wand, plunging, etc..I'm stumped!

Mike

[HB]

Could you post a video of the steam going flat out and also steaming milk? The sound is often a very good indicator of the cause too.

[quar]

Here's a video of steaming full blast:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garn...68/in/photostream/

Now one with steaming milk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garn...26/in/photostream/

Wasn't able to manipulate the pitcher as much as I'd have liked in the second vid, due to holding the camera, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference. I've tried all three of my pitchers, a mug, and a pyrex measuring cup. I can't get microfoam no matter how I hold the wand or pitcher.

Mike

[sweaner]

I'm certainly no expert...well, not yet anyway. However, there seems to be very little steam coming from your machine!

[Beezer]

There's definitely something wrong. Even with the stock tip, you should be getting more steam than that. What's your boiler pressure set at? When's the last time you descaled? Have you checked to make sure there's no blockage in the steam wand or tip? Those would be the first things I'd check. Also, I think if the water level is too high in the boiler, that can reduce steaming.

Is this a recent problem, or has the steaming always been this weak?

[quar]

I'm in the process of moving these over to youtube so I can embed them....(is it always this slow...)



Yes, this is about normal for both of the Anita's I've owned. Both of them were from the first 50 imported. (One started having problems shortly after I received it, so it was exchanged to Chris' folks could inspect it)

My boiler is set at 1.3 bar. If you look at the latter part of the video, it's managing to recover pressure up over 1 BAR. With the stock tip, it would manage to actually recover enough to cycle the p-stat. It's descaled every 6 months or sooner, and I don't seem to have a large scale problem, based on manual inspection. I've not shoved anything up the steam wand, but can't imagine that I'd have blockage, as if I overfill to descale, I have no problem flushing water through the steam wand. My autofill probe is set at the correct level.

With the stock tip, it used to take 70ish seconds to get from 40 to 160 deg F. I was able to produce good microfoam, just slowly. This tip has brought it down to 47-50 seconds, but I was expecting more of an improvement.

Mike

[quar]

There's definitely something wrong. Even with the stock tip, you should be getting more steam than that.

One other thing to point out...The first model of the Anita did not have the swiveling steam wand, like the current ones do. Don't know if that makes a difference or not as compared to a new Anita.

[quar]

Here we are:

Full blast:


Steaming:

[Beezer]

Have you tried using another steam tip? It seems like the tip is what's slowing things down. If your boiler pressure is staying at around 1 bar, then not much steam is getting out. I think mine drops to almost .5 bar during steaming.

You need enough steam power to at least get the milk swirling or you won't get good microfoam. Even my little Gaggia Coffee office espresso machine does a better job of swirling the milk than your Anita is doing right now.

[quar]

This is the higher volume Anita tip as sold by Great Infusions. Like I said, it's letting more steam out than the stock tip, it just doesn't seem to be doing as well as it should. I think that perhaps some of the problem is related to the hole pattern.

Dunno....After seeing Sebastian's video, I was expecting more...

Mike

[sweaner]

How about giving us a video without any steam tip in place? Would that be useful at all?

[Beezer]

So you have a four hole tip in place and you're only getting a tiny bit of steam? That seems very strange to me. I have a four hole tip with very small holes, and it still steams twice as fast as the stock tip. I'm guessing there's an obstruction in the steam tip that's preventing you from getting full power.

Great Infusions posted a video a while back showing Anita with their four hole tip, and it had no problem blasting out tons of steam. Makes me think you got a defective tip.