I reckon I did much readings on the forum about the Cremina before purchasing one. Many said that it's a no-effort, or at least very easy, microfoam on Cremina. However, after struggling for a few days & many hours of soap practicing, I am still struggling to get a decent microfoam for pouring art latte. They are all small bubbles visible to eyes and never micro. I know that there is a learning curve there, coming from a single hole tips. But this Cremina doesn't seem to have enough power to create a strong whirlpool in the pitcher. I tried using about 4 oz in 10oz pitcher, and 6 oz in 16 oz pitcher. Straight 90 degree in the center, at the side, 45 degree,plugging 2 holes,etc. Still, I couldn't even get close. In the Capp, I definitely can feel the hot milk and foam separately instead of creamy Cappuccino that I am used to.

Can anyone enlighten me with some tips or even better a close up video? Thank you very much in advanced!

Try plugging 2 of the holes with toothpick pieces.
(I firmly insert the toothpick and then cut to length in place, leaving about 1/8" to make removal easy)

Then use about 4 to 6 ounces of milk in a 12 ounce pitcher and see if that doesn't work for you.

Sam,

The Cremina rocks at steaming, taking me about 15 seconds to steam 4 ounces of 2% milk.

Open the steam valve until the heating element is engaged. Once on for about 5 seconds begin steaming. Stretch for about 3 seconds then bury the tip. Any longer than 3 seconds and you'll have bubbles you'll never get rid of. You should have sufficient pressure to have the milk fold regardless of the angle of the tip. If not, are you sure your pressurestat is set correctly? You can check it with an external gauge hooked up to the steam wand - should be .9 bar.

Can you post a video so we can critique your method?

Thanks Jon, I've tried that. It's slight improvement but I still get the small bubbles and not microfoam.

Merle,
That's the kind of tips I am looking for.I just couldn't find those details in the other threads. Thanks! I will try that and report back. I had been meaning to take a video but I only have my iphone and it's difficult to stay put for proper video. As for the pressurestat, is there a way to know it's in ballpark without a pressure gauge?I am planning to get the steamwand pressure gauge along with other accessories(proper tampers, baskets, temp strip,pharos etc) from OE in somewhere late September because my extra funds are tied up in grinders currently. Lol.

The steam seems strong at first(I know it's kinda subjective), but then after about 5 seconds(fully opened valve), it has become weaker, to the point of struggling to create an obvious whirlpool. Will cranking up the pressurestat improves that? I thought higher pressurestat will only help increasing the initial steam power, am I right, no? Am I doing it correctly by opening the steam valve all the way?

samuellaw178 wrote: Will cranking up the pressurestat improves that? I thought higher pressurestat will only help increasing the initial steam power, am I right, no? Am I doing it correctly by opening the steam valve all the way?

Lowering the fill level will only help with initial steam.
Increasing the pressurestat creates a bigger reservoir of potential steam, in the form of pressurized heated water that, when pressure is released, will boil creating steam.

By trying Merle's method (shorter stretching and forcing the element to come on), I manage to get much better result! But still, it isn't as micro as what I used to get on Carezza. But I think I am getting there. Here's a video that I manage to get(Somehow I did better on the video than I normally do, the small bubbles are there, just not that obvious on the camera):



After I poured the milk in the end, you should be able to see the small bubbles. Good enough to pour a rosetta but I wish it could be more micro/creamy.


Without a pressure gauge (It's a pain), I tried cranking up the pressurestat blindly for testing purposes. The steam seems almost as strong. But the water in the grouphead sprays out even more that I stop adjusting it higher. Anyone have any video as how strong should the water flow out from the grouphead without portafilter?Maybe I could skip the pressure gauge this way

Sam,

Your pressure is REALLY WEAK!! I'd take off your steam wand to see if it is obstructed with old dried milk inside. You should have tons more steam! I will try to make a video and post for you to see.

uscfroadie wrote:Sam,

Your pressure is REALLY WEAK!! I'd take off your steam wand to see if it is obstructed with old dried milk inside. You should have tons more steam! I will try to make a video and post for you to see.

Thanks for the feedback. Really? I thought the steam was supposed to be only that strong.I will try to take the steamwand off then. Thanks Merle! The video is definitely gonna help me. I tried searching everywhere but couldn't get a close-up video of milk steaming anywhere.

Update:Nevermind. I took the steamwand off and it doesn't seem like there's any dried milk crust or anything like that.

Sam,

Here is a video I just shot. Definitely not my best effort, but you can get an idea of what steaming should be like. I steamed 6 ounces, which was more than I needed for the cappuccino, so 4 ounces should have been even faster.

On a side note, pulling a shot while someone is right along side you filming is more difficult than I thought.

Wow, you made it looked like a breeze without any effort! Love the look of your Cremina, very shiny and elegant. Really appreciate the video. Yeah, it's definitely not easy, I used a gooseneck lamp to stick my iphone on to take the video. Seems awkward, but it works.

There is nothing stuck in the steamwand, so I suspect it's the pressure setting. I took a leap of faith and turned the pressurestat much higher. Lucky that the safety valve didn't go off. Steam much stronger now in my opinion. I tried steaming with soap water and I think there's an improvement. Gotta wait till tomorrow to test it out for real. Had enough coffee for one day. Thanks again Merle.

Edit: Your 6oz took about 18 sec to heat up while my 7oz (just measured it) took more like 35 sec to heat up. Something is definitely wrong with my steam pressure I guess.