It's all right here:

THE HOME BARISTA'S GUIDE TO ESPRESSO just under "Frothing Milk". Closer to the bottom of the page under "First things to learn" - last paragraph.

The milk in the pitcher should whirlpool or form a standing wave of turbulence in order to fold foam into liquid. With a one hole tip, angle the entry, and keep it close to the edge of the pitcher to rotate the milk into a whirlpool. With a multi-hole tip, point it straight down and keep it near the center of the pitcher—the hole dispersion pattern on a properly designed tip will create a whirlpool or a standing wave of turbulence for you. If your multi-hole tip does not do this, change it for another, or block some holes and convert it to slower, single hole use.

Ok, I can try keeping it in the middle of the pitcher... it seems like when I do that though, it stops the swirling motion dead in it's tracks! putting the wand closer to the sides really gets it swirling. Maybe I'll think about plugging a hole. it's just.. grr. I've worked with 3 hole steamers and had no problems!
I guess I just don't have it down. If it's not forgiving, then I would say my technique isn't perfect yet and therefore I can't get good results.

I'll try to make a video of me steaming later, if that would be helpful.

Thanks!

~Jessie

The whirlpool or standing wave should be more for the polishing stage. For the stretching phase, you want a little bit of movement, but not too much. With too much whirlpool during the stretching phase it is hard to get the tip near the surface of the milk consistently. With a vigorous whirlpool there is so much movement that the milk level varies too much. For the polishing stage you do want a vigorous whirlpool, but then you don't want the tip near the surface. You just need to experiment to find out where you need to put the tip to make this all happen. The placement can really vary, because there are a lot of variables, including the size of the holes in the tip, the number of wholes, the angle of the hole, the steaming power, the pitcher, and the amount of milk in the pitcher. Also for the stretching phase, the sound it makes is more important than how it looks.

Lady Croft wrote:Ok, I can try keeping it in the middle of the pitcher... it seems like when I do that though, it stops the swirling motion dead in it's tracks!

It's tough, I know, but it's not supposed to whirlpool like it does on the side with those powerful pump machines. It is suppose to go straight down and out, coming up from all sides.

I agree. you suck. so did I when i got mine. hehehe... i couldn't get used to the funky wand angle but it took a while as i had to adapt to the fixed wand vs. the swivelers at the shop. BUT...i swear sometimes on dad's grave that little machine makes the most brilliant quality drinks ever. don't give up and DON'T EVER get rid of your MCAL.

#222

NO, please, feel free to give that machine away...tooooo..oh...maybe me

Tom@Steve'sEspresso wrote:I agree. you suck. so did I when i got mine. hehehe... i couldn't get used to the funky wand angle but it took a while as i had to adapt to the fixed wand vs. the swivelers at the shop. BUT...i swear sometimes on dad's grave that little machine makes the most brilliant quality drinks ever. don't give up and DON'T EVER get rid of your MCAL.

#222

HAHA! For a second there I was like "HEY! :-0"

Good news though, everyone - last night marked my first mild success with the steam wand!!
I say milde because there wasn't MUCH foam - but what foam there was was finally good! It was microfoam, and didn't dissipate into crap! yayyyy.
I watched a video on youtube of a guy steaming on his mcal, and I copied the way he had the wand inserted into the pitcher - with the wand entering against the pitcher spout, and the tip being near the center. I didn't stretch it very much, I was just trying it out, so there wasn't enough foam volume. But it wasn't disgusting so I'm optomistic now!

I promise I won't ever get rid of my Elektra, my first true love. I will become an expert at using this beautiful machine to its fullest potential, to master it as an art form, to be capable of pulling the most magnificent shots of espresso it deems worthy to offer me... someday...
I'll be steaming some more milk later today. I'll let you know how it goes! And I'll try to make a video. I need to get a camera.
Thanks!
~Jessie

Lady Croft wrote:HAHA! For a second there I was like "HEY! :-0"

Good news though, everyone - last night marked my first mild success with the steam wand!!
I say milde because there wasn't MUCH foam - but what foam there was was finally good! It was microfoam, and didn't dissipate into crap! yayyyy.
I watched a video on youtube of a guy steaming on his mcal, and I copied the way he had the wand inserted into the pitcher - with the wand entering against the pitcher spout, and the tip being near the center. I didn't stretch it very much, I was just trying it out, so there wasn't enough foam volume. But it wasn't disgusting so I'm optomistic now!

Jessie, good to hear. If you want to mess around with steaming while not wasting milk, try THIS method.

Hmm. Looks like I might have to try the soap and water thing to save on milk...
Tried a couple more times last night, but both were unacceptable. Back to the dissipating bubbles. All I did differently was actually stretch the milk at all. I hardly even did! Argh. Well I'll just keep trying until I get it perfect. But with soap. I think this thing might be so finicky I'll have to utilize sniper breathing techniques to ensure the pitcher doesn't move even a micro-millimeter from the exact position it needs to be! haha

~Jess

Lady Croft wrote:Hmm. Looks like I might have to try the soap and water thing to save on milk...

Let us know how you fair with this technique. I tried it because I didn't believe it, and it actually works.