Hi,

I have an issue with milk frothing with the Gaggia Pure machine - maybe you can help me figure this out. After making an espresso, I wait for the right temperature led for milk froathing to light up and I try to foam around 300ml of cold milk. The issue is that the temperature only rises to around 40 degrees Celsius (100F) and then the steam is finished.

How could I adjust things so that I can get the milk up to the right temperature - 150F or so?

Thank you !

First, are you still using that plastic doo-dad that came attached to the end of the steam wand? I'm not sure how they're supposed to work, but whatever it's doing isn't good.

To get the most steam out of my Gaggia I try to start steaming a little bit before the ready light comes on. When that light comes on it means that the heating elements are off, so it's not making any new steam. If you start steaming while the light is still off, the heating elements will stay on, hopefully the whole time you're steam. I've been able to steam up a good volume of milk like this, at least enough for a couple cappas.

It takes a little practice to get used to when the light is going to go off, so you can start steaming before that happens, but the sound of the water boiling inside is a pretty good indication. If I miss it, and the light comes on, I'll just flush a couple oz of water, which cools it off enough to turn the heaters on.

Replacing the steam wand with one from a Silvia also made a huge difference. The arm is longer, and it has a proper single hole tip which really helps to manage the steam pressure and get good microfoam.

TrlstanC wrote:First, are you still using that plastic doo-dad that came attached to the end of the steam wand? I'm not sure how they're supposed to work, but whatever it's doing isn't good.

Thanks a lot for the tip. I tried without the plastic thing and it worked, it reached around 140F on the thermometer, so it was probably 5-10 degrees more. The steam wand is very short on the Gaggia, I'll look into replacing it with a Silvia one.

After some practicing, I'll try also the tip with starting before the light goes on - hope this will help as well.

Again, thanks a lot for the advice.

M.

Mihai,
Thats excellent advise from Tristan. I used to wait for the light & the results were awful.
Now, as soon as I've pulled my shot, I flick the switch down & turn the steam on & wait for the jet of steam to become fierce, & coupled with the Silvia mod, I have good miro-foam in just one minute from putting the tip into the milk. Good luck.

Cheers,

Ted.