my attempts at frothing have been pathetic on my new gs/3. it's just too much power for me at this point. my milk looks like popcorn. anything less than 6 oz is a disaster. temp goes up way too fast. no latte art is possible given the kind of milk i'm producing.

does anyone have any advice?

thx.

sam

quick fix - turn your steam boiler temp down a bit and break a toothpick off in one of the holes of your steam tip. The toothpick can easily be poked back out by unscrewing the steam tip.

cheers,
~j

PS - who care's about the steam? How are the shots!?

jammin: shots are terrific so far and will get better when i get a better grinder. will turn temp down to maybe 235 and see how that works. thx. -sam

Sam, you just have to get used to the power! In time, you will have much better control. I use about 3-4oz milk and have no issues steaming (I assume we have about the same power). It just takes careful technique and about 10 seconds to steam the pitcher. If you are getting popcorn, you have the tip too far out of the milk.

samster wrote:does anyone have any advice?

Use the smallest pitcher that you can. Powerful steam is easier to control in 1-1/2" of milk than 1/2".

I don't have a GS/3 but I did have trouble learning to steam milk, I found practicing with water and a drop or two of dish soap gave me plenty of practice with out wasting a bunch of milk.

Marshall wrote:Use the smallest pitcher that you can. Powerful steam is easier to control in 1-1/2" of milk than 1/2".

Yes, I forgot to add that valuable piece of info!!!

When I got my mini-Vivaldi, I thought the same thing. I was going from a Gaggia Baby Twin and I thought, this is worse - one of the reasons I bought this machine was for consistent steaming. So, I called Chris' and talked with one of the tech's there. In a few minutes he walked me through the process and I've been happy ever since. I use the 2 hole tip usually, I don't really like the new 4 hole .9mm tip - it creates too many bubbles on top of the milk. The procedure the guy walked me through was somewhat like learning to drive a stick shift - the key, he said, is to pay close attention because it happens very fast. Start with the tip under the surface, turn on the steam, ease the tip up until it starts to make that tearing paper noise and swirls the milk, I put the tip in on the right side of the pitcher, kind of close to the machine - then when I can feel the heat - that is when the pitcher feels about the temp. of my skin, submerge the tip till the bottom of the pitcher is almost too hot to hold - voila! It takes me about 10 seconds with 5 oz. of milk in a 12 ounce pitcher. I think the best part of the discussion was it gave me confidence that even I could do it. I'm sure you can too.
Good luck.

1 - dial down the temp
2 - if that doesn't work, get a different tip (Espresso Parts had a number that will work. Ask for one that restricts flow)
3 - go with a larger pitcher (and more milk) and be willing to throw some away
4 - "calm hands" (but react quickly)
5 - remember that you need to stop stretching the minute it stops being cold, and to stop steam the minute it becomes hot


Welcome to commercial espresso machines.

thanks everyone for the helpful tips. i have ordered smaller pitchers (mine is a 20). but most importantly, i've gotten better at forecasting final temp and dialing down the steam before it's too late. expobar always took much more time so need to drastically shorten steaming times. found that taking down boiler temp worked, but think i prefer hotter/drier steam at high temp. getting better. thx!