It will vary by machine. Many of the strong steamers do not need as much tip surfing in the milk. You can start with the tip submerged and just on the steam. Most of the commercial machines work this way. The barista just put the tip under the milk and lets it rip. There is enough turbulence in the milk and air in the steam wand to do the work without the frothing voodoo.

First thing this morning I tried submerging the tip the whole time. Not so good. Too thin, basically hot milk. The second time I tried a very short expansion, max 3 seconds. This seemed to work fairly well but I still thought there was unacceptable separation. Better, but not great. I think my problem lies with incorporating the air into the milk fully. I don't think I've found the sweet spot on these Toroid pitchers yet. I'll try again on Friday morning. I'm going to play around with trying to find a sweet spot and failing that I will try plugging one of the 2 holes in my tip and changing milk brands.

I ordered the 4 different steam tips from Rocket (on sale at SCG)... I'll report back if they make any difference.

I looked at those as well but none of them were single hole. The machine comes with a dual hole and I doubt that 3 or 4 holes are going to make the problem any better. I could be wrong.

Quite recently I upgraded from Isomac Tea to a two group Linea. With PID and a .6mm ruby gicleur I'm seeing a marked increase in shot quality and consistency but the extra steam power of the Linea is a challenge to work with after using the Isomac for so long. I do have multiple pitcher sizes (1 each for machiatto, one cappa or two cappas) but even with the pitcher 1/3 to 1/2 full I am sometimes still seeing separation.

Just ordered an interesting accessory:

http://www.espressoparts.com/EP_TX_FOAMKNIFE1

A friend just returned from japan where he had a chance to meet the inventor of the tip and was able to see it used in a cafe setting and sample the results. He was impressed and said the foam was denser and longer lasting than any he has seen before (he has lots of commercial cafe experience and exposure.)

I'm a willing test subject - mine is on order and I will post here with results once it's in.

Wow, not cheap. I'll wait for your review.

I agree about the price, but the guy who saw this part in action and speaks highly of the results is someone I trust implicitly when it comes to coffee and espresso. I drink a cappa a day Mon - Fri and two each day (or a mix with machiattos) on weekends. If I amortize it over one year it adds about 17 cents to the cost of each drink but I assume this part will last ten years of my light duty use (or longer.) I can justify it if the quality is better.

nixter wrote:I looked at those as well but none of them were single hole. The machine comes with a dual hole and I doubt that 3 or 4 holes are going to make the problem any better. I could be wrong.

it is not jsut the number of holes, but the size and placing as well.

nixter wrote:I looked at those as well but none of them were single hole. The machine comes with a dual hole and I doubt that 3 or 4 holes are going to make the problem any better. I could be wrong.

Yeah I am hoping for some more vertical roll with these new tips. I am wondering if that might be an issue as was mentioned by someone else in this thread. I think it's possible that my milk steaming is only happening 1/3 of the way down... it's rolling... but only rolling there towards the top? I don't know. Maybe more holes will get all the milk rolling a bit more and incorporate those lovely little bubbles into the whole jug. We'll see.

Nikolai, you have got to try this...

Check out this post: Milk not thick and creamy

The solution offered there by Stefan (LottaLatte) fixed everything for me... the milk is creamy to the last drop in both latte's and both cap's I made today! Exactly what I have been looking for. I think the Rocket attempts to steam too quickly... Plugging one of the holes with a toothpick made all the difference.

It's slower and incorporates the air into the milk MUCH better.

I am a happy man.