I've been making good espresso on my Elektra leva for a while but have only recently started to attempt latte art.

My problem is this:

I can get some decent micro-foam going on, but the milk seems to start to get too hot before the majority of the pitcher has been texturised. So basically I end up with a small layer of micro-foam and the majority just hot milk.

Any ideas how I can more of my milk micro-foam before it gets too hot? Or am I just not steaming for long enough? Roughly what amount of time should I spend getting air in at the surface, and how much time should be spent whirlpooling?

Cheers!

It's mostly a question of practice.

Judging by your question, you may be making the typical beginner mistake -- don't "introduce air," "stretch," "heat" or attempt any other mythical phase of milk frothing. On your Elektra, keep the bulbous part of the tip submerged, plus a bit extra, so the milk swirls, and so there's no noise and no bubble blowing. When the bottom of the pitcher gets unpleasantly hot, you're done.

If you pour this milk immediately, you may not get any surface texture, or perhaps a ghost of a pattern will show up. If you wait around 10 to 20 seconds, swirling the pitcher and banging out any bubbles, you'll have the right texture for latte art. Wait a bit longer than that, and you'll have it right for the classic white cap cappa.

another_jim wrote:don't "introduce air," "stretch," "heat" or attempt any other mythical phase of milk frothing.

Where have you been for the last three or four years? Either you've been keeping valuable information to yourself for so long, or you're wrong, and I'm going to sic my gryphon on you for making fun of us.

In any case, I'm going to the kitchen to try this!

It's a steam wand, not a periscope. Experienced people make very subtle movements when steaming; newbies read the stretch and heat phase stuff, and completely overdo it

Totally agree with Jim. I used to "over do it" and got nowhere, then moved to "very subtle movements", a few seconds of pssstssstssst, and I'm getting stuff like this:

coffee.me wrote: moved to "very subtle movements", a few seconds of pssstssstssst

Yahbut, innat 'stretching'?

I've had a coupla experiments, and I'm very subtle about the amount of air I introduce to the milk, but I do introduce air in the whirlpool for about a second and a half, and then spend most of the rest of the time trying not to get any more air in (submerging the tip) while maintaining a whirlpool. Depending on the hour and how many shots I've had, I'm fairly successful, (not early am with none, or late pm with ten...) and the art is showing it.
I started with rosetta, tried laurel leaves, and I'm now working on swans and dragons. Freepours. but I do 'stretch' still.
Jim, I did get a lot from your post, but I'm not sure that stretching, introducing or heating phases (although, I'm pretty sure that the 'heating phase starts when you open the wand, and ends very shortly after closing it...) fall into the same category as Nessie, Champie, Yeti, or compassionate Conservatives.
Whaddeyemiss?

My first reply was aimed at what I'm guessing is the OP's experience level. Beginners usually think stretching means blowing bubbles, and heating means that loud PBTC roar. So for them, the easiest route to microfoam is to keep the tip at the depth where there is almost no sound at all, and then, when done, to swirl and wait for the foam to get light enough.

Once you've done it for a time, you can tell what the milk needs, and these instructions are not really required. But as a matter of aesthetics and presentation, I still think the less noise the better.

He is also using an Elektra, which are some of the best steamers out there IMHO. You simply dont need to surf the tip and do all the other tricks that some other machines need. They steam more like a commercial machine than your typical home machine. As Jim states, you just submerge the tip and hit the steam. That 4 hole tip will whip up a good swirling vortex and incorporate enough air into the drink without breaking the surface. If you do happen to breach the surfaced of the milk it will blast a bunch of large bubbles into it. They steam fast so you have to pay attention and practice, a lot.

cannonfodder wrote:They steam fast so you have to pay attention and practice, a lot.

Uhm, right. I guess that my misunderstanding came from using my commercial steamwand on the 14 litre boiler.

Yeah, I guess I do see a huge difference in subtlety between the weak pressure of the .7-8 Bar of pressure on it's one (ish) liter boiler. The steps are pretty much the same, just that they are really obvious on the lever, and really subdued differences when you let the steam do most of the work.

FWIW, I think that I do all the same things, but on the lever I'm trying to get the vortex to incorporate a little air in the beginning, and I'm attempting to get the vortex to *stop* incorporating air with the Astoria.

cannonfodder wrote:He is also using an Elektra, which are some of the best steamers out there IMHO. You simply dont need to surf the tip and do all the other tricks that some other machines need.

You're so right, the key to steaming on Elektras is do as little as possible. It takes some [un]learning after years of jockeying the steam wand on other espresso machines.