Hi guys,

First of all, let me introduce myself, my name is Andreu, from San Antonio, Texas. I have been reading you for quite a while (as soon as I wanted to upgrade my equipment). I have been a daily drinker of espresso for the last 15 years (daily meaning 2-4 every day), and prepared most of my coffees myself with a simple Delonghi semiautomatic. I alway used the same technique that I learnt at a friend's coffee shop, and never had problems with steaming my milk or producing decent shots.

Finally, last week I received my NS Oscar II, and I must say, I am pretty amazed with this machine. I am starting to get great shots out of fit, although I am buying preground coffee at a local roaster until my new grinder arrives (Ceado E37S).
Steaming is my main problem.

This machine produces really nice steam, but it is a lot of steam, and my milk gets to 160 degrees in about 10 seconds, which doesn't allow me to get more than a superfine layer of froth. Any advice would ve great, specially from owners of the machine that would know how it is!

Other than that, I would also appreciate if there is people from San Antonio, or South Texas, that would advice for local roasters to get great beans from. I am pretty new here and must say I am not impressed with what I am buying (which is overoasted coffee, basically).

Soon I will try to post a review of the machine and the results I am getting from it.

Thank you all for your help and congratulations on such a nice forum.

Congrats on your new machine! Unfortunately I can't dispense any advise or techniques for your new gear I can give you recommendations for great coffee in SA. I too live in SA and I started going to Brown Coffee Co almost five years ago. Aaron Blanco, the owner, is a a mad scientist and extremely passionate about his craft/profession. Aaron direct sources his beans and has some incredible offerings. That said, he is a great teacher and will assist with dispensing knowledge to anyone willing to inquire. His shop is located at 1800 Broadway, across from Pearl. He also has a Slayer which is a nice espresso treat in itself.

As for other shops in SA, Local Coffee/Merit is the largest shop in SA and they have some unique offerings. They just started their roasting operation a couple years ago and do a lighter Nordic style roast.

Local is a good coffee alternative but my taste preference is Brown plus the knowledge and willingness to teach people how to perfect their skills is something I haven't found anywhere else in SA.


Cheers,

Brandon

Do you keep your pitcher in the fridge prior to steaming? That could help.

Also, how much milk are you steaming?

If you are doing very small quantities of milk, it might be hard to control the timing. I would use at least 4 ounces of milk in a container that will let you double the volume, so at least an 8 or 12 ounce pitcher. Or a 16 ounce pitcher if you are doing an 8 ounce latte.
I try to place the tip just below the surface of the milk and then lower the pitcher as the foam increases. If you leave the tip at one level the whole time, you will heat your milk up much faster and generate less foam. If you leave the tip too far out, you will get soap bubbles, and too much big foam. There is a sweet spot, you can tell by the sound. Soft, not any rumbling or loud sounds. Just keep the tip right at the surface. Also an instant read thermometer like a a thermopop is a must. --29.00 on amazon.
Watch the temperature rise and stop the steam at around 145 degrees, it will take some time to stop, you can't pull the tip out until the steam stops.

Congrats on your new machine and +1 on the "start with cold milk out of the fridge" advice!
Fill your pitcher upto or just below the spout, so you have room for volume increase.
What to look for is a whirlpool motion of the milk. On my machine which is a bit slower than yours, I found that the best way to do this is to insert the steam wand into the milk at an angle flush with the spout and just out of the centre of the pitcher. A few big bubbles at the start do no harm; they will disappear because of the whirlpool once you get the hang of it. I expect with your machine the whirlpool motion will be quite vigorous, so finding the sweet spot to suck in the air to make microfoam will take some practice.
Not to discourage you, but it took me quite a bit of practice before being able to steam with confidence. If you don't want to waste gallons of milk in the process, start with cold water with a drop of dish detergent until you get a similar shiny wet paint look on the surface.
I don't know if a more restrictive tip with fewer or smaller holes is available for your machine. If you are intimidated by the speed at which the heats milk up, it would reduce that speed and might give you more sense of control. Plugging up one hole to achieve the same effect didn't work for me, but it is another possibility.

TxHr wrote:Congrats on your new machine! Unfortunately I can't dispense any advise or techniques for your new gear I can give you recommendations for great coffee in SA. I too live in SA and I started going to Brown Coffee Co almost five years ago. Aaron Blanco, the owner, is a a mad scientist and extremely passionate about his craft/profession. Aaron direct sources his beans and has some incredible offerings. That said, he is a great teacher and will assist with dispensing knowledge to anyone willing to inquire. His shop is located at 1800 Broadway, across from Pearl. He also has a Slayer which is a nice espresso treat in itself.

As for other shops in SA, Local Coffee/Merit is the largest shop in SA and they have some unique offerings. They just started their roasting operation a couple years ago and do a lighter Nordic style roast.

Local is a good coffee alternative but my taste preference is Brown plus the knowledge and willingness to teach people how to perfect their skills is something I haven't found anywhere else in SA.


Cheers,

Brandon

Thank you for the great answer, I would definitely check them, it's a bit far from home, but if the product is good is well worth it. I tried local coffee (just drinked there, never bought beans) and the shots were super bitter. Anyway I will buy a bag of beans, as I have one shop 5 minutes from home.

sweaner wrote:Do you keep your pitcher in the fridge prior to steaming? That could help.

Also, how much milk are you steaming?

James Mulryan wrote:If you are doing very small quantities of milk, it might be hard to control the timing. I would use at least 4 ounces of milk in a container that will let you double the volume, so at least an 8 or 12 ounce pitcher. Or a 16 ounce pitcher if you are doing an 8 ounce latte.
I try to place the tip just below the surface of the milk and then lower the pitcher as the foam increases. If you leave the tip at one level the whole time, you will heat your milk up much faster and generate less foam. If you leave the tip too far out, you will get soap bubbles, and too much big foam. There is a sweet spot, you can tell by the sound. Soft, not any rumbling or loud sounds. Just keep the tip right at the surface. Also an instant read thermometer like a a thermopop is a must. --29.00 on amazon.
Watch the temperature rise and stop the steam at around 145 degrees, it will take some time to stop, you can't pull the tip out until the steam stops.

DeGaulle wrote:Congrats on your new machine and +1 on the "start with cold milk out of the fridge" advice!
Fill your pitcher upto or just below the spout, so you have room for volume increase.
What to look for is a whirlpool motion of the milk. On my machine which is a bit slower than yours, I found that the best way to do this is to insert the steam wand into the milk at an angle flush with the spout and just out of the centre of the pitcher. A few big bubbles at the start do no harm; they will disappear because of the whirlpool once you get the hang of it. I expect with your machine the whirlpool motion will be quite vigorous, so finding the sweet spot to suck in the air to make microfoam will take some practice.
Not to discourage you, but it took me quite a bit of practice before being able to steam with confidence. If you don't want to waste gallons of milk in the process, start with cold water with a drop of dish detergent until you get a similar shiny wet paint look on the surface.
I don't know if a more restrictive tip with fewer or smaller holes is available for your machine. If you are intimidated by the speed at which the heats milk up, it would reduce that speed and might give you more sense of control. Plugging up one hole to achieve the same effect didn't work for me, but it is another possibility.

I am using cold milk, and keep my pitcher at the refrigerator. I tried anywere from 8 oz of milk that was hot in no time, to my usual 16-18oz, with a 24 oz pitcher. That's what gets me about 10-12 seconds of steaming. I do get microfoam, actually a really nice microfoam, but just not enough. I was used to a one hole tip with the old machine and I was able to produce nice foam, now I get way smaller bubbles, but 1/10 of the amount I was getting .
My technique is as follows:
Purgue the steam wand.
Start with the tip just underneath the surface of the milk and find the spot. I do use a small angle, but also tried at 90° with the same result. When the milk is heating up and the sound changes, I go down to create the swirl. I usually stop my steam when the milk reaches 150, which ends up to 160.

Thank you so much! Let's see if someone that has the machine can throw some light to how they get foam out of it.

When the milk is heating up and the sound changes, I go down to create the swirl.

That might be the key. I think you will create more foam if you manage to get the swirl from the get-go. Hence I usually insert the wand somewhat off-center. So to say, the steam will almost impinge on the pitcher wall and create a tangential motion.
I find that with a faster steaming machine, the transition from "stretching" the cold milk at the surface towards "rolling" the milk as it heats up with the wand inserted deeper kind of fades. It may come down to getting the sweet spot where you get that kissing sound early on and leave the pitcher at that position throughout until you reach the target temperature.

I am going to try this out and let you know how it goes! Thank you!

Andreu,

I was also overwhelmed by the steaming capacity of my Cimbali Junior when I upgraded from a Silvia. Instead of ~45 seconds I suddenly had 15 seconds max to create the proper microfoam. But guess what: I got used after a few weeks of practice.

In other words, what you're going through is normal. You seem to have the proper technique, so keep frothing away and one day you'll just realize you make it in the very short window your machine gives you.

(I have both the standard 4-hole tip and the Junioresque 3-hole tip for my M31. I'm using the slower 3-hole tip and relive the same story when I try the 4-hole tip. )

andreugv1 wrote:When the milk is heating up and the sound changes, I go down to create the swirl.

This may be the source of your difficulty. The sound shouldn't change until you make it change (which you do by submerging the tip). I open the steam knob with the tip well below the milk's surface, immediately dropping the pitcher until the tip is well positioned near the surface as evidenced by the soft hiss. I maintain that soft hiss (described by many as the sound of tearing paper) by slowly lowering the pitcher as the volume expands. The decision to stop making foam and plunge the tip is made when you've created enough foam, which is usually when you've stretched the volume of milk in the pitcher by about 30%. I don't understand a recommendation to double the volume - the foam will be too thick and the milk will probably be overheated.

I find a thermometer in the milk to be of no help to me - it just gets in the way. I hold the pitcher cupped in my left palm, so I can feel the temperature rising. I'm usually done stretching / foaming when the pitcher gets warm in my hand, and I then plunge / roll for texturizing until it's almost too hot to hold. It seems to me that letting the milk get too hot reduces the microfoam, so I stop steaming with the pitcher very warm but still in my palm - it'll get a bit hotter over the next few seconds anyway. That's just heat transfer to the metal - the milk does not get any hotter once you shut off the steam.

Oscar's definitely a strong steamer, and I had to learn to position the tip much quicker than was necessary with my Lelit Anna (a great steamer for a single boiler machine, but it only has a one hole tip). But once you learn to open Oscar's steam knob with the tip below the surface and drop the pitcher to foaming position within a second or two, you'll be fine.