I've been experimenting with temperature surfing on my single-boiler Ascaso Uno (the non prof, non-PID model) from IDrinkCoffee in Canada. I haven't been able to find many people with this machine yet. The Ascaso has a temperature gauge on the front, which helps along with heater lights. I don't know if it has "autofill" for the boiler. Here's my technique so far, does anyone have any suggestions?

1- turn on machine, run a few ounces water through the wand to make sure boiler is full. Set it to the steam option.
2- 5 minutes or so later, steam is ready. Steam milk as normal at this point.
3- Turn off steam option, turn on hot water pump and fill desired Cortado glass with hot water and rid the boiler of steam. Bleed out about 4oz of water. Thermometer drops to ~210 degrees. Keep milk alive by swishing it around a bit every so often.
4- prepare for coffee. Take out the now-heated portafilter, insert in grinder and fill/tamp.
5- ditch water, brew espresso into glass. Add milk and we're done.

I've only switched to this process in the last few days, previously making my espresso first and then doing the milk. So far the results are encouraging. I've noticed the steam pressure is better, possibly from the full boiler to start with. For pulling my shot, should I be draining the water even further so that the heater comes on again and then wait for it to fully heat up? The heater light hasn't come on in this process yet. Anyone know how accurate the temperature gauge might be? Should I aim to make the coffee right as it hits peak temperature, or wait for it to come down a bit?

I'll keep experimenting - for science!

bonus : Animated GIF of my machine steaming it up. http://imgur.com/SRDWY9s