I am new to espresso. I managed to get a broken Gaggia Syncrony Compact that I resurrected to learn a little about espresso before making a big purchase.

After my wife complained that my cappuccinos are watery, I started weighing my milk before and after frothing. If I'm not careful I get about 2 ounces by weight (60 ml) of water in my frothed milk. That would make any drink taste weak. By bleeding the water and steam out of the steam wand for about 30 seconds (rather than 10) I can get that down to about an ounce (30 ml); still not good.

If I make my espresso on the Gaggia and steam the milk on my $40 Braun espresso machine, I get about 1/2 ounce of water in my milk or about 15 ml.

Has anyone weight their milk to see what's normal?

Dave M.

It sounds like your machine isn't hot enough to make the steam as "dry" as it needs to be. Does it really take 30 seconds of an open steam valve to go from water to steam? I have a cheaper machine than yours, but it only takes me 2 seconds tops to clear out all the water and get steam.

How much milk are you starting with?

Normally about 11% - 13% of weight before and after frothing.

But note that if you don't manage to create a nice "microfoam", but instead your frothed milk is "bubbly", you will get watery texture, watery mouth-feel, cappuccino/latte. It is the silky microfoam that creates a heavy or thick mouthfeel.

I am starting with 3 oz of milk. It looks like the Gaggia has a problem. If I let my little Braun get good and hot, it only adds a tenth of an ounce to the total weight, the frothed milk looks like paint and my wife loves it. Steaming into an empty glass with the Gaggia reveals that it never stops spitting water. I think it's time for another tear down. The boiler probably isn't getting hot enough.

Thanks for the info!

I dunno... It sounds normal to me. There's always some condensation happening that accumulates at the outlet (inside the boiler). And the higher the water level, the more frequent spitting, due to splashes reaching the outlet.

Now if the spitting is rampant regardless of water level, you probably have a heating coil issue.

I think the Gaggia thermoblocks - not boilers - are noted for their inefficiency when making steam. They just don't do it very well and end up adding a fair amount of water. I have that problem with my Gaggia Baby Twin. It works, but inconsistently and it does tend to add water. Your Braun unit, on the other hand, uses steam to make "espresso", I think. So, having that steam at hand, it's more efficient at steaming milk. You've given me an idea for when my Baby Twin thermoblock quits altogether. I'll get a Braun for steaming milk.

I don't have a Gaggia. I have a Rancilio Silvia, and I measured the weight increase today while frothing.
I started with 148 grams cold milk and ended with 169 grams frothed milk. (i.e. I added 0.75 ounces of water.)
However, I bled the steam wand a bit early, and didn't get as good a result as the system is capable of. (I'm just learning with the Silvia. Next time, I will bleed the steam wand later.) However, after giving the milk pitcher a few thumps on the counter-top, and then swirling for 20 seconds, the results were not too bad, but not as good as they could be.

Alan.