Milk steaming - question of power but different

[HedonisticBeans]

Hello

I have a Rocket Cinquantotto.

I usually steam between 100ml and 200ml(3.4and 6.8 oz).

I sometimes like a 1:1 ratio of espresso and milk

40ml of each (1.35 oz)

I found a stainless steel pitcher that holds 85 ml (2.9 oz)

Needless to say, the steaming gets messy, quickly.

There's so much steam blast that the milk splashes every where.

My question is, if I turn the steam wand to half or less, what are the implications?

Will it simply just take more time? Or will I forego the creaminess or other benefits of a high powered steam?

Thanks

[jgood]

I found that changing the steam tip is the way to control the "steam time" so to speak. Less and smaller holes make for a slower steaming and work better for smaller quantities of milk. Chris Coffee has a two small hole tip that's slows things down -- it's female threaded but they have an adapter for male threaded wands. (If you go that route get an extra "normal" sized rubber o ring or two as I found the large one supplied jumps out after a while.)

What's the tip that's on your steam wand now?

[HedonisticBeans (original poster)]

Sorry. Took a while to respond.

This steam wand tip.
Rocket provides two types.

The standard 1.5 mm and a more restricted 1.2 mm.

I just installed the 1.2 mm - thanks to your suggestion.

[Idfixe]

Lower boiler pressure may help also, otherwise, get bigger pitcher.
I put milk right around spout start.

[mathof]

Hello

I have a Rocket Cinquantotto.

I usually steam between 100ml and 200ml(3.4and 6.8 oz).

I sometimes like a 1:1 ratio of espresso and milk

40ml of each (1.35 oz)

I found a stainless steel pitcher that holds 85 ml (2.9 oz)

Needless to say, the steaming gets messy, quickly.

There's so much steam blast that the milk splashes every where.

My question is, if I turn the steam wand to half or less, what are the implications?

Will it simply just take more time? Or will I forego the creaminess or other benefits of a high powered steam?

Thanks

If you decide to try turning the steam valve down to half or less pressure, what happens? I have one of those flip switches on my machine, which prevents me running that experiment with the precision afforded by the rotary knobs on the Rocket Cinquantotto.

[cannonfodder]

Just open the valve less. That is one of the nice points of a ball valve. You can change your steam volume on the fly with a gentle touch. Lowering the boiler pressure will help but at the sacrifice of velocity and volume of steam in the boiler and the longevity of the available steam. Changing the tip to smaller holes will increase the velocity/pressure but reduce the output volume while retaining more longevity (recovery time) of the steam. Your ideal solution may be to change the tip, lower the boiler pressure slightly and learn to dial in/out pressure via the steam valve.