GDM528 wrote:How many holes at the tip of your steam wand?

UPDATE: I am using the original, Decent single hole tip. Yesterday I tried the three hole tip from Kafatek and it did not work as well, at least for my style of steaming with the nut milks I use. I did not want to spend a week or two experimenting so I went back to the single-hole tip this morning.

Thank you for sacrificing your foam for science! I get there's multiple factors at work here, but the heat transfer rate may be one of them. I've been trying to compensate by throttling back on the steam valve, but the attenuated steam output doesn't agitate and build the foam as quickly - one step forward, one step back. Perhaps one of the tricks to non-dairy foaming is a narrow-aperture single-hole steam wand.

Single hole tip will definitely help. Lots of home machines are pretty weak on the steam compared to commercial machines. This can be an advantage and the opposite as well. I tend to make drinks in the 6 ounce range and steaming 4 ounces of milk is difficult to get good foam in the small window of time. My three hole tip machine is impossible. Lol. The single seems to give you a little more time to manage.

It can be done with whichever tip you prefer, but the volume of milk must match the pitcher. You really don't want the milk level to be any lower than about 1/2" (13mm) from the bottom of the spout. While it took some time to adapt, I moved from a range of single hole tips to a 2-hole tip on a 70's Gaggia baby to a Silvia 3-hole tip on my S20 to a 4-hole tip on my GS/3 and Cremina.

They all work in their own way and the quality of foam is basically equal, once you learn how to control the roll of the milk with the steam you have available. Saying one is "easier" than another isnt really quite right. Faster or slower, yes. More violent or more smooth, yes. But a fast and violent steamer can be quite easy to use once you understand how to hold the pitcher and harness the power. A slow and steady steamer can also be difficult to use for someone who is expecting the steam power to roll the milk for them. It's all relative.

Cheers!

- Jake

I've been getting good results with a stock 2 hole tip using Silk Next milk, it varies not all cowless low carb/sugar milks perform well for me.

Have there been any happy outcomes from the various tests and experiments - what makes good foam - does it take a particular brand of non-dairy milks, or are there non-spooky additives that improve frothing?

Selfishly, I'm interested in what I can do to get Costco's Kirkland Oat milk to behave better...