The flat whites Im getting out of this machine is really watered down and tastes terrible. Does anybody have similar problems with the steam wand out-putting too much water? I heat it up properly, release steam first to ensure its a heated vapour and not water, the steam that comes out from the wand is also a fine mist(looks correct)....I make beautiful shiny, silky, velvety foam on the milk.....but no matter how I get everything right, the milk just tastes really watery....and thinking if I remove the milk earlier, it might help prevent too much steam from entering the milk...but its still terrible. Is it just my machine or does anyone else have the same problem?
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Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from steam
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Hi Rena and welcome to CS.
Just a couple of quick questions for you to help us diagnose your problem.
- What sort of milk are you using? Full cream, mid fat, skim, etc as this can affect the texture and taste.
- What size cup are you using? If youre using a huge mug, this will dilute the coffee and give you a watery taste.
Im sure that youll get plenty of help with this shortly.
Good luck,
Steve.
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Hi Steve, Im using Woolworths fresh full cream milk. I also try and tamp my grind to the maximum but the coffee seems to flow pretty quickly(once the water gets through the grind)compared to the professional machines that I use at work. Still, I get a beautiful thick crema, though. =o) When is the right time to stop the brew? It seems to flow endlessly.
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Hi Rena, welcome to CoffeeSnobs.
I use Woolworths full cream milk, and Im having no problem with it atm. Overheating the milk can make it thin and watery, also over frothing it can make a bigge distinction between the foam and the milk which will also make the milk seem watery.
How does the espresso taste? Is the terrible taste from that or the milk? If your espresso flows "endlessly" then it will be bitter and watery. If it is pouring too quickly it will be sour and watery. You should be aiming for 25 - 30 ml in 25 seconds. You will also probably notice more difference if you go for a finer grind rather than tamping more heavily.
Sorry if Ive totally confused you.
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Ive noticed its near impossible to get 25-30mls in 30 seconds with this machine. I think it has to do with the unpressurised baskets.
Also, check out the Breville site which has been updated because it tells you how to texture milk - looks like the technique is slightly different to what you would normally do.
http://www.breville.com.au/coffee/cc_texturing_1.asp
Cheers.
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Surely its possible for 30ml to take as long as you want, so long as you grind it fine enough?Originally posted by tashie link=1226781615/0#5 date=1226967696Ive noticed its near impossible to get 25-30mls in 30 seconds with this machine. I think it has to do with the unpressurised baskets.
Also, check out the Breville site which has been updated because it tells you how to texture milk - looks like the technique is slightly different to what you would normally do.
Also, I pretty much do what Breville suggests when I steam milk. Whats the difference?
Ive bought a Cafe Roma for my mum for Christmas, and have arranged to get an ESP4/51 basket to run it unpressurised. Id be interested to know if there are any issues that I need to get sorted prior to the big day.
Cheers
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Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8C, watery milk from ste
Hi Rena, and welcome to CS.
Whilst the Roma ESP8C does have wettish steam compared to prosumer machines (eg Baldryks Expobar and my VBM), it sounds like its most likely your extraction. (Ive owned a Roma ESP8C this year 2008.)
The Roma with the pressurised basket only copes with a short extraction of around 10-12 seconds prior to blonding. The coffee, as a result, is inevitably on the acidic side with less of the sweet body than a prosumer machine can provide.
With an unpressurised basket... variable, and there are other threads here on CS of people who have experimented and documented their experiences. Probably one of the better and successful ones is that detailed by StuartGrant who managed to get around the 25 second mark before blonding.
Grind too fine, even with an unpressurised basket, and youll get an explosion due to the lack of a way to release pressure on this machine - which baldryk has on his Expobar, but isnt on the Roma. By the way, the Krups unpressurised basket has too big holes in it, stick with a Breville unpressurised basket if youre going to give an unpressurised basket a go.
If you could specify coffee grammage or amount of milk youre combining - this would help to eliminate them as variables.
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