Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...HELP

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Feathers
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Be a devil, just do it. In my experience, the major difference between learning to foam milk or learning to cook scrambled eggs using the steam wand, is the higher protein content of the layer festooning the machine and the immediate environs.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...HELP

    Thanks Feathers.

    I dont know if Im game enough yet to give it a try. :-/

    Leave a comment:


  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Good Post Feathers :-)

    Leave a comment:


  • Feathers
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Rather surprisingly it is fast and works very well. The only downside is that the steam wand is slightly harder to wipe clean than with milk. It is a good conversation piece, and I like to think that it keeps my Sunbeam on its toes, because it must surely know by now that the jury is out, so it needs to grovel no matter how distateful is the task.

    I wonder if this value added function would be possible with a boiler machine. I know that there are those amongst us who would gently suggest that the best use of a thermoblock unit would be in scrambling eggs. However, having a ready (and controllable) source of steam in the kitchen can be quite handy and this is a real advantage with the Sunbeam. At the moment it also makes coffee. There is just no end to its versatility, all it needs to do is to overcome the urge to self destruct which is perhaps an example of unintelligent design.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...HELP

    Yes Id like to know too how the eggs went.

    Hazel from Coffee Alchemy has been kidding me for weeks to give it a go but somehow I think Ill just stick with the frypan I bought just for my scrambed eggs.

    Leave a comment:


  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Yeh, its been 3 straight weeks and wonderful coffee making - Im confident that my current machine will now be the goods (I hope).

    What Chris says is correct, but sadly, the Silvia is out of my price range and it cant steam and extract at the same time - Something that I needed as I do a fair bit of entertaining at home and a Giotto is just off limits $$$ wise anyway, otherwise there would be one on my kitchen bench now! :-), with a Mini Mazzer :-).. And a HotTop to finish things off nicely.

    I am interested in this talked about EM6910 and what changes are on it compared with the EM6900.

    Feathers, did you enjoy your scrambled eggs ?? :-)

    Marc

    Leave a comment:


  • Feathers
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Marc and I are both on our third machine, and at the moment mine is working well although Chriss comments are firmly embedded in my sub conscious. I have not had any trouble with frothing with my trio of machines, that is the one aspect which has been constantly reliable. Since my Vensuvio stove top espresso days, I have found that the sound is an important indicator of foam quality. No shrieking, just a regular hiss, and that final delightful rumble as the build up of microfoam sound insulation lets me know I have got it right.

    Incidentally, I dont know if Marc is aware that the Sunbeam cooks a mean batch of scrambled eggs. I saw a commercial machine used to cook a jug of beaten eggs with the steam wand in a cafe one morning, and I thought "what one fool can do, another can emulate", so I tried it at home. Perhaps it would be debasing a pedigreed domestic machine to use it for such a purpose, but what the heck! its only a Sunbeam,.

    Leave a comment:


  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Originally posted by byronss link=1154345163/0#11 date=1157253401
    Hi! Im new here. Am just a home user.

    My Gaggia Carezza died last week so I bought a Sunbeam EM6900. Took me two goes to perfect the milk frothing. Having done it completely differently with the Carezza. For me the trick now is never to submerge the steam wand! I found that the Sunbeam steamed the milk too fast, and it ended up too hot and relatively flat. So I experimented and found that if I can see the tip of the wand... the little bit in the middle on the end, then Ive got the wand in at the right place - almost not in, really. And run the steam a bit before you put it into the milk. You want to get rid of that first few seconds of just water spurting out.

    I must say that so far, I dont much like the Sunbeam. After less than a week, Ive had the whole group head come away twice - with wet coffee grinds going everywhere - becasue clearly I hadnt excerted brute force when Id screwed it in to brew a cup. Taste is also an issue. Same coffee I used before, so Ill have to experiment with grind and amount.

    Cheers...
    Sue
    Hi Sue, What grinder are you using? You do need to use some little force (shouldnt be all that different than the Gaggia) to insert the Portafiller to the group head. Perhaps just experiment with the grind and tamp. Youll get there. The Sunbeam does make a great shot when you have the all the elements sorted etc.

    Leave a comment:


  • byronss
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...HELP

    Hi! Im new here. Am just a home user.

    My Gaggia Carezza died last week so I bought a Sunbeam EM6900. Took me two goes to perfect the milk frothing. Having done it completely differently with the Carezza. For me the trick now is never to submerge the steam wand! I found that the Sunbeam steamed the milk too fast, and it ended up too hot and relatively flat. So I experimented and found that if I can see the tip of the wand... the little bit in the middle on the end, then Ive got the wand in at the right place - almost not in, really. And run the steam a bit before you put it into the milk. You want to get rid of that first few seconds of just water spurting out.

    I must say that so far, I dont much like the Sunbeam. After less than a week, Ive had the whole group head come away twice - with wet coffee grinds going everywhere - becasue clearly I hadnt excerted brute force when Id screwed it in to brew a cup. Taste is also an issue. Same coffee I used before, so Ill have to experiment with grind and amount.

    Cheers...
    Sue

    Leave a comment:


  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Originally posted by lattelover link=1154345163/0#9 date=1155989820

    I got a call from Sunbeam on Thursday, they have replaced the steam pump and the steam thermoblock (and the seal for some reason) and itll be back on my bench on Monday. Ill let you know how it goes.

    Yep, last Friday I got mine back for the 3rd time being in Sunbeams hands - They changed my Steam Pump and Thermblock unit - operates a little different and takes a while to shut off - I think they reprogrammed the unit a little - Produces awesome steam though and Im happy with it. They also replaced the group coller (Not sure why, perhaps as a collective improvements over time they have been implimenting - but it has improved the seal between the portafiller/\/basket and group seal and). I already had the blue seal :-)

    Originally posted by lattelover link=1154345163/0#9 date=1155989820

    I also attended the Sunbeam training couse (1 1/2 hours) at the Novatel today and so got to try a few diff. 6900s...all had MUCH better steam than mine and I could easily texture milk to a silky/cramy thick goo, so it was definitely a problem with my machine.

    The course was great and they tought you all the things that one needs to know to make a great espresso and milk drink. I highly recomend it to those who have bought a Sunbeam recently.

    Oh, and this machine really does make an amazing shot.
    Yes, the course was excellent for a freebe and comes highly recommended. And yes, this Machine does produce a fantastic shot. Ive just added the Sunbeam grinder EM0480 to the mix on Saturday and that was a very wise idea!!! - My Delonghi KG100 just wasnt cutting it. I now use that grinder for Decaf grinding which is holding up for that purpose at the moment according to my Wife who drinks Decaf.

    Leave a comment:


  • lattelover
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Hi guys, a quick update.

    I got a call from Sunbeam on Thursday, they have replaced the steam pump and the steam thermoblock (and the seal for some reason) and itll be back on my bench on Monday. Ill let you know how it goes.

    I also attended the Sunbeam training couse (1 1/2 hours) at the Novatel today and so got to try a few diff. 6900s...all had MUCH better steam than mine and I could easily texture milk to a silky/cramy thick goo, so it was definitely a problem with my machine.

    The course was great and they tought you all the things that one needs to know to make a great espresso and milk drink. I highly recomend it to those who have bought a Sunbeam recently.

    Oh, and this machine really does make an amazing shot.

    Leave a comment:


  • garyaj
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...HELP

    I only half fill the jug. I put the steam nozzle pipe on the pouring lip of the jug, with the tip just on the surface of the milk (sometimes slightly above, sometimes slightly under the surface depending on how quickly the foam is forming) so it blows the milk around the jug creating a whirlpool. Volume doubles in a few seconds and I lower the nozzle into the milk to heat it to appropriate temp. (Book suggests its hot enough when you cant hold your hand on the base of the jug for less than 3 seconds. It burns your hand but you learn!)

    My daughter showed me how to do this. The EM6900 instruction book is completely wrong. Talks about keeping the nozzle under the surface of the milk. All you get is hot milk, no foam. I took my first EM6900 back after wasting quite a few litres of cow and soy milk. They gave me another one (no questions asked) but the new one did the same. Then my daughter started experimenting and got some reasonable foam. I really like this machine now :-)

    Leave a comment:


  • dennisl
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    lattelover, good luck. Ive upgraded to a commercial hx machine,and have enough steam to drive a train. No more thermoblocks for me now. Let me know how it goes or if you want help.

    Leave a comment:


  • lattelover
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Dennis, thanks matey. A very kind offer. Its away getting fixed I hope. Ill let you know how it works when I get it back.

    Odd thing is that I can create absolutely stunning (well I think it is anyway) microfoam when I use my little Saeco VV, but the sunbeam was a complete write off. Hot milk, thats it. Hot milk...after 6 litres of milk....it was buggered I am sure of that and if by some rare chance it is meant to be like that...itll be going back to the store and Ill be getting a boiler machine instead - at a much greater cost.

    Leave a comment:


  • dennisl
    replied
    Re: EM6900  milk - just cant get it right...

    Lattelover,
    I have just pensioned off the previous model sunbeam (single thermoblock)
    so i know what you are going through. Check the steam hole as i found that
    it would block up regularly,no matter how i cleaned it soaking, wire pullthrough
    etc. I found that by holding the steam nozzle tip almost ON the surface of the
    milk and letting the steam move the milk around the jug was the best way
    to get some sort of microfoam. The process will take around 2 mins at least.
    Happy to show you how if you would like.

    Leave a comment:

Working...
X