Three hole steam tips

[Yelta]

You do realize you're responding to a post made a year and a half ago by a user who hasn't been on the forum for almost a year right?


Java "Who said what when?" phile

Better late than never!

[Javaphile]

You do realize you're responding to a post made a year and a half ago by a user who hasn't been on the forum for almost a year right?


Java "Who said what when?" phile

[Bigjaype]

Yep, it has 4 holes. Funny how since I started to ask questions on this forum in relation to buying a commercial machine for my holiday place, all I got was naysayers discouragement.
Every single question was met with one form or another of this being the wrong choice.Well ... I bought a commercial machine second hand,shipped it interstate, got it serviced sitting on a table on my back veranda, hooked up to my garden hose. Paid for a new pump and for a second grade service by a second grade technician, got no answers to the most basic question here.
Installed it in my weekender and very proud of it, since it happened to be as easy as installing a dishwasher despite the naaaa all around here. Now it is working on its first few coffees and I asked how to lift the water level ....
Yes, you got it, no answer in 5 days. Never mind, figured out by myself. Big whoop ... Loosen one screw and pull up a sensor and tighten the screw back...
And now I ask how to froth the milk with this steam wand whit 3 holes that turned out to be 4 ... Naaaaaa I can't do it!
No way can this ignorant petulant greenhorn be able to make a decent froth with a commercial machine !!! Naaaa go back to a Target machine for the next 10 years, may be you learn and then come back and ask again.
Yes I bet it is so hard that I'll learn in the next day or two.
Sad really.

It's called Coffee Snobs for a reason...
snob
snɒb/
noun

• a person with an exaggerated respect for high social position or wealth who seeks to associate with social superiors and looks down on those regarded as socially inferior.
  "her mother was a snob and wanted a lawyer as a son-in-law"
  • a person who believes that their tastes in a particular area are superior to those of other people
  
  
  
  
• • Good on you for persevering...There is a lot of advice on any forum. Good and bad.

[ElShauno]

It's funny. After working for a couple of years behind an FB80, Linea and Strada, I have the opposite problem. With the commercial machines, I can steam and get good results 95% of the time (the 5% is when I get too cocky and try to do to many things at once). However, when I come home to my Mitica and also to my sister's Sunbeam 7000, I need to concentrate to get a good result!

I also train baristas from having no experience to getting some pretty decent micro-foam on a Linea within an hours time. It's really all down to practise. For me, the sheer power of the commercials make steaming milk almost mindless and dead simple. Domestic machines take a lot longer and therefore, more time to overthink it and stuff it up!

I find the same. Just went to a HX machine from a Breville Batista Express and it is dead easy to froth milk. In fact if anything while I'm learning it is the risk of overcooking it that I grapple with. I find the whirlpool doesn't matter so much with the three hole tip - timing and technique is helping me to perfect it. Last latte was quite good, but still not perfect.

[mwcalder05]

It's funny. After working for a couple of years behind an FB80, Linea and Strada, I have the opposite problem. With the commercial machines, I can steam and get good results 95% of the time (the 5% is when I get too cocky and try to do to many things at once). However, when I come home to my Mitica and also to my sister's Sunbeam 7000, I need to concentrate to get a good result!

I also train baristas from having no experience to getting some pretty decent micro-foam on a Linea within an hours time. It's really all down to practise. For me, the sheer power of the commercials make steaming milk almost mindless and dead simple. Domestic machines take a lot longer and therefore, more time to overthink it and stuff it up!

[janko19901]

A lot of clever things because of you learned!

[ozscott]

It's just practice. My 16 year old worked and worked on my commercial 2 group and can now texture small volume milk using the 4 hole commercial wand tip beautifully (better than i can now because he pulls most of the coffees in my house!). It is silky and i have not seen better anywhere. He is doing fantastic art and is starting dragons now. When you stsrt using a commercial its a learning curve. Try turning the pressurestat down too...you dont need it to be quite such an animal when not in a coffee shop.

Practice, practice, practice! !!

Cheers

[deegee]

Well.... bugger. I've been using the 3-hole on my pavoni and never quite got the hang of it (ever!) so um.. looks like I'll be doing more reading glad this thread is here! Got any good tips specific to the Pavoni 3 hole tip?

Yes - Block off one of those holes. My Pavoni Pro came with a three hole tip, but it did not have enough grunt for three. It had a brass tip, and I soldered one of them shut, and now it's much better. My Europiccola has a single hole tip and was a better steamer than the Pro until I did this simple mod, now they are very similar. I should probably mention that the hole in the single tip is a little larger than the two remaining holes in the other tip.

[artman]

Have you tried the strip given by Koffeekosmo? Give it a go, works very well.

Also don't forget you can practice technique using water in the jug with one drop of dishwashing liquid.

Cheers

[Rolley]

Pavoni. Many opt for a single hole aftermarket! I was going to, then I just worked out how to use it properly.

Well.... bugger. I've been using the 3-hole on my pavoni and never quite got the hang of it (ever!) so um.. looks like I'll be doing more reading glad this thread is here! Got any good tips specific to the Pavoni 3 hole tip?

[rodric]

Hi there, I am new to the forum and just restoring a rather beat up Faema Family. The steam wand is missing but I was wondering if anyone has changed the steam wand on their unit? If not does anyone know where the extension piece that screws into the brass fitting coming out of the machine can be located??

[artman]

There is an excellent thread on here with good tips on steaming.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/showthread.php?t=26896

Also you can practice technique using water with one drop of detergent to save wasting milk.

Cheers

[Marc1]

Thank you mate, that was good useful advice I'll take on board. I was using way too much steam to begin with.

240V ... not to worry. I was an electrician a long time ago

[sprezzatura]

Regulate steam output: try placing the tip on the side of the pitcher just below surface and open the valve to 30% power and get the sipping/swirling action started then lower the tip and open the valve to 50% 75% keeping the swirl going until its heated to where you like it or it just deepens in pitch - close valve, place pitcher on counter, purge wand, wipe wand clean, pick up pitcher, tap on counter, give it a swirl and pour onto your espresso.

[sprezzatura]

Some machines have specific-designed tips that texture microfoam fast (La Marzocco foam blade for instance). The four hole like your Cimbali (Carimali?) is designed to texture a larger volume pitcher quick. Steam valves and how they're designed play a part too. For example, the Expobar controls steam output really well. So does La Marzocco. A Fiorenzato flipper valve doesn't (crap).