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Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoaming

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  • Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoaming

    This was the preferred milk (as used by First Pour) from a few months back. Im wondering if its still the preferred milk or the change in season means a change in milk as well?

    Ive been using Pauls Full Cream at work and with the Gaggia Carezza with the silvia wand, Im beginning to be able to create some semblance of a rosetta on a consistent basis. At home I use the Farm House milk with the silvia and I struggle to get anywhere near what i get with my Carezza. Same jug, same beans, only difference is the machine and milk. You would think that the silvia is able to produce better microfoam than the Carezza but that isnt the case for me and Im wondering if its the milk instead.

  • #2
    Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

    Might be worth running a little test using the Pauls Full Cream at home with the Silvia, and/or the Farm House milk at work with the Gaggia Carezza. At least that should give you answers as to whether it is the CMs or the milk.

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    • #3
      Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

      I was struggling with microfoam on my Silvia, I tried a different jug and after finding the sweet spot in it I started to produce pretty good mf, the spout is a little wide for fine latte art but I manage a fat rosetta and onceproduced an apple. I hope to get a new jug soon, have found a place in Perth that sell the jug Im after its just a matter of finding the time to go there.
      I use skim milk most of the time, but when I use full cream(on special occasions) I seem to getter a smoother creamier microfoam.

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      • #4
        Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

        This is an example of one I just made this morning on my Gaggia Carezza witht he modded steam wand. Far from perfect but its one of my better ones but Ive been getting more or less this sort of consistency on the Carezza pretty much everyday this week. On the silvia though, I came close to this only once, and that was during the christmas break. I made 2 coffees everyday for 2 weeks that I was at home with the silvia and only managed something close once... Why is that?

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        • #5
          Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

          We still use Farm House milk and have seen no drop in taste quality or foaming ability. No internal communications as of yet from National Foods to let us know the milk will be poor quality yet....fingers crossed that it never happens this year.

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          • #6
            Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

            Dang!... there goes the milk theory which means its my technique on the silvia thats to blame...
            Anyone else finding steaming on the silvia a bit harder to master? And if youve mastered it, what are the tricks to it?

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            • #7
              Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

              Originally posted by NewToEspresso link=1201587135/0#5 date=1201742600
              Anyone else finding steaming on the silvia a bit harder to master? And if youve mastered it, what are the tricks to it?
              No, I found the Silvia extremly easy to get good microfoam out of. What are you doing differently between the 2 machines? No "trick" is required as far as Ive noticed.

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              • #8
                Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                So whats different in the appearance of the microfoam between the 2 machines?

                Both machines have the same steam wand, so I cant understand why thered be any difference.

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                • #9
                  Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                  Again, this could due to technique but the appearance in microfoam doesnt look all that much different except that the microfoam in the silvia one doesnt seem as well "mixed" together as the gaggia one. Hardly any bubbles in the gaggia one throughout the whole jug but sometimes in the silvia one there are bubbles underneath the surface. On the surface they look very similar and even swirling the milk they look similar in texture and silkiness but upon pouring, a few more bubbles appear in the silvia one.
                  They have the same steam wand but on the gaggia, it comes down at a slight angle (approx 20-25 degrees from the vertical) whereas on the silvia, it comes down almost vertical.
                  Steaming time on the gaggia is a bit longer especially on the stretching phase because the initial steam power coming out is quite weak but it builds up which is quite perfect for the swirling phase. On the silvia, its quite powerful from start to finish. Im thinking thats the most likely reason for the discrepancy in microfoam quality.. in the gaggia, I have time to find the sweet spot and any "mistakes" can be rectified whereas with the silvia, I have less time to get the stretching right. Dont know if thats correct or not.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                    Hmmm..... are you getting a good whirlpool going with the Silvia? Perhaps you need to hold the jug at a different angle, since you say the steam arms come out at different angles on each machine.

                    Are you purging the wand of any wet steam first? I assume you would be, but just checking.

                    Have you got the boiler light on throughout the whole steaming operation?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                      Ive been toying around with different methods to the steaming. Below is the sequence of what I used to do (I use a 300ml jug for 1 latte):
                      1. Pull a shot of espresso into glass
                      2. Clean the grouphead of loose grounds (a bit of a clean freak)
                      3. Hit the steam switch
                      4. Wait about 30 secs and purge the steam wand into empty glass (quite a fair bit of water comes out - approx 40-60ml)
                      5. Close the steam knob and get my jug with milk already in it from the fridge (no more than 15 secs)
                      6. Purge a little again and then start steaming
                      Observations with this method: Most of the time I start steaming with boiler light still on (sometimes I take too much time doing the other stuff and the boiler light goes off). It starts out fairly powerful and sometimes the boiler ligth goes out mid-steam and it starts to lose power. When that happens, the milk is always no good...

                      Now, after re-visiting the Steaming with Silvia thread which someone has included the Silvia instructions, this is what I do:
                      1. Pull a shot of espresso into glass
                      2. Clean the grouphead of loose grounds (a bit of a clean freak)
                      3. Hit the steam switch
                      4. Count to somewhere between 5 and 10 seconds and purge the steam wand (again, a lot of water comes out)
                      5. Close steam knob and count to about 30-45 seconds before starting the steaming.
                      Observations: Only started doing this last weekend and the boiler light stays on the entire time. Steam power is good and remains powerful all they way. Microfoam is more consistent this way but still not quite godd enough to form the leaves on the rosetta the same way I did it with the Carezza. Bugs me no end because i thought it would have been easier to get latte art quality milk with the silvia than with the Gaggia.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                        I always get good microfoam with the Silvia and I only use Dairy Farmers milk. At work, my microfoam is never as good as Ive got a horrible four hole tip. And I cant be bothered with jamming it up with anything either. (yeah, lazy I know. But as most customers only want chocolate dusted coffee, I dont need to make lots of pretty rosettas. But I do and hide them underneath...)

                        Anyone want to start a Scootas New Steam Tip Fund? ;D (just jokes friends!)

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                        • #13
                          Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                          I would suggest that milk brand is of little if any consequence. Technique and machine, however, are very important in the production of microfoam.

                          Agree with the above posters in that Silvia makes excellent microfoam, and is very easy to master.
                          Irrespective of the type and brand of milk.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                            Originally posted by robusto link=1201587135/0#12 date=1202194587
                            I would suggest that milk brand is of little if any consequence.
                            I disagree. In my experience, theres a vast qualitative difference when texturing organic milk (particularly skim) compared to off the shelf stuff.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Is Farm House milk still the best for microfoa

                              not just organic, theres a big difference between many regular milks out there.

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