Getting good micro foam with LELIT MARA

[Jester]

Hi guys, I have had my Lelit Mara for about 3 weeks now and am enjoying my first E61 machine. It is definitely different from my old Kenwood E630.
One thing that I cannot achieve consistently though is a good microfoam with the milk. I believe I have the technique right but I'm thinking that the
steam wand might be too powerful for it's own good. Basically I have about a centimetre of the tip in the milk (making sure that I use a sufficient quantity of milk - more than I need actually), and then I
focus on getting a fairly rapid spin. I also try to get that nice hissing sound. It is rare though that I will get that kind of microfoam that I sometimes see on Youtube clips which typically looks like white paint.
When I don't get the microfoam quite right I also notice that the foam that is there does'nt settle down easily if you know what I mean even if I smack the jug down a few times and swish it
around a little.
Does any other Lelit Mara owner have the same problem? Should I change the tip on the wand ? I know there are others available for E61 machines. I think if I can nail this I will be well on my way
to making excellent Piccolos.

Thanks in advance for any help guys.

John

[Dimal]

G'day John...

You only want the "hissing sound" for a few seconds to get the air entrapment, after that you should be plunging the tip deeper down and incorporate the entrapped air throughout the milk via turbulence until the milk has reached the desirable temperature. Lot of good info in here...
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/milk-froth...microfoam.html

Mal.

[Jester]

Hey Thanks very much Dimal, I will give that a go in the morning.

Regards


John

[jp1001]

Hi John

been a while, I know.

I've had a Lelit Mara for about 6 weeks. I'm familiar with the link that Dimal posted above but am getting inconsistent results with microfoam. I'm wondering how you got on - I came upon this thread when I was wondering about trying a different tip on the steam nozzle.

thanks
Paul

[artman]

Don't forget you an practice using water with one drop of dishwashing liquid. Behaves like milk!

KKs technique usually works great.

Cheers

[artman]

It's linked in Mal's response above.

Cheers

[jp1001]

Don't forget you an practice using water with one drop of dishwashing liquid. Behaves like milk!

KKs technique usually works great.

Cheers

mmm... I did read about the detergent method but confess that I haven't tried it. I'll do that. Interestingly, if I do a practice run with milk and pour it, its good and the microfoam sits there on the top of the poured glass pretty indefinitely - about an hour is the longest I've tested it. However, when I use the same method to steam the milk and then pour it onto a double ristretto to make a piccolo, it pours well and forms a 5 to 7mm layer on top that looks good and tight. However, unlike with the straight milk pour (i.e. not onto espresso) it then forms tiny 0.5mm bubbles on top that grow to about 2 to 3mm bubbles within 3 to 4 minutes, with the microfoam disappearing entirely within about 10 to 15 minutes.

[artman]

Maybe your roast is very fresh? I find the crema quite foamy of beans are within a few days post roast.

Cheers

[jp1001]

Maybe your roast is very fresh? I find the crema quite foamy of beans are within a few days post roast.

Cheers

OK. That's interesting. The roast is between one and two weeks so that might be a factor.
Thanks Artman.

[Raimo81]

I realize it’s an old post...I imagine you figured it out for those picking it up now though...I believe the trick with the Mara at first is to only slightly submerge the tip of the wand, to the point where it looked like it’s only really touching the surface of the milk, the hissing will happen for about 3 seconds and then it will start swirling. Always let out that first blast and wait for just steam to come before starting to froth.