jtsound Senior Member Joined: 1 Nov 2010 Posts: 8 Location: NY Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Tue May 10, 2011, 2:15pm Subject: Re: Steaming milk on a Quickmill Silvano
I can't say that i'm getting any latte art quality microfoam yet but I have been making some damn good tasting cappucino's. What I'm doing might not be what you are after but after some initially dissapointing results I have started to enjoy my drinks a lot since I've had my Silvano. I probably made 8-10 drinks for people on mothers day and all turned out the same so consistancy is pretty good. The machine is definitly capable of doing good work once the technique of the user is up to par. I think I still have some learning to do and i'm sure the machine is capable of much more once I take the time to do some more experimentation and trial and error.
First, I have found that small amounts of milk (4-6oz) work much better than larger. I guess if you were looking for 16 oz latte's you might have bought the wrong machine.
I started with a 20 oz pitcher but changed to a 12 and that helped as well.
What I do is have the tip angled a little towards your body and close to the left side of the pitcher to get a good counterclockwise whirlpool going. Start with the tip just under the surface then lower the pitcher till you get the momentary sucking sound and the noise gets pretty quiet other than the occasional air suck sound. For me, if the steam is making a lot of noise it's not going to give you good results. Keep lowering the pitcher as the milk rises till the outside of the pitcher is just starting to get past warm to hot and/or the milk has expanded by 50-75% or so. Once it's risen to where you want it raise the pitcher/lower the tip to heat the milk to whatever you want it at but you are already probably pretty close to hot enough so a few seconds at the most and you are done. The whole process is 30-45 seconds or so but I have to admit i've never times it so I could be off.
symbology Senior Member Joined: 27 Oct 2010 Posts: 69 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1V2 Grinder: Macap M7D
Posted Mon May 16, 2011, 9:24pm Subject: Re: Steaming milk on a Quickmill Silvano
Search the Silvano threads here as this has been discussed a fair amount already.
When I had my Silvano, the biggest improvement I made was waiting for the steam pressure to build before trying to get the tip the surface. With other machines that have a consistent output of steam it is not a big deal. Though with the Silvano and the way the steam pulses at the beginning, well.... it can ruin your chances right out of the gate. If the steam is not up to pressure yet, all you do is inject air into the milk and you get the surface full of bubbles etc......... This only makes it harder to later get the swirling motion going. So, wait for the pressure to build 3-4 seconds, then get it to swirl as you bring the tip to the surface, then drop the tip just below the surface and get it close to the inside edge (I used the right side) of the pitcher (10-12oz pitcher). If you hit the sweet spot you will be amazed at how much of a swirling action you can get going. If you don't hit the sweet spot, well you can end up with nothing but foamed up milk. Angling the pitcher to the right a little bit helps as well.
tovarishch Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2012 Posts: 20 Location: IL Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Wed Jul 11, 2012, 7:36pm Subject: Re: Steaming milk on a Quickmill Silvano
What I do every time before I steam milk in my Silvano, is let the steam run in a towel right before I pull the shot until the steam light comes one. Once the light is on, I wait a second or two, pull the shot, by the time the shot is done, the steam light goes off. Steam the milk immediately after the light goes off. The steam will be much hotter. Also, use smaller pitchers. I do this with great success. Must do this especially after the machine has sat for a while, even with steam switch on the back turned on.
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