miched Senior Member Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 16 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Jul 26, 2012, 4:54am Subject: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
Hi guys and gals!
I recently purchased my first espresso machine, the Breville 860XL. I must say, it pulls a good shot! However, I have been going out of my mind trying to get the Latte Art right. I read in the forums that many low or medium end home machines don't have enough steam power to properly create good microfoam milk.
Has anyone here managed to do this? I read Aaron's story, in which the steam wand on his machine was replaced, and suddenly he was unable to froth milk properly - until he switched back to the old tip! Do you think it's a steam tip issue, a steam power issue, or a need-more-practice issue?
miched Senior Member Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 16 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Jul 26, 2012, 5:40am Subject: Re: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
Well that's good news! As I have picked up from the other posts on these boards, this machine does not have a great following, but from your response I gather that it IS possible to make good, pouring foam!
Posted Thu Jul 26, 2012, 9:13pm Subject: Re: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
It appears this machine has a "pannerelo" style steam wand, aka "froth aider." To learn to steam properly, you should lose that and replace it (if possible) with a regulation steam wand.
miched Senior Member Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 16 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Jul 26, 2012, 11:33pm Subject: Re: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
Yes, good advice. It's simply a tube which pulls off. Lost it by the second day. As you said, it's an aid to help new baristas make frothy milk for cappucchinos - personally, I don't care much for such frothy foam - I'm looking for that silky, slick, uniform microfoamed milk which makes the art possible.
The steam tip "under the hood", so to speak, is a single hole tip, which produces a powerful vortex in the pitcher. My question still stands, though - is it capable of producing the microfoam I'm looking for?
Still waiting for current (or past) users of this machine out there to share their experiences! ;o)
Posted Fri Jul 27, 2012, 6:50am Subject: Re: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
Single hole tip + vortex = possible microfoam. What stands in the way of a lot of these home machines are the weird froth aiding tips, some of which aren't removable. However, if you have enough steam power to move the milk, and you can get a no-nonsense 1-, 2-, x-hole tip on it, you're all set. In your case, it sounds like you simply need some more practice with this machine.
miched Senior Member Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 16 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Jul 31, 2012, 2:51am Subject: Re: Anyone managed proper Latte Art with the Breville BES860XL?
OK! steven_meyer was right on the money! The "more practice" option was the right one. Got a near-perfect heart this morning on the latte - very rewarding! And very good to know that the machine is more than capable.
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