Posted Sat May 24, 2008, 8:20am Subject: Kill your skill with a cheap-o-therm-o
I found that my clip on milk thermometer was so out of whack, that it was a significant factor of my latte art perils. After following FRCN's how-to to check my brew temp with my regular milk thermometer, I decided to boil some water and see if it was really accurate. I had a doubt because it was saying that my brew temp was 180f or so, with a PID setting of 212f. I had read Auber's temp study on three Silvia units, and their conclusions that on a Silvia there was a ~ deviation from setpoint to brew water temp. My Fenice should be a little less 'off' because the boiler is directly on top of the group instead of offset like the Silvia. With this doubtful calibration result in mind, I chose to find a more reliable temperature probe. I had the honour of borrowing a Fluke meter with a temp probe this weekend to calibrate the old PID setting to the actual brew water temp. I calculated the difference and wondered what else I should do with the meter before returning it. I decided to run at least half a dozen trials with water and the milk thermometer. The temps were within 5 degrees deviation until 95f, but the milk thermometer was off by 18 degrees on average by the time it got to it's "red zone" of 150-160f. I figured where on the dial the real points of interest were: 60f to start frothing, 70f to stop frothing, 80f to plunge the wand, 140f to flip off the steaming switch and start turning off the steam with the knob. (My actual settings on the dial won't be of use to you) I practiced some latte art with the new temperature marks, and it has made a world of difference. I would like to suggest to anyone who has tried many times and failed at properly steaming milk for latte art, to try this. If you can't get the hold of a truly accurate temperature sensing instrument, then at least boil some water and check your milk thermometer against it. A few degrees regarding atmospheric pressures won't matter in this case, but mine was off by more than 20 degrees! There are two purposes of this post: a) One is to inform you that if you strongly believe that latte art is frustrating, and that you have well read an practiced the how-to's from here and elsewhere, then try this additional method. To keep it simple, it's the dummies way of exactly following the k.i.s.s. principle of latte art that so many others have prescribed: Less is more. Less foam makes better art. If your thermometer leads you to think that you are stopping frothing at 100f and you are really stopping at 120f, well that would result in larger than wanted bubbles. If you are finishing up at 160 but your real value is 180, then your milk will be scorched, or at least will separate too quickly and will be poor for latte art. b) Can anyone suggest a source for buying a more accurate standard clip-on thermometer?
I hope that this 'revelation' of mine helps at least one person. To simplify the entire post, if you are having trouble with the art, then try reducing the timing of all of your frothing and steaming actions by ten degrees. Start frothing a little later after dipping the wand into the milk at first. Plunge the wand into the milk way earlier than you have been. Stop the whole process earlier than before. Keep the wand buried until the steam pressure completely abates. This alone may help you. It certainly has helped me!
KevinCash Senior Member Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 151 Location: Columbus, OH Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: PID'd La Marzocco Linea 3 EE Grinder: Mazzer Major, Ditting 804 Drip: Fetco Extractor Roaster: Jeff Davis @ Cafe Brioso
Posted Sat May 24, 2008, 1:52pm Subject: Re: Kill your skill with a cheap-o-therm-o
thermometers are so last year..... but yeah, those cheap thermometers suck. Just hold your hand on the pitcher, once it gets too hot to hold, that's 140. The best thermometer on the market is the one on the end of your arm.
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