BettaRosetta Junior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Lancaster UK Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Tue Jul 22, 2008, 5:23am Subject: commersial machines steam wands and semi professional machine steam wands
I work on SanRemo espresso machines at work and we have 3 machines, 2 of which are 2 group machines (Capri and Milano) there is also a single group treviso (which i think you would call a semi professional machine as it is too big for a domestic). When ever i make cappuccinos on them, the Treviso gives better results and the milk is much finer so i can do rosettas easier. Why is this? i would have thought it would be the other way round with a commercial machine being better. does anyone else find this with smaller machines and smaller steam arms?
pumpkinscastle Senior Member Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 143 Location: Cincinnati, OH Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Quickmilll Vetrano Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly
Posted Tue Jul 22, 2008, 10:11am Subject: Re: commersial machines steam wands and semi professional machine steam wands
I might assume because the steam power on the Treviso is a bit less and maybe gives you those couple of extra seconds??? If the steam is too fast, I don't get great microfoam either. It's harder to produce the faster the steam is, methinks. But then I am not a professional barista.
Also, the Treviso looks like the PERFECT home machine. 25kg altogether, just right! I hate that the industry divides machines into home and non-home machines. What's the use of it? For me, there are only good and bad machines. And a machine the size of the Treviso seems to fit underneath most kitchen counters. If a chintzy plastic Saeco is considered a home machine for instance, then that won't make me adopt it for sure. Usually, the "home" label sometimes translates into "crap." (not always, though).
Psyd Senior Member Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 859 Location: MON AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Sylvia and Astoria Argenta... Grinder: Rocky and Astoria (Mazzer)...
Posted Tue Jul 22, 2008, 3:01pm Subject: Re: commersial machines steam wands and semi professional machine steam wands
pumpkinscastle Said:
I might assume because the steam power on the Treviso is a bit less and maybe gives you those couple of extra seconds??? If the steam is too fast, I don't get great microfoam either. It's harder to produce the faster the steam is, methinks. But then I am not a professional barista.
I hate that the industry divides machines into home and non-home machines. What's the use of it?
It takes a while to get used to that much steam at one time, and you may just be better at frothing with a bit more time to do it in. As you progress, the bigger machines may work better. I use one of the FIVE-HOLE wands on my 'home machine (an Astoria two group), with four of the holes plugged up with toothpicks, for a small three or four ounce steam, but go to the un-tampered one to get ten or twelve ounces of milk steamed. It could also be that the steam pressure is set differently on all three machines. What are the boilers at? They could all have different steam tips (one, two, three four hole?) and you are better at what is on the smaller machine. It could be a few things, but noticing what is different about how they make steam come out of the wand is the first place to look.
Oh, and they differentiate between 'home' and 'commercial' machines because they have to get certifications for commercial-use machines that cost quite a bit of money. They have to get expensive certs for home machines, too, just not as many and not as much. And it's (slightly) less complicated to qualify for the home certs.
BettaRosetta Junior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Lancaster UK Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Wed Jul 23, 2008, 10:10am Subject: Re: commersial machines steam wands and semi professional machine steam wands
cheers guys, i am getting better on the bigger machines but the steam wands just do seem big and clumsy in comparison lol. i have tried putting tooth piks in and it does help, it also makes more of a vortex as the steam is directed horizontaly more. but would the wood not rot after a while with the warmth and moisture? the Treviso is 2 holes and the others 4 holes, and i prefer steaming enough milk for two 5/6oz cups at once. Also on the big machines i do not turn the steam arm on fully, does anyone else do this with commersial machines?
Psyd Senior Member Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 859 Location: MON AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Sylvia and Astoria Argenta... Grinder: Rocky and Astoria (Mazzer)...
Posted Wed Jul 23, 2008, 5:13pm Subject: Re: commersial machines steam wands and semi professional machine steam wands
BettaRosetta Said:
i have tried putting tooth piks in and it does help, it also makes more of a vortex as the steam is directed horizontaly more. but would the wood not rot after a while with the warmth and moisture?
The wet side gets hot steam-cleaned every day, the other side is dried wood. It seems to do very well, and I've not had any issues with it in the thirty months that it's been there. Of course, I just looked under my dispersion screen after there months without a chemical or a brush taken to it. While I don't give it too much of a beating (I usually have two or three doppio a day, and the first one is, two or three days out of the week, at my girlfriends house pulled on the Silvia and the rest are pulled on the opposite group very three or four pulls) I do clean the group, backflush, and clean the PF and basket after every session. Just a tiny rhime of buildup in the nook around the seam that the screen makes with the dispersion block. The vortex would be a good thing. I like the vortex. I get may best arts when I get good vortices in my pitcher. And yes, I control the amount of steam that I want coming out of the wand with the knob, depending on how much milk and what size pitcher I'm using.
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