Cleaning the 2-hole steam tip

Al James

Hi,

I wonder if someone can advise - I've been having trouble getting consistent milk texture and I've noticed I'm not getting two clean streams of steam from the wand. I swapped for the 4-hole tip and that works perfectly so am happy there's enough pressure but I'm steaming tiny amounts of milk so can't use it. I soaked the 2-hole tip in puly caffe and warm water then used a pin to clear both holes but still I have a consistent stream on one side and the other side sputtering.... anything else I can try?

thanks
Al

Reiss Gunson

hi Al

have you held the tip up to the light and checked that both holes are completely free from obstruction? i.e. a pin may have been passed through both holes, but are there still remnants of dried milk lying in one, or both, of the holes?

as I'm sure you know the steam will take the path of least resistance, so any differential between the two holes and the steam will primarily come out one hole and not the other

with practice you should be able to use the current 4 x 1mm tip on very small amounts of milk and achieve a good result

reiss.

Dan Streight

Reiss,

Any chance you will offer a 2 x 1.0mm hole tip in the new style version?

Thanks,

Dan

Matthew Hoffman

Reiss Gunson post=10736 wrote: hi Al

with practice you should be able to use the current 4 x 1mm tip on very small amounts of milk and achieve a good result

reiss.

I can confirm this. Initially, I found the speed with which the milk is heated up using the current 4 x 1 tip too great to control with small amounts of milk, so I switched to the two hole. That takes so long to do its job, however, that a few days ago I went back to the current 4 x 1 tip, with excellent results. Not only is the operation quicker, but the microfoam is creamier and more throughly mixed.

Matt

Reiss Gunson

thank you matthew, as i keep saying this and people don't believe me. reiss.

Reiss Gunson

hi dan

yes, i keep making a nuisance of myself at the factory asking about this every month for the past 12 or so. i think we are close now. basically when they do a run of tips they make a lot and we're just waiting for stock clear.

reiss.

Al James

Ok I can't see any obstruction to either of the holes when held up to the light so will pursue that later. I switched to the 4-hole tip and textured three pitchers of milk today for my single shot flat whites. I'm using 150ml of milk which ain't much - first time was just a super-fast whirlwind of splattering doom.... second time I managed to get a more sensible texture by operating the handle very very gently to begin but it's a short throw till you're on "full throttle".

Third time lovely texture but I had to keep my left hand on the handle (of the machine) so wasn't able to feel the heat and judge when to dive the tip as well. I'm using Temp Tags which I like so maybe it's just a matter of practice. If anyone has advice on technique I'd be happy to hear it.... I'm wondering if moving up to the 350ml pitcher might help?

Thanks for reading!

Frans Goddijn

Water with 2-3 droplets of dish washing soap in it also helps to save milk waste while gaining practice runs.

Al James

Getting there now thanks.... super smooth and consistent texture when I get it right!

Dan Streight

Thanks Reiss! Will watch for update/availability as a 2 x 1.0mm hole is something I would like to buy for my latent small volume milk steaming ability

Dan Streight

If I use ~250ml of milk to steam I can consistently steam quality microfoam. But anything in the 125-150ml amount is not so consistent (relative to the 4-hole tip...1.0mm holes).

Matt Whyard

+1 for the new 4 hole tip.

I steam about 140ml milk and I was amazed how hard it is to mess up with the new tip compared to the old.