Saeco VV... froth enhancer etc

inertia8

I have a Saeco VV, many people refer to taking the froth enhancer off to get a better result or better microfoam etc.

I took the enhancer off today, so I was simply left with the silver steam arm. Well, the noise was quite a few orders of magnitude louder, a lot of banging sound etc, the results weren't too good.

Any tips on using the machine like this? I can do quiet well with the froth enhancer on, but usually the air bubbles are too big etc.

Thanks

BeanCounter

Can you remove just a section of the froth enhancer to leave a nozzle in place? I'm not familiar with the Saeco but if you can do that, you should be able to froth reasonably in a small jug using the very fine stream of steam. Regards, Gary

Reschsmooth

The froth enhancer I had had, basically, two parts. First was the plastic bit that connected to the metal steam arm. It had a single hole point with a screw nut type attachment that kept it on the steam arm. The second was a sleave that went over the first plastic bit. It had two side holes on it. That sleave was what I removed when from the froth enhancer and could produce some pretty good microfoam. I hope that helps Patrick

inertia8

Ahh, now I see. I'll give that a go and see how it turns out, some practice is in order   Many Thanks

Reschsmooth

Let's see if this makes sense. I got best results steaming with the following: 1. Removing the outer froth enhancer thingo. Always give the steam wand a good blast to get rid of any residual water in the steam wand. You will find that the steam is always going to be 'wetter' than from a commercial machine. 2. Placing the steam wand at about 3 o'clock relative to the spout of the jug. 3. Keeping the tip of the steam wand just on the surface of the milk (this will take practice). 4. Keeping the steam wand at about 45 degrees relative to the surface of the milk (this was a result of tilting the jug as well as angling the actual steam wand). 5. Keeping the whirlpool action until I had enough froth/foam before 'plunging' the steam wand into the milk. This gave me some pretty good microfoam. Give the jug a good swirl after steaming to give the milk a nice glossy texture. P

inertia8

Initial success   Going to need work, but I think I can manage