vas@lzaz.UUCP (V.SNYDER) (01/17/86)
To Manny Costa and others interested in the results: The responses were very few, in fact, only 2 people responded. The first person has bought 2 machines and highly recommends the AVANTI Minibar machine that retails for about $120 with a $20 rebate, the other machine this person had performed well but made 2-4 cups. This was a MAXIM brand machine that retails for about $50-60. The second responder wrote to tell me that he owns one (no brand, or anything) and he loves it. I figured that would be the case anyway. If I get anymore responses, I will summarize and post. This Snydely Whiplash is a Mrs. Manny. Good Luck to all!
figmo@lll-crg.ARpA (Lynn Gold) (01/25/86)
I just bought a Caffe Portofino; this is a stovetop espresso/cappucino maker. I haven't tried it for coffee yet, but I'm having problems steaming milk. Basically, my milk never gets frothy the way it does in restaurants. I get more froth by scalding the milk in a saucepan. The instructions recommend whole milk; I used non-fat because that's what I drink. Could this be my problem? I also noticed some steam escaping between the top and bottom halves of the unit no matter how hard I try to seal it. Could this be the culprit? Thanks, --Lynn
ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (01/26/86)
> I just bought a Caffe Portofino; this is a stovetop espresso/cappucino > maker. I haven't tried it for coffee yet, but I'm having problems > steaming milk. Basically, my milk never gets frothy the way it does in > restaurants. I get more froth by scalding the milk in a saucepan. > > The instructions recommend whole milk; I used non-fat because that's what > I drink. Could this be my problem? I also noticed some steam escaping > between the top and bottom halves of the unit no matter how hard I try to > seal it. Could this be the culprit? I would not be the least bit surprised to find that skim milk doesn't work as well, but I haven't tried it so I don't know. Anyway, here's the secret to making good steamed milk: 1. Arrange to get as much steam as you can from your steam-maker. It should really gush out. 2. Put the tip of the nozzle just below the surface of the milk before you start the steam. 3. Start it all at once, and HARD. You're doing it right if you get a noise that sounds like a cross between a jet airplane and a vacuum cleaner. If milk spatters all over the place, the nozzle is too high. If you don't hear vacuum cleaner/jet airplane noises, the nozzle is too low. 4. As the foam rises, use the sound to keep the nozzle in the right place. You should be able to more than double the volume of the milk as you turn it to foam. 5. If you start getting huge spattery bubbles on the surface, you've gotten the milk too hot and nothing you do will get any more foam on the surface of that batch. Time to start again if you don't like it the way it is at that point.
spp@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Stephen P Pope) (01/28/86)
> The instructions recommend whole milk; I used non-fat because that's what > I drink. Could this be my problem? I also noticed some steam escaping I tried steaming non-fat milk once and it wouldn't steam at all. Interestingly, though, low-fat seems to steam as well as whole or extra rich. steve
suze@terak.UUCP (Suzanne Barnett) (01/30/86)
> > I just bought a Caffe Portofino; this is a stovetop espresso/cappucino > > maker. I haven't tried it for coffee yet, but I'm having problems > > steaming milk. Basically, my milk never gets frothy the way it does in > > restaurants. I get more froth by scalding the milk in a saucepan. > > Anyway, here's the secret to making good steamed milk: > > 1. Arrange to get as much steam as you can from your > steam-maker. It should really gush out. > > 2. Put the tip of the nozzle just below the surface of > the milk before you start the steam. > > 3. Start it all at once, and HARD. You're doing it right if > you get a noise that sounds like a cross between a > jet airplane and a vacuum cleaner. If milk spatters > all over the place, the nozzle is too high. If you > don't hear vacuum cleaner/jet airplane noises, the nozzle > is too low. > > 4. As the foam rises, use the sound to keep the nozzle in the > right place. You should be able to more than double the > volume of the milk as you turn it to foam. > > 5. If you start getting huge spattery bubbles on the surface, > you've gotten the milk too hot and nothing you do will get > any more foam on the surface of that batch. Time to > start again if you don't like it the way it is at that point. How long should it take to steam, say 1/2 cup, of milk? -- Suzanne Barnett-Scott uucp: ...{decvax,ihnp4,noao,savax,seismo}!terak!suze CalComp/Sanders Display Products Division 14151 N 76th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 (602) 998-4800