Expobar Silvestre

Blue_House

I have been using a Wega Atlas/Super Jolly/Genovese set up for the past five years.  After a lot of fettling, especially after finding a four hole steam tip with tiny holes, we were able to produce milk like Dulux gloss house paint (viscous & shiny, that is).  I have since moved on to a start up operation (3 weeks old) using a Expobar Silvestre/Compak K3/Genovese combo and I'm going crazy.  Has anyone had experience with these machines, especially the steam wands?

blanyon

Am using a Megacream and getting excellent results, whats the issue? Too many big bubbles or what?

Blue_House

It's difficult to describe, there is plenty of pressure (almost too much) so the milk happens really quickly.  You have to be incredibly accurate with tip positioning etc. It's more a question of being consistent from jug to jug.  Not a big bubble issue either - just not getting the dense silk that I was achieving with the Wega.  I have a friend who is drilling an extra hole in one of the two hole tips so we'll try that next.  I guess I was wondering whether someone else had found any tricks.  Thanks for your reply.

askthecoffeeguy

Is the steam wand one of those 'cool to touch' jobbies that you get on some Expobar because if it is you can simply pull out the plastic hosing inside - which made a huge difference of the two G10's that I owned It's also possible as far as I know to 'dial' in the boiler pressure which will have an impact upon steam quality.   And I recommend plunging the thermocouple (thermometer) in the top of the boiler in as far as it will go combined with draining some water out of the boiler at the same time to lower the water level - which will produce a dry and crisp steam which is much more conducive to milk texturing If in doubt call in the experts however as a skilled tech can do these things in a couple of minutes but it might take you hours to get it right! Good luck with that - cheers, Pat

Unknown

change your wand. More holes in your tip will make the milk harder to control, and for the love of god DON'T drill your tip. Get different tips to find the one that suits you best. Change your wand to a fatter wand with only 2 holes in the tip. Then experiment with tip variations. Remember that it usually takes more than a couple of weeks to adjust to a new machine. I like Expobars, although the hx machines can be a little testing. Pat is right about adjusting the boiler, but don't do it at the expense of the espresso

askthecoffeeguy

I've just spent the lst five months tweaking my machine and I'm still not fully satisfied with it!

Unknown

Expobar have some of the nicest steam wands available too, so do have a good look. And perfectionists are never happy, so just go with the flow till you get it right. Stress never fixes anything