# Steaming milk with the Europiccola 3 whole steam wand - Any tips or tricks?



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

New Europiccola owner here.

Could anyone share any tips or tricks to steam milk with the Europiccola stock 3 whole steam tip?

I'm finding it difficult to get the it right, specially how and where to position the team tip on the milk surface. I find that most of the time I can't get the milk to roll or spin. I'm using a Bella Barista 0.5l (20oz) jug with 160ml of milk on it, which is well below the beginning of the spout. A new 12oz (350ml) jug is on order.

I've been successfully steaming milk for 2 years with the Pro-700, which was amazingly simple to do!

So, for those who managed to tame the beast, could anyone give some tips on:

- Size of pitcher;

- How much milk;

- Type of milk;

- Angle of pitcher in relation to steam wand tip;

- Initial position of the tip in relation to the pitcher and milk surface;

- What to do next.

I've watched many videos, but find that a lot of people have replaced the 3 whole tip with a single whole tip, something that I don't really want to do.

Any help is appreciated.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Take a look at the position of the holes in the tip= which direction they point / spray.

I use a 3 hole tip and have found if it is not rolling / spinning, by placing the wand against the side of the pitcher with one hole pointing directly at the side, the other two point across diagonally . The single one drives the air/milk down and the other two spin and roll the milk.

500 mm pitcher filled to about 12 mm below the spout indent. It works well for me:good:


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## russe11 (May 12, 2012)

Buy a single hole tip... Somrthing like this...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microfoam-Duse-fur-La-Pavoni-fur-Einzelportionen-Espressomacchiato-Noisette/163003434455?hash=item25f3c305d7:g:3aYAAOSwyTZUX1pA


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

russe11 said:


> Buy a single hole tip... Somrthing like this...
> 
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microfoam-Duse-fur-La-Pavoni-fur-Einzelportionen-Espressomacchiato-Noisette/163003434455?hash=item25f3c305d7:g:3aYAAOSwyTZUX1pA


I tried to unscrew the tip from the wand the other day but it's impossible to unscrew it by hand. Got some spanners and vice out yesterday but stopped short of doing it just in case I damage it.


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## russe11 (May 12, 2012)

wrap some tape around nipple tip oooohh... Don't think you'll need a vice!? Just an adjustable wrench. It may be stuck on but judging by age and condition of machine it should spin off nicely


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

russe11 said:


> Buy a single hole tip... Somrthing like this...
> 
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microfoam-Duse-fur-La-Pavoni-fur-Einzelportionen-Espressomacchiato-Noisette/163003434455?hash=item25f3c305d7:g:3aYAAOSwyTZUX1pA


Is that the steam tip you have? Do you recommend?


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## russe11 (May 12, 2012)

Yes the guy (Nils) does a couple of different ones I tried the brass regular and the brass micro foam version and the micro version seems best... From memory I think I just tried to open up the hole a fraction as it was tiny. Be careful of materials (reason I went for brass) on some of the tips. Some people use cheap metal that rusts and probably in time would fuse to the steam arm? Also some of the holes are actually quite big.. At least if you buy something with a tiny hole you can make it bigger.. with a large hole you have just most likely wasted your money.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

russe11 said:


> Yes the guy (Nils) does a couple of different ones I tried the brass regular and the brass micro foam version and the micro version seems best... From memory I think I just tried to open up the hole a fraction as it was tiny. Be careful of materials (reason I went for brass) on some of the tips. Some people use cheap metal that rusts and probably in time would fuse to the steam arm? Also some of the holes are actually quite big.. At least if you buy something with a tiny hole you can make it bigger.. with a large hole you have just most likely wasted your money.


By reading the description looks like this one is made of stainless steel. I'll give it a go in a few weeks if I don't have any success with the current 3 hole one. Thank you!


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## russe11 (May 12, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> By reading the description looks like this one is made of stainless steel. I'll give it a go in a few weeks if I don't have any success with the current 3 hole one. Thank you!


I wish you luck with the 3 hole tip... that's all I'm saying


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

singe hole tip should be 1.5mm - I use a 1mm and keep meaning to enlarge it-


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## slamm (Nov 26, 2016)

I've been getting much better results recently with the 3 hole tip (on a pre millennium) by cranking up the temp to the high setting with the opv venting away then purging with a couple of quick 2s blasts to get the steam as dry as possible. Result has been much more volume and creaminess to the foam, although still not what I imagine or at least hope can be achieved with a single hole tip. And not latte art-able, not by me anyway but then this my first machine so haven't tried before.

Having got through 3x HSS-Co 1.5mm drill bits in a vain attempt to drill a single stupid hole through a ss dome nut I temporarily gave up on making my own single hole tip until I get around to ordering some dome nuts in brass. Maybe it was made of solid kryptonite or something instead of marine grade ss or maybe the 304 (A2) grade is easier to drill.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

El carajillo said:


> Take a look at the position of the holes in the tip= which direction they point / spray.
> 
> I use a 3 hole tip and have found if it is not rolling / spinning, by placing the wand against the side of the pitcher with one hole pointing directly at the side, the other two point across diagonally . The single one drives the air/milk down and the other two spin and roll the milk.
> 
> 500 mm pitcher filled to about 12 mm below the spout indent. It works well for me:good:


Got some better results today and noticed the directions of the holes. Keep them close to the wall of the jug and having the jug angled slightly towards the machine helped! A far cry from the results I was getting with my Pro-700, but getting there!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

russe11 said:


> wrap some tape around nipple tip oooohh... Don't think you'll need a vice!? Just an adjustable wrench. It may be stuck on but judging by age and condition of machine it should spin off nicely


Seemed that the tip had some threadlock in it. I used a no. 10 spanner and job done. When I screwed it back in, seems to leak steam from the top of the tip a bit (suppose that was the reason of the threadlock before). Two wraps of PTFE tape on the wand thread, tip is now just screwed hand tight into the wand and no steam leaks. 

I'll report back how I get on.

Thanks!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

russe11 said:


> I wish you luck with the 3 hole tip... that's all I'm saying


So... I've bitten the bullet and ordered a single hole steam tip, the one linked above. What a difference. Night and day.

Seems to be of a very high quality and suits the machine really well.

What I noticed is that it takes ages to froth the milk in comparison to the 3 hole one.

However, with the 3 hole one, I felt like the pressure wasn't strong enough to steam the milk. Most of the time, it was big bubbles and screeching sounds.

With the 1 hole, maybe due to the stronger steam, i finally managed to get some proper microfoam.

Ps: before this I had a Pro-700 with a 4 hole steam tip. It steamed milk really fast and I always had great results.


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## russe11 (May 12, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> So... I've bitten the bullet and ordered a single hole steam tip, the one linked above. What a difference. Night and day.
> 
> Seems to be of a very high quality and suits the machine really well.
> 
> ...


Like you say it takes longer but It gives you a chance to work it a bit and I find you end up with some nice results. 3 tip just blows the steam out three times as fast in all the wrong directions!


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## lotuseater (Dec 25, 2015)

I swiftly abandoned the 3 hole and went single. Never looked back.


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