# Rancilio Silvia steam wand problems



## abrexis (Jan 12, 2012)

I've had my Gaggia Classic for just over a year now, and decided a couple of weeks ago to replace the steam wand with the Silvia one. Actually changing it seemed to go fine, but I am absolutely hopeless at using it! I have achieved, at best, a teaspoon worth of foam. Does anyone have any tips? It's heating the milk fine, and there's definitely steam coming out, so I'm assuming that it has been put on correctly.


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

Best bet is to watch some videos on YouTube to get the idea of the technique. If that fails, then upload a video of you steaming milk and we can help. Takes a lot of time and practice (as I've noticed!)


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

I always get the milk nice and warm with the wand then at a roughly 45 degree angle I get the tip of the wand on the side of the jug and slowly bring it to the surface to introduce a little air to the milk then I plunge the wand back into the depths of the jug then slowly bring up to the surface again. This produces decent microfoam for me.


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## abrexis (Jan 12, 2012)

Thanks for the help - today I actually produced some foam! The videos were helpful, and I think the main thing I did differently was to really put the steam on full. When I used the gaggia wand I never did that as it just ended up with milk splurting everywhere. I'll try the 45 degree trick in the afternoon, and hopefully produce something better again.


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Nice one. Let us know how you progress. There's a knack and you will get better and better


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## abrexis (Jan 12, 2012)

I often seem to find in this coffee quest that I feel I'm close to getting the knack of something only to suddenly and inexplicably find myself back at square one!

Last week things seemed to be heading in the right direction, even to the extent that I had to clean the kitchen since I wasn't quick enough at whipping away the milk jug and foam went into every possible crack, and now I'm back at warm milk.

Back to the videos...


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