# Gaggia classic steaming and latte art



## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

Video of my steaming technique, best one I've managed to take so far.

Details are gaggia classic. Rancilio wand mod. Rattleware 12oz pitcher. 170g of whole waitrose Dutchy milk straight out the fridge. Steaming started 30 seconds after the end of the shot to ensure the boiler remains ON throughout the steam (so the light remains OFF). No PID in use. Temperatures all done by hand but it ends up

At 60C consistently. Cup is a 8oz inker from coffee hit.

The video:






Picture of result (ok so not my best but it's hard to pour to camera!):










A few other pictures of previous art



















6oz flat whites


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## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

It's really useful seeing other peoples techniques. Thanks for posting. I tend to make less milk at one time because it's only me drinking it and my preferred cups are 150ml d'ancaps. Think that's about 5.5oz.


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## c_squared (Jun 26, 2013)

Here's my effort from last night...









My question is, how do I prevent those big bubbles from forming while the drink settles?


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## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

Neill said:


> It's really useful seeing other peoples techniques. Thanks for posting. I tend to make less milk at one time because it's only me drinking it and my preferred cups are 150ml d'ancaps. Think that's about 5.5oz.


It's a different ball game steaming less milk and I'm not quite as experienced at it. For my flat white I steam 115ml of milk and it's much quicker and more vigorous. When I can do it well more consistently I will add a video. I follow pretty much the same technique though.

Steaming the smaller amount of milk makes me think about what it would be like having a more powerful machine; it all happens so fast. I'm sure that is slow even for a big machine. I figure if you can't steam milk on a classic upgrading is actually going to make your life harder not easier but I've not tried.


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## SimonB (Sep 12, 2013)

Dave.wilton said:


> Steaming the smaller amount of milk makes me think about what it would be like having a more powerful machine; it all happens so fast. I'm sure that is slow even for a big machine. I figure if you can't steam milk on a classic upgrading is actually going to make your life harder not easier but I've not tried.


It's wasteful but you could just use more milk than you need to make steaming it easier, in my (limited) experience I found the hardest thing with the Gaggia (using a Silvia wand) was getting a decent whirlpool going quickly but now with a more powerful machine even though I have only 20 seconds or so that part is effortless.


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Great Pics and thanks for the video Dave.

Very helpful









You are getting excellent results from the classic.


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## mousebush (Oct 7, 2013)

Nice one, I really need to practice this!


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## squiz (Jan 6, 2014)

Very good ! i have a very similar set up to you and much as i love the duchy milk from waitrose my microfoamed milk always better for some reason when i use good old marks and sp organic ! No idea why though more fat ??..less fat ???


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## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

squiz said:


> Very good ! i have a very similar set up to you and much as i love the duchy milk from waitrose my microfoamed milk always better for some reason when i use good old marks and sp organic ! No idea why though more fat ??..less fat ???


Yes I too find that m&s and waitrose own brand whole organic are easier to steam. I've switched to using the waitrose whole organic since I did this. I'm not sure why it is easier


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

If buying from a major supermarket I've found that either tesco organic or Morrisons organic are fine for steaming, but I usually try and buy locally produced organic milk from Booths which in some ways is a kind of North West Waitrose, and only down in town, not a 16 mile drive like the nearest Waitrose either lol. I bought a litre of Tesco Finest Channel Island unhomogenised "gold top" style milk to play with last night will report back with results.


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## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

I guess it could be the fact that the waitrose Dutchy isn't homogenised and therefore the fat molecules are bigger and vary in size.


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## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

After a year I've had to say goodbye to the classic to make way for the new machine. I miss it loads, not helped by not having the new machine yet, but I do think I should have held onto it. In the end I wanted more control over the espresso and to be able to make drinks quicker.

Anyway I thought I'd round this off with pictures of some of my best art. The classic is capable of great milk


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Also we have used soya milk (with the paranello frother) and that gives a lovely creamy glossy finish. Before I got the Silvia wand it was effortless and pretty much took care of itself. I haven't used the Silvia with the soya yet, but am pretty certain that it will give great results also.


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