Cheating Miss Silvia's Steam

For a number of years now, people have been 'cheating Miss Silvia'. It's just a few little hacks that make Miss Silvia even more functional.

My favorite hack is timing when I steam the milk so that I'm right at the top of the temperature range while keeping the boiler on. This gives me maximum pressure right through the process of texturing the milk - perfect for microfoam. 


Here's how I get plenty of consistent pressure:

1. Flick the steam switch
2. After 50 seconds, draw out the 'top water' by opening the steam valve until the steam is pretty dry. Close the valve again.
3. 1 minute and 25 seconds after I first flicked the switch, it's time to steam the milk.