Forum

Recently, I've been transferred to a shop that hosts a refurbished Synesso Cyncra. Prior to that, I was being trained on a La Marzocco Strada.

The Cyncra worked great on the first day. Velvety microfoam. Great texture. Loved it.

Second day, issues started to arise. The steam boiler was building up too much water, so consequently when you turned on the steam wand, it was just spraying water everywhere. I was the first to notice this, and I brought it up to the owner, who took some convincing to finally acquiesce.

Third day, a technician came to the shop and apparently fixed it. Although water isn't blasting out of the steam wand anymore, I've noticed another problem. The milk texture is horrible. No matter how perfect your technique and form, there are always tiny visible bubbles in the milk.

It's okay if you're making mediocre rosettas and hearts, but if you want really sleek, glossy, detailed art work, it's almost impossible.

I've brought it up to the owner, but he's sort of just brushing it off. Personally I was seriously embarrassed with the milk texture we were serving to customers today.

Anybody have ideas as to why the machine is yielding fizzy microfoam? One of my theories is that the pressure might be set too low... I notice the pressure's not as strong, anymore. I don't necessarily ever crank the lever the entire way when I'm steaming, because I only get to steam about 5 ounces of milk, but I'm cranking the lever back about 3/4th of the way. Prior to the technician's visit, I only had to crank the lever about halfway for the milk to develop a dynamic roll.

Also, I noticed that the machine starts squealing towards the end of the steaming process. Now I don't really understand why steam boilers start squealing, but I generally associate it with the beginning of the steaming process, as opposed to the end... the only times the steam boiler on my Silvia has ever squealed towards the end, is when the steam pressure plummeted.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I feel that if I can present a more specific theory to the owner, he may be inclined to have the technician take a look. Otherwise, I fear I'm gonna be stuck with a faulty steamer for the duration of my employment...

PS: Bubbles in my microfoam has never been a problem. On the LM Strada, the steamer produced consistently velvety microfoam. And at home, the microfoam from my Silvia is very smooth.