# Espresso machines

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/espresso-machines/713588>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 25, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/espresso-machines/713588 "2015-02-25T17:38:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/espresso-machines/713588/61 "2015-10-18T19:18:31Z")

</div>

My machine can’t seem to consistently produce steam anymore so I end up with espresso and milk that have been heavily diluted by water.

I cleaned the spout as much as I think it’s possible to clean the inside of it anyway. I let water heat up and some steam escape before I try to produce microfoam. Doesn’t work well enough.  
So, warming up the milk some other way and then using one of these ( [http://images.wisegeek.com/electric-milk-frother.jpg](http://images.wisegeek.com/electric-milk-frother.jpg)) should produce microfoam?

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