Burnt my hand on a steam wand at a coffee shop in Austin and now I just use a cheap thermometer clip instead

I was rushing to steam milk at this busy little shop on South Congress and grabbed the wand wrong, third degree burn on my palm, so I ordered a $5 instant read thermometer with a clip from Amazon and it's actually way more consistent than guessing the temp by feel, has anyone else switched to a cheap tool like that for steaming?

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joseph_hart1h ago

That phrase "guessing the temp by feel" really hit home for me. I used to work at a diner in Ohio where the steam wand was basically a hazard, and I got so used to just sticking my hand under the pitcher to test the heat that I actually burned my wrist twice in one week. So I grabbed one of those little thermometer clips too, and honestly it saved my workflow because I could multitask while the milk heated up. Did you ever try timing it by counting seconds before you got the clip?