Burned my hand on a faulty steam wand, now I check pressure first

I was at a busy cafe in Portland last Saturday, mid-rush, and went to steam milk on our older machine without checking the gauge. The wand shot scalding steam instantly because the pressure valve was stuck, and I got a second degree burn on my wrist that left me out of barista work for 3 days. My manager just shrugged and said to be more careful, but I dug into the manual and found we never recalibrated after a repair two months ago. I replaced the valve myself for $18 and now I run a quick pressure test every morning before anyone touches the machine. Has anyone else dealt with equipment failures that were totally avoidable if someone just checked the basics first?

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taylor.sean6d ago

Three days off work from a burn sounds rough but calling it totally avoidable seems like a stretch. Machines break, people get busy during a rush, and a quick gauge check is the kind of thing that gets skipped when there's a line out the door.

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