Pictures of a bad batch..

[Healinya]

I didn't want to admit this a month ago, but when I was trying out those wsp silicone molds in the oven, I ended up with lye pockets in one batch I had never had it happen before, I just packed the bars away curious if (and hoping that) the problem would go away.. I'm not a fan of rebatching something like this, but figured I'd show some of you what it looks like before I toss it..

Or if any of the experts have an opinion, I am all ears. It's a trusted recipe, mica, silk, and fo (wsp)... I've made this batch before. I am pretty certain that the oven was too warm (if you remember me posting about it, I was trying to see how fast it could be done lol... I always push my luck)

I started slicing the bars up to see if it's worse inside - this picture is one of the above bars sliced vertically thru the lye pocket.

 

[Cuckoo Bananas]

How do you tell that it's lye and not just an air bubble?

 

[honor435]

i dont think overheating causes lye pockets? maybe the fo did it? is it dos? did you use canola? is it zappy? too bad, its pretty.

 

[Healinya]

I wish I took a pic when I first made them. It looked exactly like an air pocket, but with a shiny wet look. Zap test (in those areas only) was positive. I put them away without touching it too much. When I sliced into them, the insides were fine. I'm thinking that the lye pockets inside (if there were any) were reabsorbed while curing and that the brown is kind of a 'rust' from the lye, the air, and the mica. That's my guess anyway.. It's not 'zappy' anymore, but it's not what it should be - unpleasant, leaves a horrible smell in my nose. Somewhere deep in a large box of small items, are my ph test strips lol. I may try to find it and test it, but I wonder if the result will be accurate since the area is so small - maybe I should scrape those spots off carefully and test them all together..

Or, I could be way off