I make olive or olive and castor soaps, and stir with a stainless steel, slotted spoon. I use room temperature oils, and a lye to water ratio of: one
ne.
It is easy to tell when it comes to real trace as the drizzles off the spoon leave thick traces as does pudding or custard (when the pudding/custard is cooked from scratch on the stove top). If one is unsure, then waiting a few minutes, and stirring again, will prove whether or not it was false trace, or the real thing. I quite enjoy the process.
I never use a stick blender. Making olive or olive/castor is easy, relaxing, and makes wonderful soap. IMO, there is nothing as nice as pure olive soap, or olive and castor. I use this for bath and face soap, make my shampoo from it, and sometimes brush my teeth with it. I give it to friends with sensitive skin and they are glad to have a soap which does not irritate their skin.
I stopped making other kinds of soaps for personal hygiene.
Olive oil soap or olive and castor is perfect for a beginning soapmaker, as well as for anyone who wants a tried-and-true, very mild soap.
The six-month cure time gives one plenty of time to make more soap.
All it takes is paying attention to what one is doing, and doing one's homework before one starts. No fuss, easy, therapeutic. I highly recommend them.