Recent content by CraftyMrsRogers

Almighty Soaping Give Mind: For the life of me I can't make the correct amount of batter no matter how hard I try. Always too much or too little, though I'll take too much over too little any day. Here is my process: Mold size (in inches): 11.25x3.25x3.7 135.28 cubic inches. X 0.40= 54oz...

Thanks all! It's reassuring to I'd I haven't totally messed up my fledgling hobby. I'll stick with small batches as I try new things

So I just completed my 2nd batch of CP soap and both times I used Brambleberry's Fragrance calculator and both times the hallway outside of the room where I cure my soap is permeated with the EO scent. My first recipe I used peppermint EO at the recommended "medium" weight and my second recipe I...

Lol! So I cut it shortly after I posted my reply. I'm not good at waiting. It was a little soft but came out easy enough. No issues with edges or anything. I'm not sure what was with the coloring and the rind like appearance of the lighter color. It made some of the tips look iffy so I trimmed...

It doesn't dent when I touch it. I'm going to unmold at the 24h mark. I tried a zap test and had no reaction, so that's good at least. I'll take pics when I cut tonight.

Okay. It's been about 12 hours since I molded this beast. I'm attaching a picture from freshly molded (pretty mocha brown color) to the 12h picture (yellowy tan mess). I tried to induce gel phase with a heating pad and I'm not sure if I did. I have my mold in a cardboard box covered in a towel...

Thanks! The person who taught my class instructed us to do it exactly that way! I feel pretty confident in the steps. I successfully tackled rendering my own tallow and I look forward to figuring this gel phase thing out ;) If I sub the soybean oil into the olive oil weight I have to run the...

Ok I'm hoping to make my first ever batch of soap this week and I guess I'm just a little nervous about my math :/ I am planning on a 2# loaf for my first attempt. Here's my recipe I settled on (modified from a tried and true recipe given to me because I don't have any lard) Tallow 50%...

Yield? Thank you all for the replies! I just weighed my tallow and I only had about 36% yield. For what my butcher charged me for the suet, it works to about $4.39/#. So I've learned what to ask more specifically from the butcher as far as the bag of suet goes and I will definitely ask...

Hello all! I'm spending my morning rendering beef suet to tallow. My butcher must have thought he was doing me a favor by giving me a TON of meat with my fat, but after 2.5 hours of trimming last night I think I'll have to explain it better next time. Does anyone else render their own...