Thegecko
being deliberately ignorant about your craft...
I can not say this might not be the case but I do read a lot but that is no guarantee of understanding. It does not matter which word or diplomatic phrase is used, I would not take offence at this point in my evolution to any who might express what they may honestly see in me. I do not mind when people point out what they see and always appreciate it when their pointing it out Is done with good will in an effort to help me.
Thanks
Resolvebleowl
I am not experimenting for things I want to repeat in this. I am making "one off" recipes that I hope I get something from using what I have on hand now but will not have on hand to keep repeating. My previous lard, 20% coconut and 5% castor would be my most repeatable cause It is easy access oils. I have been more batch sizing based on tools, like size of the mold I made more then how the soap turns out. You always give me what I need in my reasons for asking and I am a little like the honey badger, You know, honey badger don't care. Don't get me wrong, I hope for usability for those I love but an not interested in creating a job for myself but more a hobby that does not seem totally wasteful. It is like my bees, I make about ten gal a year. I could work harder and make more but get what I need with a sustainable hobby. I had a job for thirty years that I retired from and like my hobbies to come out even so I can keep doing them but not have them draw resources from me that mean I need another job to support them. This site has been great to me so far.
Cheers
gww
Zany
I have read over and over on here about oak moss. Me being a diy type person, I even looked up on how to try and make it for myself. I am cheap though and unless everyone revolts from the gifts I give them so they do not get used, I will probably be too cheap to follow through. This may seem funny to some but I know that making stuff on my own is not cost effective. I can not make a lard coconut bar cheaper then I can buy a bar of irish spring but I also spend small amounts at a time and so can keep doing a process that I enjoy. I made spaghettis sauce one time and started with a five gal pot of tomatoes and ended up with three quarts and that was even too much for me when you could buy a bottle of prego for a buck fifty. Still, it does not seem to be so bad if you can come close and all you really lose is time and you find it interesting. I may still break down and buy oak moss some day cause it was one thing that I did find very interesting and is also one thing you can not just boil and collect the oil from the top of the water.
Thanks for the comment and your view of oak moss.
Cheers
gww
Ok
It is in the mold. Couple of things. One, I actually could smell the deer tallow today. It is hard as wax and dry though. I did rush one thing that I should have been more careful of and then compensated for it in the mix and so if it is bad, it is defiantly not due to advice from here but more a sloppy habit from me. The last thing I added was the 22 oz of lard which was part bought lard and part bacon grease. It turned out that it was wet and should have had the water cooked out of it.
Now I do not know if I am on the right track or not but I pushed forward when I probably should have addressed it even though my lye was hydrated and the rest of the oils were measured. My thought patterns are that I had a small discount of water compared to the calculators default 38 percent and I had made soap at default and it was ok. Second, I added two extra ounces of the wet lard to add fat which if I half understand would have put me at a 7 percent superfast if I were using dry lard with no extra water in it. I will defiantly need to zap test in a week or two. It went to trace in a normal to fast time though I did not go to as thick as I normally go to make pouring in molds a little easier. It did not seem uncontrollable fast but was normal or a little faster.
It looks good in the mold if not quite as white as I normally see but smooth and consistent. My gut is that it is going to be perfect and probably not have more smell then most of my lard or bacon grease bars have had in the past as I can always smell a tiny bit but saponification seems to get rid of most.
Of course time will tell, first with how long it takes to cut and then how it acts after cure. As you can see by how I handled the wet lard, I am not patient and waiting is so hard. Hope I don't end up being my owns worst enemy.
Thanks for the help so far and I may post one more with a picture or two later or some kind of report so I do not leave anyone who helped hanging.
Cheers
gww