Anybody make 4 or 5 lb recipes?

[Spice]

ditto on all, I go to yard sales or flea markets and have found all my utensils and pots. I even have found drying racks for like .25:wave:

 

[BakingNana]

I have several Mainstay stainless steel bowls that will hold it, but by far my go-to is a small SS stockpot. I use a hot plate in my soaping room and the heavy bottom combined with a low setting on the hot plate makes it super easy to control the heat when melting fats. It's narrow enough to allow good burping of my stick blender, but tall enough to handle even 10 lbs at a time, actually.

 

[lenarenee]

You've all had great ideas and I've spent hours checking them out. There's nothing appropriate at our dollar stores, the Goodwill stores here are stocked like gift shops - there's no such thing a big ol' plastic mixing bowl! Target and Walmart - nothing big enough, and no Mainstays stainless. There was a questionable stockpot - for $30 dollars but it felt and looked more like aluminum than stainless steel, so I left it. Amazon had some 5 quart bowls but that won't leave room for splatter (my stick blender is powerful)

I have a gallon of coconut oil in a bucket, but...it's brand new and have a long way to go before I can use it for soap batter! I may have to fork over the big money for stainless steel stock pot (which won't have a spout!) *sigh* Is a soaper ever satisfied with her/his equipment?

 

[Wildcraft_Garden]

I have a thrift store bowl, and the pail from the coconut oil same as many others here. ☺

 

[kchaystack]

You can go into most hardware stores and get paint mixing buckets in different sizes from 1 quart to 5 gallons. Even the big ones are less expensive than a new ss pot

 

[lenarenee]

You can go into most hardware stores and get paint mixing buckets in different sizes from 1 quart to 5 gallons. Even the big ones are less expensive than a new ss pot

I have a small mixing bucket left behind by a contractor and it's quite squishy/flexible. Is yours like that? I need something sturdy to pick up to divide batter into several containers.

 

[kchaystack]

I have a small mixing bucket left behind by a contractor and it's quite squishy/flexible. Is yours like that? I need something sturdy to pick up to divide batter into several containers.

The 2 gallon buckets are pretty sturdy. Here is a link as an example

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-2-gal-Bucket-2GL-WHITE-PAIL/202264039

 

[lenarenee]

The 2 gallon buckets are pretty sturdy. Here is a link as an example

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-2-gal-Bucket-2GL-WHITE-PAIL/202264039

Thanks kchaystack!

What the heck? None of our stores have them in stock?

Well, maybe they'll be restocked in a few days. I need to study for a Biology test anyway.

 

[tigersister]

I use polypropylene lab pitchers that I bought off amazon. They're a little on the spendy side, but the quality of the pitchers is worth it IMO. They are thick no.5 plastic with spouts.

Here's a good set to start with:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FGDJYSA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[golden_seal]

After my first couple batches I only ever make 5lb batches. I have 8 (will be 9 this January) kids and go through a lot of soap. I have always used a large stainless steel pot and I have always don't HP with it.

 

[lenarenee]

Thought I'd update this. I got a hardware bucket, but it doesn't work for me and my sb.
I found this back in stock at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001YH1MU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 It's a very thick and sturdy bowl, holds 5 lbs of batter with about 2 inches of room left on top so my sb doesn't splatter. I'm very happy with it!