Bread=>Butter=>Buttermilk=>Soap

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Butterman

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2023
Messages
13
Reaction score
23
Location
NY
I started making my own bread.....and then quickly added butter to the repertoire.....which resulted in a large amount of fresh buttermilk (uncultured)....and I couldn't bring myself to just toss it down the drain, especially after having paid $8.75 + delivery for a quart of heavy cream.

I bought some CO, PO, NaOH, and a mold from Brambleberry and made my first batch yesterday. I suppose I shall post the details of that process separately as I have a few questions.

Italian peasant bread

2023-04-08 14.14.30.jpg

Butter - you can see the buttermilk at the center of the bowl.

2023-02-15 08.33.54.jpg

Straining the buttermilk out through a sieve.

2023-02-15 08.38.46.jpg

Butter

2023-02-15 11.00.39.jpg

Massaging/washing the rest of the buttermilk out of the butter (that water I don't keep)

2023-03-26 14.04.07.jpg

Into ice cube trays

2023-03-26 14.04.10.jpgView attachment 72071


First batch of buttermilk soap using 44% OO, 34% CO, and 22% PO. 48oz total, 11.25oz of buttermilk (no extra water added), 4.8oz of lye, 5% SF. Pretty sure the SF is higher than 5% due to the butter in the buttermilk.

Lye + buttermilk ice cubes. Laser thermo showed just under 90F at the high.

2023-04-17 11.02.41.jpg

Finished product after pouring. Nice thick trace.

2023-04-17 11.37.27.jpg

After 24 hours in the freezer.

2023-04-18 12.17.15.jpg

Now it is sitting at room temp and I suppose I'll try out one bar after a few days and then compare it to 4 weeks of curing as this is all new for me.
 
Last edited:
Sadly, butter makes for very stinky soap, due to the butyric acid content. Most folks say it smells like vomit. You can search other threads here on SMF to read about their experiences.
 
Sadly, butter makes for very stinky soap, due to the butyric acid content. Most folks say it smells like vomit. You can search other threads here on SMF to read about their experiences.
Thanks for the warm welcome. 😍

I was careful to not scorch the buttermilk and the final product smelled perfectly fine. I have to let it cure for at least a few days so that may change but I did search before making and it seems to me the potential smell goes away and that people's experiences are positive.
 
Welcome! I love making bread as well as butter (and cheese! and about a hundred other things! When I leave this earth, whoever is left will have the largest, most unique garage sale ever!).

I'm super curious to hear about your results, as I've never found a use for my leftover buttermilk. Thank you for sharing!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the warm welcome. 😍

I was careful to not scorch the buttermilk and the final product smelled perfectly fine. I have to let it cure for at least a few days so that may change but I did search before making and it seems to me the potential smell goes away and that people's experiences are positive.
Please don't take my recipe criticism as not being a warm welcome. Normally the new folks here introduce themselves in the Introduction forum, where many of us will respond to properly welcome you. :)

Regarding butter soap, it doesn't usually smell bad when it isn't wet. It's when one uses it that the smell is awful, and unfortunately, that doesn't change with time.

You can go to post #17 in this thread to find a multitude of other threads here about folks' bad experiences using dairy butter in soap.
 
Please don't take my recipe criticism as not being a warm welcome. Normally the new folks here introduce themselves in the Introduction forum, where many of us will respond to properly welcome you. :)

Regarding butter soap, it doesn't usually smell bad when it isn't wet. It's when one uses it that the smell is awful, and unfortunately, that doesn't change with time.

You can go to post #17 in this thread to find a multitude of other threads here about folks' bad experiences using dairy butter in soap.

1. This is the introduction forum last I checked. 😆

2. I'm using butterMILK....not butter....the butter has (mostly) been extracted from it. I think that makes a difference.

Welcome! I love making bread as well as butter (and cheese! and about a hundred other things! When I leave this earth whever is left will have the largest, most unique garage sale ever!).

I'm super curious to hear about your results, as I've never found a use for my leftover buttermilk. Thank you for sharing!

Glad to see another bread maker here! I am new to bread making too so this has been a tangential adventure to say the least!

The other use I found was to make pancakes....but one can only make so many pancakes. I have 3 daughters and two of them have some eczema issues so I am hoping this will help alleviate some of their discomfort.
 
Please don't take my recipe criticism as not being a warm welcome. Normally the new folks here introduce themselves in the Introduction forum, where many of us will respond to properly welcome you. :)

Regarding butter soap, it doesn't usually smell bad when it isn't wet. It's when one uses it that the smell is awful, and unfortunately, that doesn't change with time.

You can go to post #17 in this thread to find a multitude of other threads here about folks' bad experiences using dairy butter in soap.
First Welcome to the forum and your bread looks delicious. I used to make butter and my aunts house when I was young. You soap also looks lovely.

@AliOop she is using buttermilk not butter according to her post. I use buttermilk in soap, both dry and liquid which works fine, although I use store bought pasturized buttermilk so not sure if it will be any different from yours. It is Butter that stinks in soap so please save your delicious butter for bread and cooking.
 
First Welcome to the forum and your bread looks delicious. I used to make butter and my aunts house when I was young. You soap also looks lovely.

@AliOop she is using buttermilk not butter according to her post. I use buttermilk in soap, both dry and liquid which works fine, although I use store bought pasturized buttermilk so not sure if it will be any different from yours. It is Butter that stinks in soap so please save your delicious butter for bread and cooking.

Thank you. Making my own (fill in the blank) is really starting to grow on me.

I do strain the buttermilk several times during the butter making process so hopefully it does catch all the butter bits.

I also tested the soap today and my hands do feel pretty nice after using it. Doesn't lather a lot but it does have a silky lather which I like. There was also a bit of a slippery feeling when rinsing and it does seem to take 15 seconds to wash it all off. The wife approves as well so I'm looking forward to seeing if the larger increases after a month of curing.

I'm a man btw hahahaha. :p
 
@AliOop she is using buttermilk not butter according to her post.
Oh goodness, my bad - that's what I get for reading it on my phone in the morning before I've consumed my entire cup of coffee!

My apologies, @Butterman as I truly thought you were using butter. Buttermilk should make a delightful soap that you should enjoy. Also, when I first responded to your post, it wasn't in the New Member Introduction forum. I'm guessing that a moderator moved it.

Anyway, can I start over, please? 😅 Warmest welcome to SMF! Your bread and soap look wonderful, and you will fit right in to this community of people whose general life motto is: I CAN TOTALLY MAKE THAT! :)
 
Oh goodness, my bad - that's what I get for reading it on my phone in the morning before I've consumed my entire cup of coffee!

My apologies, @Butterman as I truly thought you were using butter. Buttermilk should make a delightful soap that you should enjoy. Also, when I first responded to your post, it wasn't in the New Member Introduction forum. I'm guessing that a moderator moved it.

Anyway, can I start over, please? 😅 Warmest welcome to SMF! Your bread and soap look wonderful, and you will fit right in to this community of people whose general life motto is: I CAN TOTALLY MAKE THAT! :)

No worries at all! Heh heh that motto is certainly a big part of my life now. Definitely looking forward to learning a lot from all the experience of the members here. Thank you!
 
Hello and welcome!
I love experimenting with milks in my CP soaps 🥰 Recently, due to lack of proper planning and trusting too much on my 50+ year old memory, I came up short on goat's milk (thought I had more than I did) so I added some of my almond coconut milk to make up the difference and it turned out fine. Then, I made a buttermilk chocolate cake and had leftover buttermilk so I tried it in a batch of CP and I loved it.
Milk soaps are awesome in my opinion! Next, I was thinking of trying to add milk powder when blending ~ I read it boosts the creaminess <?> and I love creamy soaps!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top