FlybyStardancer
Well-Known Member
For hand-stirring, pour at trace. The separation-and-come-back-together was because of the way the batter reacts to the power of the stick blender. 
Deanna, I have a question...
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For hand-stirring, pour at trace. The separation-and-come-back-together was because of the way the batter reacts to the power of the stick blender.
Thank you for replying. I did wait about 20 min, intermittently poking/ stirring but the consistency stayed the same. So I poured and covered it. Will see tomorrow how it turns out.
krunt
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
I wanted to revisit this thread with my thoughts on this soap, now that its over a year old. I'm hope no one minds
The first thing I want to say is I love this soap. I will never again make a 100% olive oil soap with a super fat.
I felt the soap was harsh up until it was 5-6 months old. After that it started to mellow out, but it wasn't what I would call "nice on the skin" until it reached 10-11 months old. This soap is probably where the oft quoted "rule" about not using Castile until it's a year old came from!
I love this soap in the shower, and get plenty of lather without the need for a wash cloth or bath puff. It stays hard and goo-free as long as it's allowed to dry out between uses. I can't say the same about a super fatted 100% olive oil soap. I don't love it at the hand basin, it takes too long and too much effort to get a lather going. So not suitable as a hand soap, as others have also mentioned.
Bottom line for me is this soap is a winner! And again, a big thank you to AnnaMarie for introducing this method of soap making. I am going to try it using macadamia nut oil soon, I expect it will turn out much the same.
Vkumudini, did your batch come out ok?
I wanted to revisit this thread with my thoughts on this soap, now that its over a year old. I'm hope no one minds
The first thing I want to say is I love this soap. I will never again make a 100% olive oil soap with a super fat.
I felt the soap was harsh up until it was 5-6 months old. After that it started to mellow out, but it wasn't what I would call "nice on the skin" until it reached 10-11 months old. This soap is probably where the oft quoted "rule" about not using Castile until it's a year old came from!
I love this soap in the shower, and get plenty of lather without the need for a wash cloth or bath puff. It stays hard and goo-free as long as it's allowed to dry out between uses. I can't say the same about a super fatted 100% olive oil soap. I don't love it at the hand basin, it takes too long and too much effort to get a lather going. So not suitable as a hand soap, as others have also mentioned.
Bottom line for me is this soap is a winner! And again, a big thank you to AnnaMarie for introducing this method of soap making. I am going to try it using macadamia nut oil soon, I expect it will turn out much the same.
Vkumudini, did your batch come out ok?
Yes, Krunt. My soap turned out just fine. I cut it the next day, soft like a block of Paneer cheese. It has been a little over three weeks now, lost about 36% weight, shrank some, is rock hard. When tested at the sink, it was non drying. So far so good. Will know it's potential after the recommended cure. Glad you liked yours so much. Initially I set the trial date on my birthday, so it will be 4 months and thats a date I could remember, hehe! But you said it was best after a year, so may be I will wait a year.
I ended up salting out the lower water, lye heavy castile I made and it still has the gooey factor to it, like any other castile and takes a bit of work to work up a lather. I did just try a castile I made over a year ago at 1% superfat and it lathers amazing
I know it's been months since anyone posted on this thread but I think it's worth reviving. First, I want to say that it's been an absolutely fascinating read. A lot of the science behind this thread is far above my head but still interesting. I've read the entire thread and parts of it, twice or even three times.
I'm wondering how your soaps are now, for some of you, almost two years later?
I have decided I'm going to jump into this pool, too. I have my oil measured, and I'm about ready to go for it. I like the castile I already have; it's at about 4 months now. The thought of going back to the very roots of castile soapmaking is an exciting one. I have no intention of using a stick blender and I'm following the original recipe, as found on the blog referred to numerous times (http://spanishjourneys.com/olive_me_blog/make-your-own-pure-castile-soap).
I'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm wondering how your soaps are now, for some of you, almost two years later?
I have decided I'm going to jump into this pool, too. I have my oil measured, and I'm about ready to go for it. I like the castile I already have; it's at about 4 months now. The thought of going back to the very roots of castile soapmaking is an exciting one. I have no intention of using a stick blender and I'm following the original recipe, as found on the blog referred to numerous times (http://spanishjourneys.com/olive_me_blog/make-your-own-pure-castile-soap).
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Obsidian
Well-Known Member
Are you going to stir in one direction with a big stick?
Keep us posted, Misschief!
I still have some bars of the soap I made during this thread. At going on 2 years old, they are hard, brittle, and covered with ash. Pretty homely, actually. But no DOS or other weirdness. For me, the promise of this recipe did not came true that this castile would not be slimy. These bars lather pretty much like any other castile. Just tried one today at the sink and in the shower. They produce a stringy soap gel that does not suds well unless I use plenty of water and a pouf or scrubby. I haven't had the heart to throw them away, but I hate to keep them too.
I did grate one up and dissolve it in distilled water to make a castile soap jelly for use when wet felting. This jelly has the consistency of Jello gelatin -- definitely not pourable -- but is useful for felting. Other than that, I suppose I could use one as a hammer?
The experiments were fun and interesting, but the resulting soap has been more of a curiosity than a useful product.
I still have some bars of the soap I made during this thread. At going on 2 years old, they are hard, brittle, and covered with ash. Pretty homely, actually. But no DOS or other weirdness. For me, the promise of this recipe did not came true that this castile would not be slimy. These bars lather pretty much like any other castile. Just tried one today at the sink and in the shower. They produce a stringy soap gel that does not suds well unless I use plenty of water and a pouf or scrubby. I haven't had the heart to throw them away, but I hate to keep them too.
I did grate one up and dissolve it in distilled water to make a castile soap jelly for use when wet felting. This jelly has the consistency of Jello gelatin -- definitely not pourable -- but is useful for felting. Other than that, I suppose I could use one as a hammer?
The experiments were fun and interesting, but the resulting soap has been more of a curiosity than a useful product.
I'm certainly stirring slowly. I'm finding that if I go faster with my stirring, it starts to separate a bit. Slowing down, it doesn't.
DeeAnna, good to know about the soap at this point. Even if I only use it for cleaning, I'm good with that. I do like the thought of making it the way it was originally made, without technology.
Thinking on that, incidentally, the original recipe on the blog was 1 quart oil, 1 quart water, 3/4 cup water and 6 oz. lye. When the soap was made, historically, would they have weighed out the lye or measured by volume? After all, 3/4 cup water is 6 oz of water by volume.
The lye might easily have been measured by weight, but I can't say that for sure, not having been raised in Andalusia. In the midwestern US, my grandmother bought lye in 12 oz (weight) cans and her recipes were based on using an entire can of lye to minimize the hazard of handling the stuff. So she would have been measuring lye by weight. Her fat and water would have either been measured by volume or she would have used her old fashioned kitchen platform scale. Either way those measurements weren't overly accurate. And that's why she kept Palmolive in the bathroom for people to wash with and her homemade lard soap in the wash room for laundry.
Since lye comes in such different shapes and sizes, I think I'd probably measure it by weight, but obviously the weight doesn't need to be overly accurate for this type of recipe. I remember grandma's lye being small "prills" (pellets) about the size of a small lentil, but nowadays I've used lye that comes as tiny balls and as coarse flakes.
Since lye comes in such different shapes and sizes, I think I'd probably measure it by weight, but obviously the weight doesn't need to be overly accurate for this type of recipe. I remember grandma's lye being small "prills" (pellets) about the size of a small lentil, but nowadays I've used lye that comes as tiny balls and as coarse flakes.
Saponomancer
Professional Geek
I've just finished reading through this thread and I think tomorrow I'm actually going to a little one pound batch, just for the experience of doing it, and compare it against my new years castile next January
I've just finished reading through this thread and I think tomorrow I'm actually going to a little one pound batch, just for the experience of doing it, and compare it against my new years castile next January
It's definitely an interesting one. I don't even dare look at mine, to be honest. I think I'll wait until after work.
Saponomancer
Professional Geek
I hit light trace at an hour fifteen and stirred in the rest of the water at that point, and it was a heavy trace by the time I finished. I have it set up in front of a fan to prevent gel
( obviously didn't wait for tomorrow oops)
( obviously didn't wait for tomorrow oops)
I did peek at mine before I left for work (my coat closet is in the spare room) and there's a lot of liquid under the soap. The soap is still pretty soft. I don't think it will turn into anything usable or anywhere near pretty. Ah well, it was an experiment. They don't always work. Get over it and move on, right?
A
amd
This sounds amazingly like a soap I picked up in India. The label wasn't in English so I couldn't read the ingredients, brand name, etc. I tried it a few times but eventually tossed it - just too much work to lather! I had guessed at possibly a mostly olive oil soap because of [lack of] lather, but was confused because it wasn't slimy as I have come to expect. Your description - hard, brittle, and covered in ash - perfectly describes this soap, so now I am suspecting a high olive oil, heavy lye bar is what I was dealing with.
If your soap is anything like mine, I'd give it some time, Misschief. Mine also looked pretty messy at first, but the soap firmed up in the mold after several days. While homely, it turned into usable soap.
Amd -- your soap does sound a lot like a castile type soap. I did a blend of safflower and lard to mimic the fatty acids in olive and that batch acts similar to my 100% OO batch -- same stringy or ropy gel that's hard to turn into a lather -- the usual castile thing.
Amd -- your soap does sound a lot like a castile type soap. I did a blend of safflower and lard to mimic the fatty acids in olive and that batch acts similar to my 100% OO batch -- same stringy or ropy gel that's hard to turn into a lather -- the usual castile thing.
Saponomancer
Professional Geek
Soaps cut at thirteen hours of cure time
crumbling corners are a problem, it cut like and resembles the texture of paneer that's a little too dry
The small little excess I poured into the extra container cannot be unmolded because its too crumbly. When I press on the top with a finger a little liquid seeps out of the soap, going to leave it alone.
crumbling corners are a problem, it cut like and resembles the texture of paneer that's a little too dry
The small little excess I poured into the extra container cannot be unmolded because its too crumbly. When I press on the top with a finger a little liquid seeps out of the soap, going to leave it alone.
penelopejane
Well-Known Member
DeeAnna,
Do you think there is anything at all in the fact that everyone uses different types of olive oil? I know I have asked this before but I feel there is more to the different results shown in this thread.
The Andalusian grandmother said it was really important to use good olive oil. She used fresh pressed olive oil and used it once to cook sweet donuts. If the oil was used a lot then it could only be used to make laundry soap.
Everyone on this thread has had huge variations in their results. I know everyone has used different methods and additives so it is difficult to decipher but one thing that is really variable is the olive oil. Even when you say "kirkland" olive oil it could be EVOO ir VOO or pure OO or extra light OO.
I don't get the slime on my Castille soap. Others do get slime. I would like to work out why. Or it could just be different people's inability to identify "slime". Some people think this is a fantastic recipe others don't. Is it just because soaping is a hugely variable process and that individuals have different perceptions of what is "good"?
Do you think the idea that the different type of OO used makes a difference has merit?
A soap with a high oleic acid content makes a gel over an unusually wide range of water content. That is a fact of a high-oleic soap that is distinctly different than other types of soaps. You can see this gel formation in bar (NaOH) soap and you can see it in liquid (KOH) soap. Regardless of the lye used, the technique of making the soap, the fat from which the oleic acid comes from (EVOO, pomace, or even safflower-lard) or whatever ... the fact remains that a high-oleic soap makes a high-oleic gel over a wide range of water content. This fact is not going away despite the endless debate.
What IS different is how one perceives the gel. A person can create a low, creamy lather from moderate to high agitation and more water or create a ropy slime with low agitation and less water. Either result is a direct consequence of what one DOES to the gel made by a high-oleic soap. The gel is there, regardless. In one person's hands, a high-oleic soap might never make slime or snot, but put the same soap in another person's hands and the result could be markedly different.
Let's take the influence of technique and subjective perception out of the game and put this evaluation on a more level playing field.
Try this experiment -- grate 10 grams of a bar (NaOH) soap made with a blend of fats and grate the 10 grams of a bar (NaOH) soap made with 100% olive oil (aka a castile). Put each sample of soap in its own jar. Add 30-40 grams of distilled water to each jar. Allow the soaps to dissolve and set for a few days. Remove a sample of each soap from the jar and evaluate the texture and appearance of the two soaps. How are they different? How are they the same? Add another 30-40 grams of distilled water to each jar, mix it with the soap, and allow the soap to fully dissolve and sit for another few days. Re-evaluate the soaps with the higher amount of water. Repeat at least once more.
What IS different is how one perceives the gel. A person can create a low, creamy lather from moderate to high agitation and more water or create a ropy slime with low agitation and less water. Either result is a direct consequence of what one DOES to the gel made by a high-oleic soap. The gel is there, regardless. In one person's hands, a high-oleic soap might never make slime or snot, but put the same soap in another person's hands and the result could be markedly different.
Let's take the influence of technique and subjective perception out of the game and put this evaluation on a more level playing field.
Try this experiment -- grate 10 grams of a bar (NaOH) soap made with a blend of fats and grate the 10 grams of a bar (NaOH) soap made with 100% olive oil (aka a castile). Put each sample of soap in its own jar. Add 30-40 grams of distilled water to each jar. Allow the soaps to dissolve and set for a few days. Remove a sample of each soap from the jar and evaluate the texture and appearance of the two soaps. How are they different? How are they the same? Add another 30-40 grams of distilled water to each jar, mix it with the soap, and allow the soap to fully dissolve and sit for another few days. Re-evaluate the soaps with the higher amount of water. Repeat at least once more.
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penelopejane
Well-Known Member
I will try the experiment and get back to you.
I was just thinking that heating the olives to extract the oil or using chemicals might change the nature of the end product, even if the ratio of various acids remain the same? Maybe it is all perception. Maybe things were done the way they were in the old days because they didn't have our technology.
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