Debating how to proceed...

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So I made a batch of true castile soap. I know WHY I have my quandry, but not sure where to go from here. I used full water, and I poured it at a bare level of trace (and I mean BARE)... mostly because I'd been working with the batch for several HOURS, it was 10pm, and I had to be done for the night.

What I'm debating with myself about is whether I:

1. Let it continue to sit in the mold since it seems to be progressing in the saponification process, and if so, exactly how long is this likely to take? It's now 24 hours later, and it's gone to medium trace in the mold (yea... I hope!).

2. Do I give it another 24 hours and if it's not close to ready to be unmolded, to I scrape it out of the mold and either HP it, or RTCP it until I get a thicker trace and then try to remold it?

It's sitting on my husband's gaming table, so I'll need to do *something* with it by Friday or he'll be more than slightly annoyed with me.
 
Speaking from experience, a true castile at full water will be several days unmolding. Can you move it to the closet, maybe, on Friday?
 
It will be wonderful soap, just let it does it's thing..( It will take some time)
 
Was this the first time you've made castile? I would suggest doing smaller batches when you're not experienced with a certain recipe. 78 bars is a lot of soap to screw up. No offense! Not that you screwed it up, but sometimes batches do screw up and it's terrible to waste all that expensive olive oil. I would die if I lost a batch that cost that much.

Do you not have a stick blender? If not, you should get one. Then it will only take a few minutes to reach trace rather than several hours.
 
Marilyna--Just saw this! I've done some smaller batches of Castile, but this was a scaleup attempt because I kept running out and I have a festival to do in about a month. I've definitely learned through scaling up my batches! This batch was so big I used a 5 gallon bucket and a drill-mounted paint stirrer. I don't think it stayed at temp long enough to thicken the way it should have. I'm thinking about how to approach that next time...
 
I am so sorry for assuming that you hadn't made castile before! And for assuming you didn't have a stick blender. I think I did that because you only have 10 posts. Sorry!

I don't know if this would work for you, but I when I used to do 15# batches I used a very large stock pot and because it was wide, I was able to use my stick blender.

So how did it come out after everything was said and done? Glad to hear you've been selling a lot! :p
 
Glad everything worked out and you didn't lose such a large batch! Will you be selling these Castiles at the upcoming festival?
 
Yes, that is the plan. I have a total of just over 500 soaps of various types. Whatever I don't sell will be great as back-stock so I am not forever doing pre-orders for curing batches. :) I just wish I had some idea how much I was going to sell. It's my first fair or anything of the sort so I'm totally worried I won't make as much as I'd like. Hopefully it's just nerves!
 
That sounds like a good preparation. Please dont take this as anything other than business advice, but i wouldnt sell those castiles if i were you. If i sold those, which i wouldnt, but if i did, and i sold them to 78 different customers, I would have 78 cutomers that never come back. Of course you may know differently based on your customer base and if that is the case then please ignore me but Castiles take a long time to cure. Most people who think castiles suck tend to think that because someone gave them one they made a few weeks ago. I hope that isnt discouraging but out of 500 bars, 78 bars shouldnt make a dent in your stock and your customers who are'nt familiar with a good castile will be more likely to come back for more if they get a cured one. How long have you been making the other batches you are selling?
 
Since you seem to like Castile and want to make it to sell, I would recommend a steep water discount next time around. Your soap will trace faster but is unlikely to accelerate uncontrollably unless you use a tricky fragrance of some sort. I'd use a ratio of 1 lye to 1.5 water. Even then, I'd not sell it for at least 6 months. Just my unsolicited two cents.
 
Bohdi-- The castile will have been curing for 6 weeks by festival time... how much longer would you recommend curing them for before sale? That is my "usual" cure time, but that's also based on 3lb batches, and scale-ups always create the need to change things. I'd rather hold them back for a while longer (I have other unscented bars that I can sell in their place if needed) than to lose customers for something as stupid as impatience. :) TIA
 
I personally do not sell my castile until it's cured at least 6 month. I hate castille for the most part but can tolerate it when it's had a really good long cure. That's my personal feelings.
 
Bohdi-- The castile will have been curing for 6 weeks by festival time... how much longer would you recommend curing them for before sale? That is my "usual" cure time, but that's also based on 3lb batches, and scale-ups always create the need to change things. I'd rather hold them back for a while longer (I have other unscented bars that I can sell in their place if needed) than to lose customers for something as stupid as impatience. :) TIA

My usual cure time is 2 years and there are a few customers I will sell them to after a year.
 
Thanks! I may have to do some testing and see what works for my customer base. So far I've gotten good feedback, but that might be because my customers don't know what they are missing.
 
I have some bars that are at the 6 month mark that are just now beginning to have some real bubbles to the lather. I made a 23 bar batch this week to sell next year and once the show is over next weekend (read INCOME) I will be making at least another 20-40 bars that will cure a minimum of a year.
 
Plus i find less 6 months my bar melts much faster in shower. I find this speifically with o.o soap .
 
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