"Exotic" or unique milks in CP

[Lynusann]

I've had no problem soaping with coconut milk and goats milk but just in the last week a few opportunities to possibly soap with some other types of milk have come up.

Found out we have a camel farm out here near Colorado Springs...who knew?!? And they sell camels milk (though it's insanely expensive but I might be able to work out a trade for soap with them). And my old neighbors have alpacas and they said next time their alpaca is milking they would save me some. I'm also about to head home and then to Alaska to visit family and there is a water buffalo farm back home and a reindeer farm owned by some family friends in both places (I grew up with generations of farmers can't you tell???)

So question being - are these exotic milks any better in soap making? Are they any more difficult to soap with? Seems like camel's milk is really common in the middle east (for obvious reasons), but doesn't seem like many people on here have used it? And I can't find any old posts from people using the other 2 - water buff and reindeer.

The only one I may have to pay for out of pocket is the camel's milk so really wondering if it's worth the expense (NOT cheap). The other difficulty I'm having is that there is a significant difference in the fatty profiles from these milks to goats milk even and that will clearly impact my soap, but I don't know how to accurately account for that difference (if needed at all).

Would really love to hear from someone that's had experience making or using these milk soaps.

 

[hmlove1218]

I don't know anything about them, but I can't imagine that they would really be Amy different than goat or coconut milk. However, if you sell, the "exotic" may have more lable appeal because of its uniqueness

 

[Lynusann]

I won't be selling for some time, but if it was something I invested in, it definitely could be a marketable product. However, I would hate to invest in it if it made for a bad soap (as compared to some of the amazing recipes that just call for goat or cow milk).

I believe camels milk has significantly higher proteins and a higher pH, so that has to play into saponification to some degree. To what degree will the higher proteins potentially cause a drying effect on the skin as opposed to the moisturizing you get from things like goats milk? pH can definitely be tempered (and is generally much higher in these more "exotic" milks, but I also wonder about higher fats and solids in these exotic milks. For example - cows milk is about 12% solids, with 4% of that being fats (varies for breed to some degree) and goat's milk is very similar in profile to cows milk. Reindeer milk is closer to 37% solids with 22% of that as fats. With such a significant difference in fat content, would that be similar to the effect of superfatting? I mean, I would assume it would be necessary to account for the difference in profiles to some degree right? I'd hate to just wing the recipe hoping for the outcome of goats milk and completely waste an ingredient that is hard to come by

 

[snappyllama]

You could experiment first with other milks that have a similar fat content. It looks like camel milk pH is around 6.4 - so that's not something I would worry about. However, camel milk had almost double the fat of full-fat cow's milk so using it would be like soaping with Light Cream from cows. It will effect your superfat as lye will happily soaponify milk fats (there's even an entry on SoapCalc for milk fat).

Full Fat Milk: 12%
Half-and-Half: 12% fat
Light Cream: 20% fat
Light Whipping Cream: 30% fat
Whipping Cream: 35% fat
Heavy Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream: 38% fat

 

[IrishLass]

I found a site with some nutrition facts about camel milk (The Camel Milk Association located in Michigan) Who knew!?: http://www.camelmilkassociation.org/did-you-know.html

Edited to add some info from an agricultural site: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6528e/x6528e03.htm
This site says that the fat content can range anywhere from 2.6 to 5.5%, depending on the hydration status of the camel, and that their milk fat is different from other animal's milk fat. Lots of good detailed info about the composition of camel milkfat con this particular site.


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

I found a site with some nutrition facts about camel milk (The Camel Milk Association located in Michigan) Who knew!?: http://www.camelmilkassociation.org/did-you-know.html

Edited to add some info from an agricultural site: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6528e/x6528e03.htm
This site says that the fat content can range anywhere from 2.6 to 5.5%, depending on the hydration status of the camel, and that their milk fat is different from other animal's milk fat. Lots of good detailed info about the composition of camel milkfat con this particular site.


IrishLass

Wow, who knew. I've lived in Michigan my whole life and never even knew there was such thing. Learn something new every day! :smile:

 

[kchaystack]

Wow, who knew. I've lived in Michigan my whole life and never even knew there was such thing. Learn something new every day! :smile:

I know. I looked the place up and they are over on the far west side of the state.

Not sure how camels do in all the snow they get over there.....

 

[Lynusann]

I found a site with some nutrition facts about camel milk (The Camel Milk Association located in Michigan) Who knew!?: http://www.camelmilkassociation.org/did-you-know.html

Edited to add some info from an agricultural site: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6528e/x6528e03.htm
This site says that the fat content can range anywhere from 2.6 to 5.5%, depending on the hydration status of the camel, and that their milk fat is different from other animal's milk fat. Lots of good detailed info about the composition of camel milkfat con this particular site.


IrishLass

Thanks IrishLass! Great info there.

I know. I looked the place up and they are over on the far west side of the state.

Not sure how camels do in all the snow they get over there.....

I never would have guessed that there were camels in Colorado either. Can't imagine they're particularly fond of our mountain winters...

Just back from the vacation in Alaska and I managed to pick up 6 pints of reindeer milk....which then was promptly confiscated at the Kenai airport...I kind of had an inkling that farm products wouldn't be allowed to travel but I sort of tried to pack it well in my luggage so that it wouldn't move or be disturbed...still got nailed. Good thing it was free but sad that it didn't make it home with me.

So guess I'm stuck with buying camels milk now to try out. At $16/pint it's a rather expensive investment though.

 

[cmzaha]

There are some folks in San Diego that raise camels and sell camel milk soap