Extremely thick trace in a basic, lard soap after 2 seconds.

[zyguss]

Hi guys, as I said in the title I was making simple, basic lard soap following this video:



- 140g water
- 67g sodium hydroxide
- 500g lard

After adding a lye solution into an oil, and starting a stick blender, it became incredibly thick and dark(ish) colored in literally two seconds. The first time I tried to make soap, the temperature of the lye and oil was around 110 F. The second time I tried with a little lower temperature - about 95 F, and I got the same result. The same incredibly thick trace. I don't get it?

 

[DeeAnna]

Temps sound fine. The lye solution and fat doesn't have to be within 10 degrees (F) of each other from the chemistry, but it's fine to do this as a beginner.

Anyways, back to your real problem. The extra fast trace might be caused by your technique. Lard soaps normally are well behaved as shown in this person's video, but not always.

The person in the video is waaaay overusing her stick blender (SB). Until I learned to stick blend less and hand stir more, all of my soap batches traced really fast like yours. (I use a high % of lard in my soap recipes.)

So the rule I've learned is this -- When making soap, start slow! Watch for hints about how each particular batch is going to behave, and modify my technique as needed. I need to deal with the batch of soap I have in front of me, not assume it's the same as soap I've made in the past (or soap I've watched in a video).

Here's how I do it --

Hand stir for a minute or so at first to gauge how the soap batter is behaving with just gentle mixing. If all is going well, SB for 1-2 seconds. Hand stir again for 30-60 seconds, SB again, repeat, until the soap batter is at the thickness I want.

If the initial hand stirring is causing obvious thickening without any SB use, I don't use the SB at all. Just stir by hand until the batter is at the point I want it to be for finishing up the batch.

Since you're a beginner and making (I assume!) a simple uncolored soap, it's okay to mix until there are visible signs of trace as she shows in her video, but it's not strictly necessary to go quite that far. As you get more experience, you'll learn you can stop when the soap is thinner and that will give you more time to work with the batter before it gets too thick to pour.

 

[DeeAnna]

Another thought is your problem might be caused by the lard itself. If a fat has a high % of free fatty acids, it will trace faster than usual. The way to proceed is how I explained in my previous post -- hand stir first and evaluate how the batter is behaving. It might still trace fast even with hand stirring, but you'll have a little more time to get the batter poured into the mold compared to what you're getting by using the stick blender right away.

 

[zyguss]

I guess I will try stirring by hand then. Thank you very much for your advice.

 

[Ladka]

I wish my lard soap batter behaved a bit like yours; mine takes ages to show any visible sign of trace

 

[michael732]

This is odd, as I just posted a question yesterday because my batter took forever to get to trace (%100 lard). I even used a FO known to accelerate trace. What brand of lard are you using?

 

[AliOop]

I agree with @Ladka and @michael732 that it is very unusual for lard to trace quickly, or to turn brown. Was this home-rendered lard, or something you purchased at the store? Did you add any sugar or honey, or use a water replacement such as vinegar or milk?

 

[DeeAnna]

A color change can occur with some types of preservatives that are found in commercial lard.

There can be a shift to orange, sometimes quite a deep orange, as the fat meets the lye. I add ROE (rosemary oleoresin extract) to my home-rendered lard, and ROE can cause an orange blush as well. Not sure I've ever seen the batter turn truly brown, though.

In my experience, the color doesn't remain in the finished soap -- it usually fades while I'm coloring the batter and pouring into the mold.

 

[AliOop]

@DeeAnna thank you for the info about ROE causing the orange blush. It's on my Order list for my home-rendered lard, and I like knowing this in advance.

 

[DeeAnna]

The orange blush from ROE really startled me the first time I saw it.

 

[AliOop]

The orange blush from ROE really startled me the first time I saw it.

I'd probably be a bit disconcerted myself!

 

[gardengeek]

I wish I would have paid attention to this thread before I tried my new recipe today with 50% Lard. It accelerated too much for the zigzag swirl I was going to attempt. By the time I went to pour it into the mold it was a globby mess. I did SB to emulsion but should have stopped sooner because it was acting a little weird. Next time I'll do as @DeeAnna suggests.

 

[Grasshooper]

Temps sound fine. The lye solution and fat doesn't have to be within 10 degrees (F) of each other from the chemistry, but it's fine to do this as a beginner.

Anyways, back to your real problem. The extra fast trace might be caused by your technique. Lard soaps normally are well behaved as shown in this person's video, but not always.

The person in the video is waaaay overusing her stick blender (SB). Until I learned to stick blend less and hand stir more, all of my soap batches traced really fast like yours. (I use a high % of lard in my soap recipes.)

So the rule I've learned is this -- When making soap, start slow! Watch for hints about how each particular batch is going to behave, and modify my technique as needed. I need to deal with the batch of soap I have in front of me, not assume it's the same as soap I've made in the past (or soap I've watched in a video).

Here's how I do it --

Hand stir for a minute or so at first to gauge how the soap batter is behaving with just gentle mixing. If all is going well, SB for 1-2 seconds. Hand stir again for 30-60 seconds, SB again, repeat, until the soap batter is at the thickness I want.

If the initial hand stirring is causing obvious thickening without any SB use, I don't use the SB at all. Just stir by hand until the batter is at the point I want it to be for finishing up the batch.

Since you're a beginner and making (I assume!) a simple uncolored soap, it's okay to mix until there are visible signs of trace as she shows in her video, but it's not strictly necessary to go quite that far. As you get more experience, you'll learn you can stop when the soap is thinner and that will give you more time to work with the batter before it gets too thick to pour.

Hi, I wanted some help with a crazy batch of lye soap. As soon as the lye was added, everything turned orange, then into an oatmeal type texture. After, it all separated. Had to throw it out. Can't find anything about why this happened. Any ideas?

 

[Savage Daughter]

You didn't use fragrance oils or any essential oils - such as clove or cinnamon?? Because that can always cause issues.

 

[Relle]

Hi, I wanted some help with a crazy batch of lye soap. As soon as the lye was added, everything turned orange, then into an oatmeal type texture. After, it all separated. Had to throw it out. Can't find anything about why this happened. Any ideas?

Provide your recipe so the member you are talking to can help you, otherwise they are just guessing.

 

[2lilboots]

My lard and oils are usually thick before I add my lye solution, but thins out once I add my lye solution. I am curious as to why your batter reacted that way.

 

[DeeAnna]

Hi, I wanted some help with a crazy batch of lye soap. As soon as the lye was added, everything turned orange, then into an oatmeal type texture. After, it all separated. Had to throw it out. Can't find anything about why this happened. Any ideas?

Not knowing your recipe and not knowing what you did, I really can't begin to guess. Need more info.

 

[Iveta Pelá]

I made several batches of lard soap because I like it. Same recipe, I just used lard from different sources. Homemade lard was the best, which unfortunately my source no longer makes (they retired), the soap was quite slow to trace and also took longer to cure. The soap is very pleasant to use. Then I used the bought lard, the tracing was very fast, the hardening also and the soap does not cut well, it breaks at the bottom of the cut. I thought the added clay was to blame, but pure lard does the trick too. I used several types of commercial lard, from different sources. Some are a little better, some less so. I can also feel it in the texture of the lard when I remove it to melt. And I'm still looking for something similar to the first one that I liked so much... This showed me that not all lard is the same and it shows in the soap as well...

 

[Grasshooper]

Not knowing your recipe and not knowing what you did, I really can't begin to guess. Need more info.

Hi, thank you for your quick response. The recipe was about 5 cups lard and lye in water. I used the mountain sage lye calculator and followed that. This is the third time in a row this has happened with the same batch of melted fat. Could that be the problem?

Provide your recipe so the member you are talking to can help you, otherwise they are just guessing.

Thank you.

 

[MichaelP]

Hi Grasshopper,

Welcome to the forum!

I believe what @DeeAnna is asking for is the details of your recipe and the process you followed to make your soap.

It's good that you used a Lye Calculator, but for the veteran soap makers here to help you they need details. Off the top of my head I am wondering if you used 100% Lard? What were your temperatures of the melted fats/oil(s) and the temperature of the Lye? Very importantly, what was the concentration of the Lye solution that you used? What was your process for mixing the lye solution with the fats/oils? The more details you can give, the better to help solve what is happening to your soap.

I am relatively new to soap making so I won't even speculate, but just wanted to let you know that if you include more information, I'm guessing the issue can be determined by an experienced soaper.