So I made my first batch of soap ever! It has been just about 24 hours and I wanted to know what to expect, or really see if what I have so far is right.
Currently the soap seems hard. Smells like lye and lard still, and has some liquid on the top (I laid saran wrap over the containers and let it sit on the mixture).
Here is the recipe that I used and the steps I took:
Oatmeal & Honey Goat Milk Soap #3
6 cups goat milk
4 cups lard (2 pounds)
2/3 can Red Devil brand lye
2 cups dry oatmeal (run through the blender)
1/2 cup honey
Carefully mix the milk and lye in a stainless container. Allow to cool to 850F. Stir in the refined oatmeal and honey. Mix well. Warm lard to 85 degrees and slowly add to milk mixture. Mix for 15 minutes, let stand 5 minutes. Mix again for 5 minutes. Watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly. When thick like honey pour into prepared molds. Let set 24-48 hours until set. Cut into bars and air cure for 3 to 4 weeks.
I made the above one over the weekend. I used my regular recipe (doubled) and added about 3/4 cup of honey. I did it the way I normally do. I left it to set and checked on it about every 15 minutes. The last time I checked it it had almost hardened in the bowl. It did do okay though and I managed to pour it into a large pan.
What I did was combine the fresh goats milk and lye very slowly. I kept the mixtue between 65 and 5 degrees thru the whole process of combining them. (should i have kept it cool, there is a video on about.com that shows him doing this).
I then added the honey and ground oatmeal into the milk/lye mixture. Heated the lard to 85% and pored it in. Stirred it for about forever with stir sticks and by hand, seems for about 45 minutes. Then I decided that I was actually at a light trace and wasnt getting any heavier (after 20 minutes or so).
I poured it into loafs, covered with saran wrap, placed them in the garage. I read that you should not insulate milk and honey mixtures so I did not. Today there is about two table spoons worth of dark orange liguid under the saran wrap and one top of the soap. It was there this morning before I went to work and is still there.
Quesitons, what might i have done wrong in my steps? (oh, a lye calc said to use 4.22 grams of lye, i used that and not 8 oz as i think the original recipe was based on Red Devil and I guessed it was measured in fluid oz, not weight.)
Is my soap normal for this stage? Do i wipe off the liquid and cut it or give it another 24 hours to settle?
Thank you all so much! I have been so excited to start this process and cannot wait to start using / making soap more!!
Currently the soap seems hard. Smells like lye and lard still, and has some liquid on the top (I laid saran wrap over the containers and let it sit on the mixture).
Here is the recipe that I used and the steps I took:
Oatmeal & Honey Goat Milk Soap #3
6 cups goat milk
4 cups lard (2 pounds)
2/3 can Red Devil brand lye
2 cups dry oatmeal (run through the blender)
1/2 cup honey
Carefully mix the milk and lye in a stainless container. Allow to cool to 850F. Stir in the refined oatmeal and honey. Mix well. Warm lard to 85 degrees and slowly add to milk mixture. Mix for 15 minutes, let stand 5 minutes. Mix again for 5 minutes. Watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly. When thick like honey pour into prepared molds. Let set 24-48 hours until set. Cut into bars and air cure for 3 to 4 weeks.
I made the above one over the weekend. I used my regular recipe (doubled) and added about 3/4 cup of honey. I did it the way I normally do. I left it to set and checked on it about every 15 minutes. The last time I checked it it had almost hardened in the bowl. It did do okay though and I managed to pour it into a large pan.
What I did was combine the fresh goats milk and lye very slowly. I kept the mixtue between 65 and 5 degrees thru the whole process of combining them. (should i have kept it cool, there is a video on about.com that shows him doing this).
I then added the honey and ground oatmeal into the milk/lye mixture. Heated the lard to 85% and pored it in. Stirred it for about forever with stir sticks and by hand, seems for about 45 minutes. Then I decided that I was actually at a light trace and wasnt getting any heavier (after 20 minutes or so).
I poured it into loafs, covered with saran wrap, placed them in the garage. I read that you should not insulate milk and honey mixtures so I did not. Today there is about two table spoons worth of dark orange liguid under the saran wrap and one top of the soap. It was there this morning before I went to work and is still there.
Quesitons, what might i have done wrong in my steps? (oh, a lye calc said to use 4.22 grams of lye, i used that and not 8 oz as i think the original recipe was based on Red Devil and I guessed it was measured in fluid oz, not weight.)
Is my soap normal for this stage? Do i wipe off the liquid and cut it or give it another 24 hours to settle?
Thank you all so much! I have been so excited to start this process and cannot wait to start using / making soap more!!