Where are you based?
First batch, with a made up recipe. What should I expect?
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traderbren
Well-Known Member
If you are located in the states, a lot of soapers use Amazon for coconut oil. I think the brand is Snappy Popcorn Oil? Coconut and castor oils I usually buy online a few pounds at a time- they are much cheaper than locally. Lard, Walmart GV shortening, olive oil, and avocado oil I can find cheap enough near me. I large pail of coconut oil is certainly worth having on hand!
Eastern Ontario, Canada. I have most of the local Canadian retailers local, but no real speciality shops like you would have in a larger city like Ottawa or Toronto.
That may not be a bad idea. For a Canadian, the exchange rate stinks right now, but I'm close enough to the border to order online and pick up.
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dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
I have read that you may be able to call a movie theater, b/c they use coconut oil to make popcorn. You may be able to piggyback onto their order. This probably means you will be buying a 5 gal bucket, but that's okay!
Check out Voyageur Soap & Candle, Brian. I last paid nearly $60 for 3 kg of CO at a local health food store. It was one third that at Voyageur. Yes, I had to wait for it but that's worth it for me.
http://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com/default.asp
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Someone may have suggested this and I missed it - in the future, you do need to wash your bacon grease, b/c it's full of salt, flavorings, etcs. I plan to do this soon, so here is my plan.
Melt the bacon grease with water - probably about twice as much water by volume. Use a LARGE pot - you want your fat + water to take up half of the pot or less. Don't get it too hot. If you were rendering lard from fatty pork scraps you'd add salt, but since you are using bacon grease, I (personally) would not use salt.
Add baking soda, less than 1/4 cup per 5 lbs of grease. This will keep the smell down and also helps remove impurities.
Once it is thoroughly melted, leave the pot to cool to room temp. The fat will float to the top. When the pot is room temp, put it in the fridge. This will make the cake of fat at the top firm enough to easily remove. Since it's winter, you could put the pot outside, assuming that you have a way to keep it out of reach of dogs, cats, raccoons, etc.
Lift out the firm fat cake. Scrape off any stuff on the bottom. If there is anything but pure, white fat, you need to wash it again. Taste the water. You want the water to have no taste of meat, etc. If it tastes meaty, wash the fat again.
Melt the bacon grease with water - probably about twice as much water by volume. Use a LARGE pot - you want your fat + water to take up half of the pot or less. Don't get it too hot. If you were rendering lard from fatty pork scraps you'd add salt, but since you are using bacon grease, I (personally) would not use salt.
Add baking soda, less than 1/4 cup per 5 lbs of grease. This will keep the smell down and also helps remove impurities.
Once it is thoroughly melted, leave the pot to cool to room temp. The fat will float to the top. When the pot is room temp, put it in the fridge. This will make the cake of fat at the top firm enough to easily remove. Since it's winter, you could put the pot outside, assuming that you have a way to keep it out of reach of dogs, cats, raccoons, etc.
Lift out the firm fat cake. Scrape off any stuff on the bottom. If there is anything but pure, white fat, you need to wash it again. Taste the water. You want the water to have no taste of meat, etc. If it tastes meaty, wash the fat again.
Well, this is good to know in the future. I completely neglected to do this, but so far, the soap seems 'OK'. Hopefully I don't have any rancidity problems because of the 'extras'.
Thanks for the link!
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Thanks for the recipe pointers. Our youngest is 3 months old now, so in six months, he'll certainly need some soap from time to time
Unfortunately, that would be the most expensive soap I could find. CO isn't cheap in these parts. I can't find it in any bulk, lower grade form. Just little expensive jars $10 for 225ml (8-oz) in the 'organic' and 'fair trade' sections of the local groceries. I wish CO was cheaper - a lot of the recipes that appeal to me call for it!
Where are you? Perhaps someone here can help. Do check the ethnic markets - I've had a lot of luck finding coconut oil in Indian markets.
Edit - I see now you're in Canada, and you're getting good advice
I can't imagine soaping without coconut oil...
Wildcraft_Garden
Well-Known Member
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Re: lining - Saran wrap will work, or even a plastic bag, but you will get wrinkles. You may not care about that, though.
Another option is something quilter's mylar. You can get it at crafting stores - Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnne fabrics. Do they have those in Canada? It's more rigid than butcher paper, etc, but with some effort you can fold it.
Re: coconut oil. Maybe try a restaurant supply store? Here in the US we call them "cash and carry" - meaning anybody can shop there. They have restaurant supplies in large quantities - oils, napkins, flatware, plastic plates, etc. They are kind of tough to find because (in my experience, at least) they don't have a web presence. I just have to look up "restaurant supply" in the phone book and start calling. You may hit a bunch of dead ends, but there's probably at least one in your area. I got some coconut oil at mine. It's labeled as popcorn oil, and in my case, it was colored with beta carotene, so the soap was all bright orange.
Another option is something quilter's mylar. You can get it at crafting stores - Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnne fabrics. Do they have those in Canada? It's more rigid than butcher paper, etc, but with some effort you can fold it.
Re: coconut oil. Maybe try a restaurant supply store? Here in the US we call them "cash and carry" - meaning anybody can shop there. They have restaurant supplies in large quantities - oils, napkins, flatware, plastic plates, etc. They are kind of tough to find because (in my experience, at least) they don't have a web presence. I just have to look up "restaurant supply" in the phone book and start calling. You may hit a bunch of dead ends, but there's probably at least one in your area. I got some coconut oil at mine. It's labeled as popcorn oil, and in my case, it was colored with beta carotene, so the soap was all bright orange.
If you are using the CO as one in a blend the orange color will be muted to a yellow or tannish depending on gel or not and whether or not any milk or sugar is used. I did do a pure CO orange soap and it looks like cheddar cheese.
Wayfair has an online store front that I use as a source for CO. If you watch you can find plain CO on sale for a good price.
Thanks. I looked at their prices, and I can get Coconut oil for $5/ lb, shipped (if I buy 10lbs at a time...). Their OO and Pomace oil prices seem high - the pomace oil they sell is more expensive than the top brand OO in my local grocer.
However, I just found that Walmart has a refined coconut oil for $3/lb (http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/british-class-coconut-oil/6000134101498). Any practical difference (soapmaking-wise) between virgin and refined CO?
I picked up some butcher / freezer paper. So that's my next attempt with lining. Thanks for the tip re: restaurant supply houses!
houseofwool
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Refined coconut oil is fine for soaping.
Dahila
Well-Known Member
No Frills has lard but it is kind of expensive, If you have cash and carry store go there and get 20 kg of lard and just freeze it. It comes like a dollar PP
Coconut is cheap (relatively cheap) in supplier NDA in Missisauga and in Saffire blue
based in tillsonburgNo Frills has lard but it is kind of expensive, If you have cash and carry store go there and get 20 kg of lard and just freeze it. It comes like a dollar PP
Coconut is cheap (relatively cheap) in supplier NDA in Missisauga and in Saffire blue
I picked up a few lbs of lard yesterday at $2/lb from a Metro, and got some cheap ($3/lb) Coconut oil. Between that and my existing stock of OO and some Canola, I have everything I need for my second batch. Plus, I built a proper mold that measures 7.375"X10.625"x3.25" deep with a false bottom I can 'push up' to left out my slab of soap.
That said, I already have 19 bars curing from my first batch. If I do another, we should be set for soap for months...
But you forget that your neighbors need soap and your cousins need soap and the teller at the bank needs soap and.....
Sorry. I just went off. I don't know why.
Soap making is just plain fun to do.
Sorry. I just went off. I don't know why.
Soap making is just plain fun to do
.But you forget that your neighbors need soap and your cousins need soap and the teller at the bank needs soap and.....
Sorry. I just went off. I don't know why.
Soap making is just plain fun to do
^ This. Add that to the fact that this forum is full of evil enablers, so you will read this recipe that you MUST try, or that technique that seems intriguing, and you will have way more soap than you can store after curing, so you give more away, and it develops into a vicious cycle. But, oh so fun!
Yep, what Susie and Steve said. I also will say that my preference is for nicely made functional soap ... but I have come to realize fragrance is fairly important too. IMO, fragrance is not absolutely necessary, but it definitely adds to the overall sensory pleasure of using a good soap. Given a scented bar of soap and a second bar of soap from the exact same batch but unscented, the scented bar will put a smile on my face while I bathe, but the unscented bar simply gets me clean. I think smelling a pleasurable scent in the morning can actually get a person's day off to a better start.
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