Five most annoying things about master batching

[Neve]

Today I went to the hardware store and bought myself a nice big plastic bucket (11L) so I could weigh out all my oils in one big batch and maybe start making soap again. I really haven't had the time. It was umm.... well let's see. It took me a bit over an hour to weigh out, melt and combine my five oils into the bucket. A few little things made me wonder if it's actually worth the effort.

1. Weighing the hard oils took much longer when you're doing nearly 2L at a time. Think I bent my spoons. Pretty sure this process has not actually saved me any time over weighing oils batch by batch.
2. I accidentally threw out the lid of the NOT empty avocado oil bottle and couldn't find it in the garbage. Oops.
3. I barely had enough space in my mixing bowls for that much oil to heat and melt.
4. I weighed each oil precisely, then dropped my spoon into the master mix and had to fish it out, thereby coating my hand and tongs with oil and removing some from the mix.
5. That 11L bucket didn't come with a lid. Yay. It didn't bother me but now I am staring into a giant vat of oil, yeah it bothers me.

And.... I only actually have one soap mould anyway! Would be kind of awesome if I had like, three or something and could make multiple batches a day.

Feel free to tell me five good things about what I just did!

 

[Susie]

I hope you didn't use palm oil.

 

[commoncenz]

1. You don't have to wait for your oils to melt when you do decide to make soap.
2. You now have a reason to either purchase, make or improvise more molds for yourself.
3. your masterbatched oils can be split into smaller containers to be used as desired.
4. You haven't soaped in awhile; but I bet you will now. Especially since you went through the trouble of masterbatching your oils and the associated headache.
5. ... ummm ... yeah ... ummmm ... a little help here .... anybody?

 

[penelopejane]

I've always worried about one oil going off.

Do the hard oils remain liquid?

 

[nsmar4211]

5. You're only storing one big container instead of 5 different assorted sized and shaped ones....

 

[Neve]

Oh I did, a lot of it...

I hope you didn't use palm oil.

 

[kchaystack]

If you melted the palm and gave it a good stir before you weighed it out - you should be fine. Just make sure you give the masterbatch a good stir before you measure out for a batch.

Unless you keep the oils somewhere really cold they should stay mostly liquid. and a good stir before will make sure the palm is homogenous.

I have to put my master batches near my furnace in the winter so they will stay fluid.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I like point 3 from mr senz - rather than one large bucket, if you have one mould then you will always need the same amount of this mixture. So you can put it in to containers of that size to store and just use one at a time

 

[Neve]

And I liked point 2 so much that I just went on NDA and bought more molds, more castor oil, more shea butter and well a few other things to the tune of $105.

I've been wanting another silicone loaf mold and a cavity mold (for salt bars) for ages now. So screw it, 'tis done.

I like point 3 from mr senz - rather than one large bucket, if you have one mould then you will always need the same amount of this mixture. So you can put it in to containers of that size to store and just use one at a time

 

[Susie]

The drawback to using palm in a master batch is that you have to melt and stir the entire batch before measuring any out.

 

[Neve]

I hope not else I didn't really need to melt them today. I have no idea how I would melt oil in a giant plastic bucket. Not sure sitting in a sink of hot water would do the job.

The bucket is currently sitting next to a heating vent.

I would sometimes weight out my oils the night before and I don't remember them going solid.

The drawback to using palm in a master batch is that you have to melt and stir the entire batch before measuring any out.

 

[ngian]

The drawback to using palm in a master batch is that you have to melt and stir the entire batch before measuring any out.

Susie should we also apply this for a small container that has only palm oil prior using it in a recipe?

 

[shunt2011]

I use pal oil and have been master batching for quite a long time now. I just give it a good stir before portioning it out when I'm ready to make soap and have never had a problem. I use a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot.

I agree with the ease masterbatching makes when ready to make soap. Wouldn't do it any other way. Just saves time.

 

[Susie]

I would listen to shunt2011. She sounds like the voice of experience.

But I have a question, Shari, if your master-batch re-solidifies, how do you melt it again to stir it? I use so little liquid oil, that my oils become solid again as soon as they cool. This is exactly why I don't master-batch.

 

[shunt2011]

I would listen to shunt2011. She sounds like the voice of experience.

But I have a question, Shari, if your master-batch re-solidifies, how do you melt it again to stir it? I use so little liquid oil, that my oils become solid again as soon as they cool. This is exactly why I don't master-batch.

If by chance they do solidify some, I just put the bucket in the sink with some hot water. Though, it doesn't happen often. I use about 30-40% palm. It generally stays slushie even when cool. Sometimes after it's measured out for a batch I'll pop it in the micro for about a minute just to get it more clear.

I have also been know to just put it on the heat register for a bit.

 

[Neve]

It did thicken and there was a clump so I'm doing the bucket in the sink.

If I poured into smaller containers what sort are ideal? I don't have any right now.

 

[kchaystack]

It did thicken and there was a clump so I'm doing the bucket in the sink.

If I poured into smaller containers what sort are ideal? I don't have any right now.

You can get paint mixing buckets from a hardware store. The 1 qt are good for 1 lb (500g) amounts and the 2.5 qt are good for larger. You can just pull off the lid and add your lye.

THey are fairly inexpensive.

 

[Neve]

Oh they didn't have anything like that... only regular buckets and this big beast. And strangely big white lids to fit bucket sizes they didn't sell and no lids for this one. I'll try a bigger store or just deal with this beast. I kinda wanted just one bucket instead of a ton of them.

There is the empty 1L castor oil bottle. I could save those up and use them. I usually do 2-3 lb batches. 2 lb is my minimum. Might work? A little easier to pop in the sink. Wouldn't help with 3 lb batches though.

You can get paint mixing buckets from a hardware store. The 1 qt are good for 1 lb (500g) amounts and the 2.5 qt are good for larger. You can just pull off the lid and add your lye.

THey are fairly inexpensive.

 

[kchaystack]

Oh, are you not in the US? Or do you not have a Home Depot, Lowe's or Ace nearby?

 

[dixiedragon]

Well, I don't master batch so...my five good things might be weird.

1) You tried something new.
2) Your hands are nice and moisturized from the oil.
3) You now know you need better spoons.
4) Now that you've master batched all that oil, you might as well go ahead and make soap!
5) You've learned that lids are important.

Re: the spoons. Having flatware that won't bend is something my dad considers a sign of wealth, leftover from his childhood. So he HATES spoons that bend in the ice cream, so when Mom buys new flatware, she always tries to bend it to test if it is strong enough. And she's passed that on to my sister and brother and I.