GM Soap in Oven

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gsc

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I've read that some put their goat milk soap in a low temp oven (170) then turn off. Does this take the soap through the gel phase (like CPOP) and the soap is ready for use quicker?
 
Ready for use quicker? No. Cure time is cure time no matter the process. There's a lot more going on in that 4-6 week time period than water evaporation and complete saponification. Lots of molecular changes happen so CPOP won't change the speed of that. Neither will HP as many people falsely believe.

I don't make GM soap, only coconut milk, but I don't CPOP it. With all the sugars going on in the milk, it may overheat and volcano. Hopefully others with experience using GM will chime in on it.
 
With all my soap including 100% GM I put the oven on to only 100*F, wrap my soap in a blanket and put the soap in the oven and turn it off immediately.

I haven't had it volcano and they always gel right through.

Ensuring you get gel means that over time the soap should be a little harder and the colours a little brighter.

A lot of people put GM soap in the fridge to avoid gel.
 
I CPOP everything, have never had a problem even though my oven only goes down to 170 degrees F. I preheat, turn oven off, put soap in, leave overnight or all day. I use BB silicone single cavity molds. They don't last forever, but that's fine with me, I love CPOP. Unmold soap in a few days, clean up, stamp, and cure.
 
I CPOP everything, have never had a problem even though my oven only goes down to 170 degrees F. I preheat, turn oven off, put soap in, leave overnight or all day. I use BB silicone single cavity molds. They don't last forever, but that's fine with me, I love CPOP. Unmold soap in a few days, clean up, stamp, and cure.

I've tried using single cavity silicone and loaf silicone for CPOP and I get silicone blisters EVERY time. I even bought an oven thermometer to make sure my oven temp wasn't off by 50 degrees or something else crazy. The last time I tried it I stood over it like a mother hen and pulled it out as soon as I saw gel to the edges (about 90 min I think). Sure enough, blisters galore. Do you have a magic trick to avoid it paillo? Or am I just cursed.....
 
I've read that some put their goat milk soap in a low temp oven (170) then turn off. Does this take the soap through the gel phase (like CPOP) and the soap is ready for use quicker?

To encourage gel, I put mine in a pre-warmed 110F oven and then turn it off (170F is too hot for my batches).

If I were making goat milk soap, I personally would not set my oven as high as 170F, because milk tends to make things warmer on its own, and I would not want my soap to overheat. For what it's worth, my goat milk soaps do fine in a pre-warmed 110F oven (and then turned off).

As for being ready to use quicker, generally, gelled soaps are ready to use quicker than un-gelled soaps, but what I mean by 'quicker" is 4 to 6 weeks, as opposed to 6 to 8 weeks.


IrishLass :)
 
KristaY

I also use silicon molds and have no problem but I only heat the oven to 100* F. No problem with blisters.

Thanks penelopejane! Maybe I'm heating too high. I usually pre-heat to 150 F, turn it off then put the loaf in. I also keep the light off. But since I don't usually have a problem getting full gel with just towels to insulate, I don't try it often. But I get silicone blisters using this method too so..... just cursed I guess. :cry:
 
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I've tried using single cavity silicone and loaf silicone for CPOP and I get silicone blisters EVERY time. I even bought an oven thermometer to make sure my oven temp wasn't off by 50 degrees or something else crazy. The last time I tried it I stood over it like a mother hen and pulled it out as soon as I saw gel to the edges (about 90 min I think). Sure enough, blisters galore. Do you have a magic trick to avoid it paillo? Or am I just cursed.....

Although I do not rejoice in the fact you get blisters, I just wanted to say that I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets them. Actually, I only get them in the silicone loaf molds that I bought from Essential Depot, no matter what precautions I've taken to prevent them (the blisters). I have another silicone loaf mold that I bought from Woodfield's that doesn't give me blisters. Because of that fact, I truly believe it has something to do with the quality of the silicone from which the molds are made. The silicone that my Woodfield's is made from (pink and floppy) is totally different from the silicone of my ED molds (neutral colored and much stiffer).


IrishLass :)
 
I've read that some put their goat milk soap in a low temp oven (170) then turn off. Does this take the soap through the gel phase (like CPOP) and the soap is ready for use quicker?
Well CPOP is the method you described initially. It can be done to any soap including GM to ensure gel phase. Do you think CPOP is something different?
 
IrishLass makes a good point about the quality of the silicone. I've never had a blister with my Brambleberry molds, and that's all I use. And yes, the method you describe is CPOP. I like it because the soap hardens faster, meaning my molds aren't tied up waiting days to unmold and I can get around to stamping and getting on the curing racks earlier. I usually unmold after a couple days. And almost all my soap is soleseife (brine) soap which is harder than normal CP.

The only thing that happens over time with my molds is that eventually the outside cavities get a little bowed.

Most of my soap is coconut milk, sometimes goat or buttermilk, but always milk.

And as others have pointed out, harder soap in the beginning doesn't mean properly cured soap.
 
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First, I have to apologize to gsc in case you feel I hijacked your thread. Not intentional, honestly, but it's certainly a CPOP issue.

Are you saying you get silicon blisters when you just wrap it in a towel and don't put it in the oven?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I routinely get blisters if I'm not diligent in watching it go through gel. I've realized though that it happens with speedy and over-heating FO's, like florals and water scents, so I watch those like a hawk. Slower scents like certain EO blends are just fine. Lately I've been playing a game with soap to find the sweet spot between partial gel and blisters. I'm sad to say the soap has a few points up on me.

Although I do not rejoice in the fact you get blisters, I just wanted to say that I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets them. Actually, I only get them in the silicone loaf molds that I bought from Essential Depot, no matter what precautions I've taken to prevent them (the blisters). I have another silicone loaf mold that I bought from Woodfield's that doesn't give me blisters. Because of that fact, I truly believe it has something to do with the quality of the silicone from which the molds are made. The silicone that my Woodfield's is made from (pink and floppy) is totally different from the silicone of my ED molds (neutral colored and much stiffer).
IrishLass :)

I don't have any molds from ED but I do have a couple of the pink floppies. I probably bought them from Ebay but I'm not sure so I don't know the brand. I've never tried CPOP in them so I'll have to test it. I'm also happy to know it's not just me that battles the blisters! I guess misery does love company, lol.

IrishLass makes a good point about the quality of the silicone. I've never had a blister with my Brambleberry molds, and that's all I use.

My go-to molds are from BB so that's interesting. I routinely use my 10" silicone loaf molds and those are the ones I have to hover over. So now I need to think about my recipes and what may be contributing to the problem (other than speedy, naughty FO's).
 
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I routinely get blisters if I'm not diligent in watching it go through gel. I've realized though that it happens with speedy and over-heating FO's, like florals and water scents, so I watch those like a hawk. Slower scents like certain EO blends are just fine. Lately I've been playing a game with soap to find the sweet spot between partial gel and blisters. I'm sad to say the soap has a few points up on me.

My go-to molds are from BB so that's interesting. I routinely use my 10" silicone loaf molds and those are the ones I have to hover over. So now I need to think about my recipes and what may be contributing to the problem (other than speedy, naughty FO's).

That is weird because I only have BB silicone molds and I have never had (touch wood) blisters and I always do a 100 degree then turn it off CPOP.

I have used honey too.
Maybe it is the FO's?
 
That is weird because I only have BB silicone molds and I have never had (touch wood) blisters and I always do a 100 degree then turn it off CPOP.

I have used honey too.
Maybe it is the FO's?

Bad behaving FO's are first on my suspect list. I used to insulate all batches of soap but now I don't insulate florals, waters or other speedy FO's. Things are better but I still get surprised by blisters with some good boys too. It's becoming wearysome.:(
 
I've tried using single cavity silicone and loaf silicone for CPOP and I get silicone blisters EVERY time. I even bought an oven thermometer to make sure my oven temp wasn't off by 50 degrees or something else crazy. The last time I tried it I stood over it like a mother hen and pulled it out as soon as I saw gel to the edges (about 90 min I think). Sure enough, blisters galore. Do you have a magic trick to avoid it paillo? Or am I just cursed.....

KristaY,
What do your blisters look like?
Someone else posted a photo of their soap and it sort of looked like blisters but it was really unmolding their soap too early. Some recipes takes a while to firm up in silicone. Do you think that could be your problem?
 
Just throwing out there, my bb silicone molds were gems, until i over heated them cpoping and forced blisters /soap pocks. After that, these molds do it every time i gel. I turn oven on 170, preheat, put in and heat off. That's the lowest heat setting I can do. Once it's gelled, it's out immediately. Something in the overheating caused these molds to repeat the pocks every time afterwards. Never did it for a year or so prior to the overheat oopsie I had.
 
KristaY,
What do your blisters look like?
Someone else posted a photo of their soap and it sort of looked like blisters but it was really unmolding their soap too early. Some recipes takes a while to firm up in silicone. Do you think that could be your problem?


I'm not Krista, but for what it's worth, the green soap on the right was made in my silicone mold from Essential Depot, and is typical of the usual blisters/craters I get with that particular mold. The soap on the left was made in my Woodfield's tall & skinny silicone mold which never gives me blisters/craters. Both soaps were made in the same exact way, and both were placed in a 110F pre-heated oven, which I turned off as soon as the soap/molds were placed inside (I don't call what I do CPOPing. I just create a slightly warm environment to encourage gel):

IMG_2425CroppedResizedContrastSilicone640.JPG


Both completely gelled and were unmolded/cut around 18 hours after pour when they were completely cooled and hardened. All I can say is that I am very thankful for my planer. lol


IrishLass :)
 
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