Heat Transfer Method

[Sayadirl]

Hey All-
For those of you who have used heat transfer method, while making cold process soap, to melt your hard butters/oils with your warm Lye solution, how do you like it? Do find the batter easier/harder to work with? Difference in final product? Any good tutorials out there on how to it properly?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Anstarx]

I tried it once but unfortunately my cocoa butter was just too stubborn. Ended up with otherwise perfect soap with bits and pieces of solidified cocoa butter.
my advice would be to make sure your recipe doesn't have too much solid fat. It probably works well with a larger batch.
If all fat melted you either have lukewarm or warm batter, which will speed things up. You also need to constantly stir when adding lye, which adding the SB already needed could speed things up, too.

 

[AliOop]

It works fine for me as long as I make sure that all hard butters are chopped into small pieces (or you are using cocoa butter wafers). I agree with @Anstarx that the batter moves faster, even after adding in the cool soft oils.

 

[TheGecko]

For those of you who have used heat transfer method, while making cold process soap, to melt your hard butters/oils with your warm Lye solution, how do you like it?

Before I started MBing (master batching) my oils and lye solution I used it for making single color soaps since it was quick and easy.

Do find the batter easier/harder to work with?

It depends. My recipe is 60% Hard Oils, I typically make 50oz batches and typically soap at 80F-85F which gives me tons of working time. When I use the HTM, my working time is easily cut in half...great for single color soaps. And I don't have two much of an issue if I'm doing a two-color Drop/Chopstick Swirl so long as I'm not looking for really whispy swirls and don't dilly dally.

I will be doubling my batch size and will be interested to see how HTM works. While I pretty much MasterBatch my Oils and Lye Solution these days, there are occasions when I run out of my pre-made Lye Solution.

Difference in final product?

No.

Any good tutorials out there on how to it properly?

I don't know about 'tutorials' per se, but you can search YouTube for BeScented and Ophelia's Soapery. Jen (BeScented) starts with just her hard oils and adds her freshly made lye. She stirs for a bit and then will use her stick blender to break up the remaining pieces and then she adds her soft oils. She's been doing a lot of tutorials on candles and other things lately so you will have to go back about three months.

Julie (Ophelia's) has done it a few different ways. Add Lye to Hard Oils and stirring until completely melted and then adding in Soft Oils. Add Lye to both Hard and Soft Oils and stirring until completely melted. Add the Lye to Hard Oils and Soft Oils, stirring a few minutes, using her stick blender to break up the larger pieces and then stirring until completely melted.

Agree with @AliOop about Cocoa Butter...wafer or smaller chunks. And if you are using Palm Oil...you want to be careful until you have a No-Stir kind.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I've never used it - too scared that the hard fats won't melt properly.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I've never used it - too scared that the hard fats won't melt properly.

Same here. It seems like HTM works fine for making big batches, but most of mine are in the 500 - 1000 g of oil range.

 

[lenarenee]

I've never used it - too scared that the hard fats won't melt properly.

Me too. Plus, you never know what temperature the final batter will be.

 

[TheGecko]

Me too. Plus, you never know what temperature the final batter will be.

Do you know what the final temperature of your batter is now?

 

[Catscankim]

I was a little less experienced when I tried it then I am now (not that I am super experienced now). But it was a huge fail for me. I think it is a whole new skill set...

 

[lenarenee]

Do you know what the final temperature of your batter is now?

Yes. Within a few degrees. I soap cold. Oils are clear, lye solution container very comfortable to touch by hand. Water discount. This gives me as much as an hour to do 3 loaves from a single batch, even when using palm and butters. Often the soaps don’t gel.

 

[Rick Jarvis]

Much of soaping strategies elude me. I've been doing this so long I started out believing that oils and lye needed to be within 10 degrees of one another....until I learned that mixing 200 degree lye water with room temp oils was the way to go. My maths couldn't work out that being a 10 degree difference but maybe I ain't that good at maths.
So now the struggle seems unnecessarily complicated. Is it the I need to do it right now and don't want to plan ahead so I will mix hot caustic chemicals into oils to save time? What if you made your lye a day ahead? Seems easy enough and none of these issues.
Even if you aren't into masterbatching, a microwave (once you figure the timing) can heat your oils or lye water to whatever temps you think are best.
I MB my oils then put them in a single batch container, same with the lye. When I go to soap, I first put the container in the mw for 60 seconds...it comes out clear and maybe 105 degrees. I then set up the soaping session and when I am ready my oils are clear and at my soaping temp. If the lye seems too cold I might pop it in the MW for 10 secs and badabing I have clear oils, temp appropriate lye and easy soaping.

Now i guess if you are making huge batches that might not be so easy, but I'd be surprised if anyone making a huge batch would use the heat transfer method but I could be wrong. Making up twenty of so batches of oil at one time is what saves me time and allows much more control but of course that works for me, heat transfer might be your best option if you don't want to plan ahead.

 

[Sayadirl]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and comments! I'll let ya know if I try a batch out like this!