How do you use your Powdered Buttermilk without freezing it?

[Lin19687]

Thought I would start a new thread where all the others are older for Powdered Milk.


I will be soaping tomorrow and thought I would give a whirl with the Powdered Buttermilk I have instead of Yogurt. I have not tried milk in 10 years so why not and I have the powder buttermilk right here anyway.

Normally I just reduce the water for the Lye for how much yogurt I add. Yogurt added straight to Oils and blended really well, then Lye water.

I have read that others --- add just the powder to the oils on a PPO basis
-- use water and reconstitute it for the 1/2 water they take away from the Lye water then add to either oils or emulsion
--- some double the amount of powder to 1/2 water so the end result would be 100% milk (gee, did I explain that correctly, sounded better in my head).

So just wondering if anyone still uses Powdered milk and how they use it OTHER then freezing the milk.
Could be any powdered milk.

2nd question, how much difference do you really see in the end product? Or is it just for label appeal ?

 

[artemis]

Thought I would start a new thread where all the others are older for Powdered Milk.


I will be soaping tomorrow and thought I would give a whirl with the Powdered Buttermilk I have instead of Yogurt. I have not tried milk in 10 years so why not and I have the powder buttermilk right here anyway.

Normally I just reduce the water for the Lye for how much yogurt I add. Yogurt added straight to Oils and blended really well, then Lye water.

I have read that others --- add just the powder to the oils on a PPO basis
-- use water and reconstitute it for the 1/2 water they take away from the Lye water then add to either oils or emulsion
--- some double the amount of powder to 1/2 water so the end result would be 100% milk (gee, did I explain that correctly, sounded better in my head).

So just wondering if anyone still uses Powdered milk and how they use it OTHER then freezing the milk.
Could be any powdered milk.

2nd question, how much difference do you really see in the end product? Or is it just for label appeal ?

I mix it with just enough water to make a slurry. I'm afraid I'm not very precise about the amount-- I just take it out of my distilled water amount. I blend that into my oils before adding the lye water. I can't say I notice much difference between a soap made with water vs a soap made with milk, but the friend I make buttermilk soap for swears it's a superior soap. I like using the powdered milk because I don't have to have a jug of buttermilk on hand-- my batches tend to be pretty small.

 

[penelopejane]

I mix lye with the same weight of water then add the powdered milk to the rest of the water from the recipe.

Say there is 400g water total for the recipe I add enough powdered milk to the water to make 400g milk according to the packet. If I add other additives to the soap I mix them into the water that I use for the powdered milk first (not the lye water).

I have not tried buttermilk but I have tried Goats milk. I couldn’t feel any difference. There was also a blind test of a number of people and no one could pick the GM. I do use coconut milk and that makes a difference to the bubbles.

 

[shunt2011]

I do the same as Penelopejane sometimes. Otherwise I just add the powdered milk to my oils and stick blender it in before lye

 

[amd]

When I use powdered milk, I blitz it in a coffee grinder just to make sure there aren't any chunks, then add it to my oils and stick blend in before adding my lye solution - I don't adjust the liquid in my lye solution. When I use fresh buttermilk, I add it to the oils as 50/50 of my solution. When I use either powdered or fresh buttermilk, I always have to pop it into the fridge right away for about 12 hours.

ETA: I can tell the difference between milk soap and not. Using different types is all for label appeal.

 

[Obsidian]

I tried adding the powder straight to the oils once, it refused to dissolve and I ended up with scratchy pieces of cooked milk in my soap. After that, I always added just enough water to make a thick, smooth slurry and added that to the oils.

 

[amd]

Powdered milk is water soluble, so it won't dissolve in oils, it will disperse though.

 

[Susie]

I am on the "can't tell the difference in soap with or without milks" bandwagon, I'm afraid. I do, however, occasionally use it when requested. I just mix a small amount at the time to the warm oils while stickblending on high. I find this breaks it up enough to avoid the scratchy chunk issue (I learned the hard way). I do not have to do this with the buttermilk powder as it is much finer than the nonfat dry milk.

 

[Lin19687]

Thanks all.

Well yesterday I tried it. I wanted to go slow so I could see if the process changed from my normal routine.
I did a Lye Consideration of 30% instead of my 33-34% because of my High Palm recipe

Split the water in 1/2, for Lye and for Buttermilk. Stick blended the BM Powder in to water for longer then necessary just to make sure it was in there. Plus I also SB the powdered sugar I use in there too. I had read that some have had the scratchies when SB it straight into oils with out using water to mix it first.
Lye with Salt Water as usual and noticed that it was Whiter then usual. I figured because it had less water.

SB the Buttermilk in the Oils like I do with my Yogurt normally AND the FO (lavender sage) Just in case it got away from me.

THEN ......... my Teenage DD came in telling me she needs a ride somewhere that day, seriously Irked me because 1) She knows not to bother me when I am soaping 2) It is Usually something that upsets me ( figures).
Yup, set me right off. SO in my head I am Seething over her lack of telling me the day before or even the hour before I started to soap as I would not have planned a day of soaping. Lucky for her I didn't get 8 batches all set to go that day.

So as I am yelling at her INSIDE my head - yeah you all know what I mean- I add the Lye. Oils were 108 F, Lye was 142 F. It is going good and not a blob, then.......... I realize that I have forgotten to color it
Toss in some Lavender Mica, it just looks purplish grey.... Added more. This is like twice the amount I normally use. I am heart broken thinking that I have ruined my batch.
I was also expecting it to over heat but it didn't. It gelled but just like everything else. Wonder if the powder less over heats then the real milk

Just cut it this morning, all looks the same but the color , scent is good but you can smell that it is a bit different. No milk smell or anything else so I am happy about that.

Will test it when cured.

The only Milk soap I have ever really tried was a Milled soap. I liked it a lot but that was 30 years ago and I don't really remember other then I liked it, but I liked Irish Spring too