HP cook time

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eyeroll

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Doing my first batch of HP as I type. It's driving me crazy not to stir that bad boy.

How long does your HP cook for, on average? And what factors do you think contribute to the length of the cook?
 
Hmm, I think I like to cook my soap for an hour or so. Normally it will have passed the zap test at some point during the cook, I just like to cook it extra since I make my HP soap with extra liquid.
 
I always stir mine.

Mine cooks about 30-45 minutes, it depends on the size of your batch, the temp of your cook (crockpot or other), oils, etc. I just cook it until it all has the same nice applesauce/vaseline texture.
 
I never stir it while cooking only after when I add the sf and fo/eos. I leave my crock pot on low till it cooks 1/3 of the soap batter (takes maybe like 30 minutes). Then, I turn it off and leave it alone for another 30-60 minutes. When I come back to it all of the soap has gelled already and is cool enough to add eos/fo. The gelled soap turns out really fluid and moist. Not dry at all.
 
Hopefully my picture uploads (I'm new to this). But this is a picture of an hp soap that I made. Sorry for the crappy quality. I took it at night so not good quality lighting. But it's a dog shampoo bar that I made for my sister's dog who's name is zombie (that's why they have Z's lol). I think it looks pretty smooth.

IMG_20140407_204922.jpg
 
you can stir, it wont explode :D
mine is usually cooked for 45 mins to 1 hr.
 
Thank you all. I was trying to avoid scraping the sides down and as I'm basically incapable of doing anything half-way I figured I'd just stay away.

I zap tested a few different bits and thought the batch was all cooked, but when I unmolded it this morning, there are a few spots on the interior that are still zapping - annoyingly surrounded by pretty, marbled, non-zappy soap. If I let the bars cure, will they continue saponifying as CP does as it cures, or does the HP method arrest or otherwise alter saponification?
 
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Hopefully my picture uploads (I'm new to this). But this is a picture of an hp soap that I made. Sorry for the crappy quality. I took it at night so not good quality lighting. But it's a dog shampoo bar that I made for my sister's dog who's name is zombie (that's why they have Z's lol). I think it looks pretty smooth.

That is smooth - I may have to try your method.
 
I've only made like 3 HP batches. I cook mine for several hours - maybe b/c I use lard and full water? Or possibly b/c I use a double boiler and not a crockpot. I am planning on getting a soap-dedicated crockpot soon. And I totally scrape the sides!

I usually end up stick blending mine after about an hour.
 
Regarding how long one should do the HP cook ...

I also like to do the zap test, but what do you think of this way of discerning when the cooking has finished ?

Scroll to 5:57 in this interesting youtube video from "Suds and Buds"

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg6tEa9hGFE[/ame]
 
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I think the last thing I want near active lye is anything aluminum, not even foil.

Looks like a lot more trouble than it's worth to me... JMO.


I've only made like 3 HP batches. I cook mine for several hours - maybe b/c I use lard and full water? Or possibly b/c I use a double boiler and not a crockpot. I am planning on getting a soap-dedicated crockpot soon. And I totally scrape the sides!

I usually end up stick blending mine after about an hour.

I use lard in a lot of my recipes and full water. No clue how long it would take in a double boiler, but as for the crockpot I make WAY more soap than food in mine, so I use the crockpot for soap (super easy to clean), then when I use it for food I use the liners (also super easy to clean).
 

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