Is it possible... to make soap with only goat milk as the fat?

[Boopadink]

Ok... So, IS it possible to make soap out of only fresh frozen goat milk and lye? I attempted the other day, but the lye was WAY off. I'm just wondering if it is indeed possible, or if I'm just wasting my time and ingredients experimenting. I used the soapcalc lye calculator.

I've got the 4-H dairy goat project coming by to make goat milk soap next weekend and I'd like to have a maxed out goat milk soap recipe to go. AKA clear the freezer shelves of goat milk. I'm all for experimenting, but I'm trying not to waste all of my time doing so. I DO have recipes I use that contain multiple oils as well as goat milk, but... I'm trying to use as much goat milk as possible.

My "basic" recipe (pun intended): 3.6 pounds of goat milk to 200 gram lye
I mixed the lye into 13.7 ounces of frozen milk (taken from the 3.6 pounds). Added that to the milk in the crockpot, mixed the heck out of it until it got to trace. It felt like it took forever for it to get to the "pudding" stage. After it hit trace it pretty much separated and never hit the gel stage. I added in 3 oz of castor oil. I cooked it in the crockpot on low for nearly 12 hours (I set a timer for the crockpot to go off, but woke up at 3am with it still on). Oops. I unplugged it and went back to bed. When I got up it was a solid gel floating on about 1/2 inch of liquid. It was still at 10 pH, so I tossed it.

I have figured out that the goat milk is approx. 8% butterfat. The internet said 1 cup of goat milk contains 8 grams of fat. I'm assuming I need to be using the amount of lye for *that* amount of fat then just cook cook cook the water off? Or will this just not work?

Thanks for reading and for any input.

-Jennifer

 

[Kcryss]

I have figured out that the goat milk is approx. 8% butterfat. The internet said 1 cup of goat milk contains 8 grams of fat. I'm assuming I need to be using the amount of lye for *that* amount of fat then just cook cook cook the water off? Or will this just not work?

-Jennifer

I think in order for it to work you would need to separate the milk fat from the liquid. Use some of the liquid for your lye mixture (based on soapcalc numbers) Even then, not sure the milk fat would soaponify without additional oils. Would be a fun experiment though!

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I'm assuming I need to be using the amount of lye for *that* amount of fat..."

Yes, that's correct. Milk has a relatively low amount of fat compared to butter or cream. It's good you figured this out finally.

"...then just cook cook cook the water off?..."

Finished soap is roughly 20% water. So you're thinking about cooking something that's about 92% water down to 20%?

I suppose it's do-able if you don't mind using a lot of electricity or fuel to get there. The long cook time will cause a milk soap to become dark.

Why can't you use cream or butter instead? It would be a lot less troublesome and more energy (and time) efficient.

@Kcryss -- Milk fat saponifies just fine.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

My thoughts:
Since you need to be ready by next weekend, I would go with a regular goat milk recipe. In other words use regular oils like coconut, olive, palm, and/or lard. Use frozen goat milk as your liquid.

My understanding is that separating the goat milk fat is not easy. Not at all like cow's milk, where the cream rises to the top. I think there is such a thing as a milk separator for goat milk, so if you have access to one of those, then maybe that will get you enough goat milk cream. Otherwise I don't think you'll be very happy with the outcome.

 

[Anstarx]

For such a limited, trying a risky project may not be the best solution.
However, if you want to clear out your frozen goat milk stock and make milk fat soap, how about try turn your goat milk into butter? It;s solid so you can use them to make soap much easier.