andreabadgley
Well-Known Member
After the kids went to bed last night, I ran to my kitchen and started working on the hot process milk & honey bar that I had been waiting ALL DAY to make. I've made the same recipe a dozen times as cold process (only with buttermilk instead of goat milk) and wanted to see how it would work hot process. My main concern, though, was how to add the milk. I could not find powdered goat milk, so I bought goat milk in a carton and crossed my fingers that it would work.
And it did! YAY! The only problem is that since it's already liquid, I couldn't concentrate it to make it an "all milk" soap. With powder I could have added enough powder to make it 100% goat milk, but without that option, it's only about 25% goat milk. Either way, I'm excited that it worked. Here are some photos of how I did it.
First I measured out my goat milk, which was about 25% of the total "water" volume, and put it in the freezer. Then I measured out the remaining water, added the lye, and set it aside. Then I melted the oils in my crock pot:
I added my lye solution and stick blended to trace:
I put the lid on to let it cook on low, and in less than 2 minutes it tried to blow the lid off my crock pot. I wanted to take a picture, but then I wouldn't have been able to stir it and I would have had soap on the ceiling. I'm assuming it volcanoed because I was using so much less water in the reaction than normal? Or maybe it was the combination of ingredients. Either way, I stirred it down, covered and cooked a couple of minutes, stirred it down again, and did this two or three times. When it looked like warm, THICK petroleum jelly, I turned off the crock pot and stirred to release some heat. I added oats and stirred them in, then added honey and stirred it in.
After the honey was incorporated, I removed the goat milk from the freezer and broke the ice with a spoon, stirring it until it was slushy. Then I poured it into the pot and stirred quickly to prevent localized hardening. By this time my arm was VERY tired. That stuff was thick!
Once the milk was totally incorporated, I glopped the soap into the mold, banged it on the ground a few times, and then flattened it with a press.
Here's what the finished soaps look like after about 12 hours (they have beeswax in them, so I had to cut them before they got too hard).
And it did! YAY! The only problem is that since it's already liquid, I couldn't concentrate it to make it an "all milk" soap. With powder I could have added enough powder to make it 100% goat milk, but without that option, it's only about 25% goat milk. Either way, I'm excited that it worked. Here are some photos of how I did it.
First I measured out my goat milk, which was about 25% of the total "water" volume, and put it in the freezer. Then I measured out the remaining water, added the lye, and set it aside. Then I melted the oils in my crock pot:
I added my lye solution and stick blended to trace:
I put the lid on to let it cook on low, and in less than 2 minutes it tried to blow the lid off my crock pot. I wanted to take a picture, but then I wouldn't have been able to stir it and I would have had soap on the ceiling. I'm assuming it volcanoed because I was using so much less water in the reaction than normal? Or maybe it was the combination of ingredients. Either way, I stirred it down, covered and cooked a couple of minutes, stirred it down again, and did this two or three times. When it looked like warm, THICK petroleum jelly, I turned off the crock pot and stirred to release some heat. I added oats and stirred them in, then added honey and stirred it in.
After the honey was incorporated, I removed the goat milk from the freezer and broke the ice with a spoon, stirring it until it was slushy. Then I poured it into the pot and stirred quickly to prevent localized hardening. By this time my arm was VERY tired. That stuff was thick!
Once the milk was totally incorporated, I glopped the soap into the mold, banged it on the ground a few times, and then flattened it with a press.
Here's what the finished soaps look like after about 12 hours (they have beeswax in them, so I had to cut them before they got too hard).
