Just some newbie notes on milk/honey/oatmeal bar

[mommyray]

Just wanted to share this, but if anyone has thoughts, I'd appreciate it very much. I have no idea how this is going to cure.

Recipe:

16 oz olive oil
12 oz coconut oil
36 oz soybean oil
9.2 oz lye
9.3 oz water
12 oz evaporate milk
4 oz ground oatmeal
2 Tablespoons honey
(2tsp of tumeric cold infused in 1 pound of olive oil in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days -- the 1 lb of OO is included in measurement above, not extra oil in this recipe)
soaped at 100 F, both the oils and the lye

Method:

Melted oils in crockpot on "keep warm".
Mixed the evaporated milk and honey, added to oils right before putting in lye/water mix.
Stirred with a spoon for about 1 minute, then stick blended for about 5 minutes - maybe a little longer but, if so, not much. Had the ceramic part of the pot out of the heating part of the pot while blending.
Added oatmeal after trace, then poured into mould. It was the consistency of thick stew (broth with rue added) at that point.
Sprinkled non-ground oatmeal on the top after pouring into the mold.


Notes:

1) The turmeric/olive oil looked yellow after infusion. It looked yellow in the crockpot while heating all the oils. At this point, I was thrilled, thinking it would sink into a nice "honey" color after gel stage. Well....when, I started the stick blend, this turned into a bright orange, then a carrot orange, and then the color of tomato soup. It then gelled into deep brown, then turned into a mellow orange-brown after gel. (This was made yesterday, so I have no idea how the color will behave in the coming days.)
2) This smelled GREAT in the crock pot, even while stick blending. After I poured it, it started to smell a little funky. When I cut it today, it made the house smell like a large animal urinated on the floor! It was totally disgusting, and I really wanted to chuck it outside, except I thought the neighbors would gossip. (Really, it was that bad. I thought the Humane Society would look for unkept animals on my property!) A few hours after cutting, it started smelling like I wanted -- like milk and oatmeal. I can't detect the honey, but my sense of smell is not fantastic.
3) I'm not sure if it's ok to put oatmeal across the top. Seems like it might get moldy or something. But it sure looks pretty!!!

Any comments/suggestions will be apprecited. Otherwise, I just wanted to share the experience

 

[mommyray]

Oops forgot another point

I had read that milk/honey should not be insulated because they scorch.

I put part of the batch into a log mold, and insulated that. It was REALLY hot when I checked on it, and that was starting to make the urine smell.

Just to experiment, I had also put about 1 pound of it into another mold, and left that uncovered in a cold oven. This also smelled like urine, but not as much.

They both smell the same now (like milk/oatmeal), and there is a slight difference in color, but not much. The one that was uncovered in a cold oven is a little bit more on the orange side of the orangy-brown look, but not much.

Makes me wonder if I'm obsessing a bit about insulation or no isulation.....but of course, this is my 6th batch ever, so I am not to be taken too seriously!!!