Seeing as how lots of soapers deliberately/on purpose cool their lye solution in a quick manner by putting the lye mixing container in an ice bath (such as when making milk soaps) and/or directly adding the lye to frozen cubes of milk or other frozen liquids without any problems, I doubt very much that the quick cooling of your lye solution is the problem.
I'm with DeeAnna on this- I believe 100% it is your CPOP method. It's just too hot for too long.
I don't know where the idea originated that '170F for 1 hour' was the official or
only way of doing CPOP for every batch every time, but the idea- faulty though it is- is unfortunately quite pervasive on the internet and leads many a new soaper astray. The truth of the matter is that time and temp with CPOP are not written in stone. They can vary greatly from soapmaker to soapmaker depending upon ones particular formula, the water amount used, and/or even the chosen FO.
For example, I soap most of my formulas with a 33% lye solution with a soaping temp between 110F and 120F, and I've found through trial and error that in order for my soap to fully gel, I only need to preheat my oven to 110F and then turn it off as soon as I set my soap inside it. If my oven temp is anywhere too much higher than that, I'll start noticing certain unsightly anomalies in my finished soap such as air bubbles and the like.
How much water do you normally use in your formula, and what are your soaping temps?
IrishLass