Need rebatching advice

[ericllucas]

Hi: I made two batches of soap yesterday morning. They both have 280 ounces of oils in them. One of them still has lye water around the sides of the mold and the other one seemed to separate and has unincorporated fragrance oils. The latter one seemed to trace in about ten seconds - no I wasn't hot soaping or water discounting. My recipes came from SoapCalc, which has never led me astray. I measured carefully and all that. My question doesn't relate to why it didn't turn out. I'm sure I didn't mix them well enough. I just need to rebatch them. I don't have anything big enough to rebatch nearly three gallons of soap (twice). I have a large aluminum pot but there is no way I'm rebatching in aluminum. I need to rebatch each lot separately because the fragrances in each, if combined, are not going to smell nice.

Here are my questions:

1) Can you rebatch in a zinc / galvanized container? I can get a small metal / galvanized trash can and rebatch on my turkey fryer;
2) I'm hesitant to divide the three gallons of soap into, say, thirds and rebatch each portion, because I won't get the free oil / lye ratios right.

I'm open to ideas. What do you think I should do?

 

[Hazel]

I don't think I'd trust using a galvanized zinc container. Can you borrow a stainless steel stock pot from someone? I know soaping utensils should be kept separate from kitchen utensils but the lye will be converted during the cook and you can wash the stock pot really well.

 

[Dorado]

:idea: How about boilingbags - very easy

 

[ericllucas]

Ooooh, tell me more about boiling bags, please.

 

[Dorado]

Put the soap in a boilingbags (I put max 1 lb in each)- close them tight, put them in low boiling water for about 1 hour,
or until the soap is close to liquid, put gloves on, beat the bags carefully, until soap is without lumps, maybe you need to put them back into the water a bit, after beating. When done, cut a small corner of the boilingbag, and pour into mold. Take care, the soap gets very hot.

Ups - forgot to say, first, cut or grind the soap to smal pieces. You can add a tiny little bit of water or oil to the bag, if you want.

1 rebatch I made, I added dryed grinded coconut - lovely,

 

[ericllucas]

(I put max 1 lb in each)

That DOES sound much simpler. Each of the two batches, however, weighs about 25 pounds. I would have to make around 50 one pound batches. I'm looking for a method that scales up and can handle 25 pounds at once.

Thanks nonetheless, I learned something!

 

[Dorado]

I only put 1 pound each, because it then is easier to crush the Lumps.
I Do not believe you can buy boiling bags for such large amounts (perhaps for turkeys?)

For 25 pounds, I would recommend a large soup pot, or a large container with a lid in the oven. Stainless steel or glass, since the other metals can be affected by the acid.

 

[green soap]

I would take my party sized gumbo pot (SS of course) and place it on the lowest oven rack, preheated to 170F. This is what I do for liquid soap and leave the paste there for 5 hours. It will probably just take about an hour though, maybe two. Then as Hazel mentioned, i would wash the pot very thoroughly.

When I have to rebatch I use my regular SS soap pot inside a larger SS pot as a double boiler. This works very well, but I think your batches are too big for a double boiler.

 

[ericllucas]

Okay, I see a trend here. I need to find a large stainless steel pot. Thanks everyone! I'll come back and let everyone know how it goes once I'm done rebatching it all.

 

[Lilahblossom]

Electric Roaster has a big pan. Also enamel ware will work. I have enamelware roaster.

 

[ericllucas]

Done rebatching! Here is what I did - and remember I had two 25 pound chunks of soap. I rebatched them one at a time. I dumped out the first and saw that it wasn't mixed well. There were pockets of FO and the coloration was, well, let's just leave it at the fact that I didn't mix it well. The second batch also showed I didn't mix it well. I'll be doing large batches differently in future. Back to rebatching...

Using the back of a hand saw, I cut the 25 pound chunk into slabs, then using a chef's knife, I cut the slabs into 1" strips. I then got to chop chop chop the strips up into little bits. I dumped it all into a big SS stock pot I got, and put it on the turkey cooker - you know, that propane powered burner you use outside. I took a piece of pine and made a paddle. Okay, I cut a strip off a clean 2x4 and made a paddle. I set it on low heat. I added a half gallon of water. After about an hour, it was all nice and thick pudding consistency at 145 degrees F. I let it go another hour and it was 160 degrees F, really smooth. I dipped out soap and put it into small molds and poured the rest into the large mold. Then, for the second batch, I cut the massive block into slabs and just cut up the slabs a little more. I put it on medium heat with a half gallon of water and within an hour, I had pudding. I let it go another hour on lower heat, but it was still 180 degrees when I took it off. I poured it into molds with no issue.

Six hours after I poured some of the first batch into small silicone molds, they were hard enough to pop out. They are soft, but they'll dry faster out of the mold. Now, I wait. I figure in two or three days, I'll pop the soap out of the big molds and slice them into slabs. Then, they should harden up over the next three or four weeks, I'm hoping.

I'm optimistic that all is well. Rebatching didn't turn out to be a trouble at all. I got to spend time with my daughter laughing and giggling while I stirred the soap. She said I smelled pretty good for a guy (I rebatched coconut lime soap).

Thanks to everyone for the advice. It makes all the difference.

 

[Dorado]

What a job - looks good.
"Smelled pretty good for a guy" Lovely daughter
Looking forward to seeing pictures of the sliced soap.

 

[Hazel]

I'm glad it worked out well and you got to spend quality time with your daughter.