Never use...

[eleraine]

...52% baking chocolate...unless you wanna end up with weird looking soap.

It's so ugly that I didn't even want to take pictures and I binned it because 1) appearance, 2) can't rebatch and 3) zapped me (the "chocolate" bits).

So yeah...nooooo 52% baking chocolate people.

 

[Hazel]

Thanks for sharing the info. I'm sorry you wasted some of your supplies. I hope it wasn't a large batch.

I've never considered trying baking chocolate but who knows? At some point, I might have opened the cupboard and thought "I wonder if this would work?" You've possibly saved me from a disaster.

 

[kellistarr]

Wow! How ironic. I just made a nice test batch using 90% dark chocolate. It was only a 1lb batch and I used 2 squares of chocolate. Turned out great. Now I'm planning a larger batch. I'm sorry for your batch. Why can't you rebatch?

 

[carebear]

baking chocolate isn't pure fat, so you end up with extra lye if you use much of it.

 

[Kleine Teufel]

I always thought that baking chocolate was more of a "superfat/colorant" than anything. I didn't think you added any lye to account for the fat content in it?

 

[carebear]

You need to if it is 52% of your "oils" as the OP said she did, unless I misunderstood.

 

[Kleine Teufel]

Oh!!!! I was thinking that she was adding a few squares of baking chocolate that had 52% cocoa powder in it!!! Wow, I'm a dunce. Makes much better sense now! Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[kellistarr]

Oh!!!! I was thinking that she was adding a few squares of baking chocolate that had 52% cocoa powder in it!!! Wow, I'm a dunce. Makes much better sense now! Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm doing the dunce dance, too. I understand why she can't do the rebatch.

 

[carebear]

it could be that *I* have it backward.

 

[opalgirl]

Just curious, what are the benefits of adding chocolate to the soap?

 

[carebear]

i think it's just done for fun or label appeal.
or because that's what someone has...

 

[Kleine Teufel]

Can you make soap out of straight milk chocolate? It has a pretty high cocoa butter content. Wonder how much of a PITA it would be to figure out the saponification of chocolate though.

 

[Dragonkaz]

I add a couple of pieces of baking chocolate to the base of my 'No Calories' soap ... for colour and label appeal. It works great!

 

[eleraine]

Oops, it was baking chocolate with 52% cocoa in it.

Too lazy to rebatch. Hehehe.

Anyway, I remade it with 85% chocolate and some cocoa powder and it turned out fab! I like chocolate in soap - gives it a nice creamy lather.

Pics will be up in the photo gallery.

 

[green soap]

I love chocolate in soap too. Found out by accident, just tried it because I happen to have a stockpile of about 15 Kg callenbaut chocolate. I have dark and milk, only have used the dark so far. Lately I have also been using it to make chocolate candies, since soap uses it so slowly.

I wonder what made your first batch go bad? do you think it was scorching of the sugar in the chocolate? I guess 52% would have less cocoa butter and more sugar?

If you do not mind telling, how do you incorporate the chocolate into the soap?

This is how I do it. After light trace I add 30g chocolate with 30g coconut oil which I melted in the microwave. This is my superfat on about a Kg batch. I take a bit of soap batter aside and mix the molten chocolate and molten coconut oil very well in, then incorporate into the rest. When I use chocolate it is the only time that I soap at around 110F or 45C, hotter than usual (usually I soap from 95 to 100F). This is because I get stearic streaks if I soap too cool.

With the extra sugar and cocoa butter no wonder they lather nicely and feel so rich to the skin.

 

[carebear]

how much chocolate did you use, then?