Possible issues from under-mixing the batter?

[Fernando Sage]

What are the possible issues I could face if my batter isn’t well mixed? What can go wrong? I really don’t want to undermix for the sake of swirls.

Some of the designs we like to make on our CP soaps require the batter to be as liquid as possible, mostly the ones I pointed on the picture. To do those we have to start molding with almost no trace.

We soap with the temp just a little higher than room temperature. We are in Miami and we soap between 90F and 100F.

We use only essential oils and clays, turmeric, cocoa, charcoal, indigo for colors.

The more I read the forum the more I realize how much I still have to learn so any response is greatly appreciated

 

[TheGecko]

If your batter is not at least emulsified when you pour it into the mold, then it will separate and you'll either need to rebatch or toss it.

 

[lsg]

As The Gecko stated, the soap has to be at least emulsified before pouring.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you are mixing the soap batter just to a stable emulstion -- meaning the batter that is thin and pourable yet does not separate in the mold into messy watery and fatty layers -- then you're doing fine. What you may find is this soap may tend to be slightly lye heavy on the bottom of the bar and zap-free on the top. When soap batter is brought to a more definite trace before pouring into the mold, there won't be this variability from top to bottom.

There's nothing wrong with working with barely-emulsified soap batter -- just understand the trade-offs of "living on the edge." The closer the batter is to just barely being emulsified, the greater the tendency to see a slight amount of separation. Not enough to ruin the batch, but enough so there's a measurable difference in the alkalinity of the soap from the top surface to the bottom.

Any slight lye heaviness on the bottom should dissipate during cure because the excess NaOH will react with carbon dioxide in the air to form sodium carbonate. This reaction may increase the amount of ash that forms on your soap, but that's not a for-sure thing.

I have more in this article, including a few links to other people's videos that demonstrate what emulsion looks like -- Trace, Stick Blender | Soapy Stuff

Unasked-for advice --

Your recipe is going to be a strongly cleansing bar due to the 30% coconut and low superfat. Some people like a squeaky clean feeling they get from soap made with a lot of coconut, but such soap can be very drying to other people's skin. Since you're in a warm climate, this recipe might be fine -- just something to keep in mind.

Your superfat is set at zero, which will okay if you aren't also correcting for the actual purity of the NaOH you're using. Most commercial NaOH is typically 93-97% pure, which builds in a "hidden" superfat of 3 to 7%. (The hidden superfat is this is the difference between the 100% purity assumed by Soapcalc and the actual purity of the NaOH in your soap kitchen).

If you are correcting for the actual purity of the NaOH you are using AND also using zero superfat, you may find your soap will be slightly zappy throughout the loaf after saponification is fully done. If that's the case, I'd recommend increasing the superfat to 2-3% range so the soap is consistently closer to being "zap free" when saponification is over.

I hope I'm making sense here -- if not, please ask.

 

[Fernando Sage]

Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge.

I actually have never seen the batter separating and prefer to keep it like that.
We do mix it enough so that it doesn’t separate apparently, so I definitely feel more comfortable now to make some designs.

Tks again