Powder or liquid goat milk???????

[Martin]

Which is easier to use? Or does it make a difference.

 

[Pepper]

Martin, I've just bought a brilliant book by Anne L Watson. This is her site.
http://www.annelwatson.com/soapmaking/
It's called Milk Soapmaking, (the book is) and she covers everything dairy, and also coconut and other vege "milks". She has two different methods, one for liquids, and one for powders. I made a yoghurt soap today - looks lovely so far (5 hours later!) and so easy. If you're keen to make milk soaps, I'd definitely recommend this book.

 

[Half Caper Farm]

My goats don't make powdered milk.

 

[IanT]

It depends on your intentions, I would say you could get more out of using the powdered, because that opens up possibilities of you being able to use say, Aloe Juice or some other interesting liquid for your lye solution. I never have luck with milk, it always overheats when I use it, turns brown, curdles... just yuck... so I am a hardcore powdered milk advocate, you get all the same benefits of using liquid without the worry and stress of discoloration ... etc..

 

[CherryGardenGirl]

My goats don't make powdered milk.

Heehee . . . same here, Half Caper!

For my next batch, I would like to try RTCP. I think some books recommend insulating all soaps, but on this forum you'll learn that GM has problems over heating so you def don't want to insulate. Because I have dairy goats, I would like to make all my soaps GM based.

 

[IanT]

My goats don't make powdered milk.

Heehee . . . same here, Half Caper!

For my next batch, I would like to try RTCP. I think some books recommend insulating all soaps, but on this forum you'll learn that GM has problems over heating so you def don't want to insulate. Because I have dairy goats, I would like to make all my soaps GM based.

Oh how I wish I had goats and an endless supply of goatsmilk... Id make so many things... goatcheese being the first probably lol

 

[CherryGardenGirl]

IanT . . . goat cheese is soooo yummy! I made a batch of soft cheese (chevre or something like that) with thawed goat milk and vinegar. Its okay plain, but is unbelievable with herbs and OO added! GM butter is amazing too.

Anyways, with all this extra frozen milk, I am determined to get the hang of milk soaps


Martin, I have a thread on here somewhere asking about whether to use fresh, slushy, or frozen GM . . . you should check it out! Fresh GM is very expensive from the store so I suggest using whatever is convenient and affordable for you. If you live in the country, you might be able to convince dairy farmers to give you a deal but the strict milk laws will make it very difficult! As for me, my fresh goat milk is just in the backyard

 

[holly99]

I've used both and I like the accessibility of the powder.

Also, I mix my lye solution with 75% of my water amount and then mix my powder with the remaining 25% water and add it at trace. This way my milk never burns and I can have a 50% or 100% goats milk soap at the same time.

 

[knine]

I started making goatmilk soaps because I had a freezer full of milk that I just wasn't using fast enough---- cheese and fudge and yogurt, but still ..... besides my hands were so rough and cracked I had heard that goatmilk soap would fix that. And it did by the way

I always freeze my milk in baggies flat in the freezer so I can pound them into small chunks before soaping. I measure the chunks into my lye mixing container which is on the scale. Then I let it sit at room temp while melting my hard oils. Then I add the room temp oils. At this time I add my measured lye to the frozen milk chunks and stir stir stir. If you don't stir constantly you can get "burnt" orange pieces of milk in there. I have done this for years and always get nice creamy white soap ( unless an fo discolors it ). I also like ungelled soap so I do freeze it after pouring into molds.

 

[IanT]

IanT . . . goat cheese is soooo yummy! I made a batch of soft cheese (chevre or something like that) with thawed goat milk and vinegar. Its okay plain, but is unbelievable with herbs and OO added! GM butter is amazing too.

Anyways, with all this extra frozen milk, I am determined to get the hang of milk soaps


Martin, I have a thread on here somewhere asking about whether to use fresh, slushy, or frozen GM . . . you should check it out! Fresh GM is very expensive from the store so I suggest using whatever is convenient and affordable for you. If you live in the country, you might be able to convince dairy farmers to give you a deal but the strict milk laws will make it very difficult! As for me, my fresh goat milk is just in the backyard

That is so cool!!... I really cant wait to be able to have some property do do all of that!! I agree the cheese is waaaay better with olive oil and herbs.. I pretty much eat mostly everything with olive oil...

another way i looooove goats cheese is if you take some jelly or fruit like cranberrys and stuff and grind them up with the cheese into a spread for crackers... MMM MM MMMMM MMM MMMM tasty

 

[Martin]

Thanks guys. I too live way out in the country and have no problem getting all the fresh goats and llama milk I want. I just noticed the powder at the store the other day and wonder if there was a difference in the final product and which was easier to work with. Again thanks for all the replies.

 

[CiCi]

Powdered goat's milk is just dehydrated goat's milk...all the same thing. There shouldn't be a difference.

 

[chandler Trev]

When reading about soap making-before I ever did- Storey Bulletins gave instructions on making goat milk soap that used the process of placing the container containing the milk into an ice water bath then slowly adding the lye while monitoring the temperature to ensure the lye/milk mixture stayed between something like 80 to 100 degrees to prevent caramalization of the milk. I think I like the idea of using powder instead, at least at this point-having not yet made milk soap.

I too have the Ann Watson book, which I received from my very understanding sister. I think she is an enabler. :!:

 

[TessC]

I prefer the powder just for the convenience. I can keep it on hand waaaay longer than I can liquid, plus it gives me more wiggle room with the rest of the recipe.

 

[Half Caper Farm]

My goats don't make powdered milk.

Heehee . . . same here, Half Caper!

For my next batch, I would like to try RTCP. I think some books recommend insulating all soaps, but on this forum you'll learn that GM has problems over heating so you def don't want to insulate. Because I have dairy goats, I would like to make all my soaps GM based.

Oh how I wish I had goats and an endless supply of goatsmilk... Id make so many things... goatcheese being the first probably lol

For a while here, the goat cheese was going to the dogs - one of our girls had an "oops" breeding which resulted in ten puppies and a very thin mama. Now I have enough milk again to make cheese for us - and the piggies appreciate the whey.

I've got a friend coming down next Saturday to have a little demo of GM soapmaking - should be fun!

 

[djk17]

for my goats' milk soap I freeze the milk in ice cube trays, toss the frozen cubes into a labeled baggie and toss it back into the freezer, and when I'm ready to soap I just pull it out of the freezer and add a very small amount of lye at a time so it gets cool before I add another tiny bit of lye. BUT I have better success when I only use 1/2 water amount as gm, and 1/2 oatmilk or some herbal infused water. I still let it get almost cold between lye additions. Doesn't caramelize at all for me.
NB I only make small hobby batches, usually 3-5 lbs, so this may be too long and boring a process for big batches with a lot of lye to add.

ps jealous of access to fresh goats' milk and cheese!