Judiraz
Well-Known Member
My last 4 batches have behaved differently than normal. I am using the same recipe, but the batches are not gelling well and I have to wait much longer to unmold. I can unmold and cut in 10-12 hours with my lard recipe. It usually gels easily as long as I throw a blanket over it. I've had two batches that just sat for several days before I could unmold and it took a another day or two before I could cut. It doesn't look like they gelled.
I have had two changes and I'm trying to pinpoint which would be the issue.
1.) New oils shipment. I used Soaper's Choice as the supplier. The lard I ordered seemed much softer than what I buy at the market. I'm thinking it doesn't have the same preservatives??
2.) I ordered a bunch of lye from the Lye Guy. Usually I use WSP lye or get it at Ace Hardware. Lye Guy gives a range of 96-100% purity, but if it's at the low end could it make that much difference in the saponification time?
I'm thinking lye because even last two batches of salt bars took a long while to harden and they didn't have lard.
I need to figure a workaround since I ordered a large quantity of both :-|
Any ideas would be appreciated. Here are my recipes:
Lard Recipe
Lard 40%
Coconut 15%
Babassu 10%
Olive 20%
Avocado 10%
Castor 5%
I use either a 30 or 33% lye concentration with sugar & silk in the lye water and about 1T SL as well.
Salt Bar
Coconut 80%
Olive or Rice Bran 15%
Castor 5%
16% SF and 70% salt to oil
I have had two changes and I'm trying to pinpoint which would be the issue.
1.) New oils shipment. I used Soaper's Choice as the supplier. The lard I ordered seemed much softer than what I buy at the market. I'm thinking it doesn't have the same preservatives??
2.) I ordered a bunch of lye from the Lye Guy. Usually I use WSP lye or get it at Ace Hardware. Lye Guy gives a range of 96-100% purity, but if it's at the low end could it make that much difference in the saponification time?
I'm thinking lye because even last two batches of salt bars took a long while to harden and they didn't have lard.
I need to figure a workaround since I ordered a large quantity of both :-|
Any ideas would be appreciated. Here are my recipes:
Lard Recipe
Lard 40%
Coconut 15%
Babassu 10%
Olive 20%
Avocado 10%
Castor 5%
I use either a 30 or 33% lye concentration with sugar & silk in the lye water and about 1T SL as well.
Salt Bar
Coconut 80%
Olive or Rice Bran 15%
Castor 5%
16% SF and 70% salt to oil