Something bad happened to batch 6

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alexanderte

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While cutting batch 6 this morning it looked very strange, and some of the bars broke into half. It’s a Castile soap, and I had to wait for an extra day for it to saponify. This was my first time using a silicone mold.

Can anyone help me understand what went wrong?

Here’s the batch data:

Code:
Batch              6
Day 1              2016-07-01
Superfat           5%	
Lye concentration  40%	
Temperature        – (RTCP)
Lye                 115.43 g /  4.07 oz	
Liquid              173.15 g /  6.11 oz	
Olive oil           900.00 g / 31.75 oz
Yield              1188.58 g / 41.93 oz

Notes
Light trace, mixed with lye water at 35 °C (95 °F) and olive oil at room temperature.

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I see. I wanted to cut it yesterday, but touching the loaf with my finger made a dent, so I decided to wait one more day.

Is the soap still usable or do I need to trash it?
 
When you cut it was it soft or hard?

I can't use soap calc on my mobile but I think you didn't reach trace on this mix from something you said in an earlier post. Maybe you should stick to 33% lye concentration for your first few times and take it a bit slower.
Castile takes a long time to reach trace usually.
 
When you cut it was it soft or hard?

I can't use soap calc on my mobile but I think you didn't reach trace on this mix from something you said in an earlier post. Maybe you should stick to 33% lye concentration for your first few times and take it a bit slower.
Castile takes a long time to reach trace usually.
If I recall correctly then I think it felt a bit harder than the previous batches. I did a new batch yesterday (batch 7) with the only difference that I mixed at a very high temperature – when the lye water was hot. I’ll probably cut batch 7 tonight as it seems firmer than this very strange batch 6.

If batch 7 is okay then I’ll continue with 40% and mixing at high temperature. I just wonder if that could have been what “destroyed” the 6th. I mixed the 6th at 95 ºF. Maybe that slowed down the saponification process? I have no clue. :-|
 
I don't think you are stick blending long enough to get trace. It has nothing to do with the mold or the temperatures. Castile is forgiving of temperature differences.
 
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Yep, just waited a bit too long for cutting. I always had issues with that kind of cutter, it's too thick and made my soap break. Switched to a very thin knife or wire, muck better.
Temp has nothing to do with it, I don't think it's a trace problem either.
 
That "cutter" looks like a bench scraper to me. Its great for handling bread and biscuit dough, not the best for cutting soap. Especially firm soap.
 

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