Splitting oils and liquid

[~Dragonfly~]

I want to do a 4 color soap using infused olive oil. Each color will be 1/5 of the total batch, though 2 colors will be the same. This is for a swirl and I’m going for colors A B C D A. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to split the batch and I think (this often gets me in trouble) that I would subtract the amount of colored oils from the total olive oil and hold those aside. Mix all the lye water and the rest of the oils to emulsion, then split that mix into 5 and add the colored oils and blend again. Because I just have to make things more difficult, BCD will get their colors from infused oils and I plan to use zinc oxide for A.
Am I going to run into trouble doing it this way, or is there a better solution?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Sounds fine all in all!

20% of the oils as colour addition sounds very plenty to me. The smaller the individual oil additions, the easier/less uncertainties. But then, you know best if it is possible to cut down the amount of coloured oils (might be difficult for infused oils that aren't that strongly coloured).

I personally would prefer adding the coloured oils into the 5 pots first, each of which will hold the split portion of the batter in the end, but splitting the blank batter over 5 empty pots and add the pre-weighed oils in separate small containers would work just as well (just more dishes to clean afterwards).
Best, add a spatula to each beforehand. Stable emulsion is a must – when in doubt, better wait for the first signs of trace, instead of having to clean the SB four times in a row and losing precious time.

Be precise with batter splitting – don't guess “what a fifth of the batter” is. Place it on a scale while splitting the batter. With that much extra oil added late, imprecision easily makes the difference between overshot SF in one, and lye-heavy in another colour.

If you're unsure if your recipe is prone to false trace, pre-heat the coloured oils. It's safest when they have at least the same temperature like the bulk oils and the lye prior to SBing. You might place them in the CPOP-prepared warm oven until you need them.

 

[KiwiMoose]

My head hurts - but yes it sounds like what I would do.

 

[dibbles]

If you know that 20% of the total olive oil is the amount of color infused oil you want in all portions, this is a good way to do it. Follow Resolvable Owl's advice to be precise in your weights.

 

[~Dragonfly~]

Thanks so much.

@ResolvableOwl I didn’t think about putting the colored oils in first so that is especially helpful. I’m a fan of less cleaning any day of the week. I’ll take all the advice you’ve given