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apaul

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Hi All,

We have relocated to Australia . Does anyone know who are all the reputed suppliers to buy lye oils etc?

Thanks,
Aji
 
Welcome Aji, if you go and look in the Shopping Recommendations there are threads there with just what you need. Where are you located ? Oz is a very big place. Lye you can buy from Coles Supermarkets and most oils you can get from the supermarkets as well, depending what you are after.
 
IDK if I could move countries without first securing my line of soaping supplies.

We took a family trip to Australia. It's a great place! I would love to take the train ride across the Outback.

My sister did a study abroad in Australia, and likes to tell the story of how she and her fellow American students, after a night of drinking, pulled into McDonald's at 4 am and demanded sausage biscuits. Which, to an Australian, would be sausage and a cookie.

I am continually surprised that we haven't managed to export the American-style biscuit. B/c it's awesome.
 
Hi apaul

You can also get lye (caustic soda) at Bunnings a little cheaper and at wholesale chemical suppliers if you want it in bulk. These are local depending where you live. Coles is great for Olive oil and Ricebran oil on special. Aldi has EVOO always at the Coles special price of $20/4 litres.

New directions have good prices on most oils and some packaging and TD but not on fragrances unless you go in store where the have w good range at reasonable prices. Go figure.

Aussie soap supplies is good for colours and everything you could want but sometimes you pay a little more for the convenience.

My mica obsession for mica and silk.

As you can see you have to shop at a number of suppliers to get the best price.

I am continually surprised that we haven't managed to export the American-style biscuit. B/c it's awesome.


I am pretty sure you American "biscuit" is the equivalent to our scone. Your cookies are what we call biscuits.
 
Thank you All for your reply! I am in beautiful Brisbane. Really enjoying the lifestyle here. still getting used to prices. Audi Q7 in America ~50K here $120K :)

In US i used to buy the olive pickling lye, which is food grade. Bit concerned about the cleaning grade at bunnings. Someone said the food grade is more refined and less impurities like lead, cadmium etc.. not sure whether its true.
Any thoughts?
 
I am pretty sure you American "biscuit" is the equivalent to our scone. Your cookies are what we call biscuits.

It's similar but not the same. For example, I would not put clotted cream on an American biscuit and I would not put egg and cheese on a scone. Biscuits are more buttery and salty than scones.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/article/scone-is-not-a-biscuit

I use it as a comparison because they are similar enough to give non-Americans an idea of what an American biscuit is.

If I win the lottery, I am going to travel the world and visit my SMF friends and make them a Southern breakfast of buttermilk biscuits, grits, bacon and eggs. I am going to look like a crazy person with my luggage full of White Lily flour, and stone-ground organic grits. And fragrance oils.

Kind of like when I explain to Americans that clotted cream is similar to butter. Because otherwise, people who have never had it just imaging that it's cream that's gone sour and has lumps in it and is gross. Clotted cream =/= butter - they aren't interchangeable. But it's close enough to give somebody an idea of what it is.
 
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It's similar but not the same. For example, I would not put clotted cream on an American biscuit and I would not put egg and cheese on a scone. Biscuits are more buttery and salty than scones.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/article/scone-is-not-a-biscuit

I guess there are any number of scone recipes.
But the basic aussie scone that my grandmother and mother made didn't add sugar, or cream or salt and definitely not egg.
They are very basic:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8163/basic+scones

i love clotted cream. My grandmother use to make it all the time. Difficult to come by now they homogenise milk.

Thank you All for your reply! I am in beautiful Brisbane.

In US i used to buy the olive pickling lye, which is food grade. Bit concerned about the cleaning grade at bunnings. Someone said the food grade is more refined and less impurities like lead, cadmium etc.. not sure whether its true.
Any thoughts?

I am pretty particular about additives but I put this one in the too hard basket. Data sheets don't show anything, so I just go with my local supplier - Bunnings. If I get to a stage of going through 25 kg quickly I can buy from my local chemical supplier and will go through the process of asking the necessary questions because I would like to use food grade if possible.
 
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Here is a link for you that will supply lye and send it by post - https://www.escentialsofaustralia.com/ It is in Qld, north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast. I have had it sent to me from this address, they also stock other soaping supplies and are very quick.
 
Here is a link for you that will supply lye and send it by post - https://www.escentialsofaustralia.com/ It is in Qld, north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast. I have had it sent to me from this address, they also stock other soaping supplies and are very quick.

Hi Relle,

Have you asked if that is food grade? It is cheaper than Bunnings before postage.
 
When I come to the US people are going to think me weird when I run around saying I want to taste your biscuits and your grits. :)

Depends on where in the US you visit. In Alabama, Georgia and other parts of the south, I doubt they would blink and eye before serving you some.

But if you are in California, New York or other parts they might not even know what you are talking about. Haha
 
I'm visiting the national parks so Montana, Arizona, Utah. I'll keep a look out!

The Southwest US is gorgeous. Which parks? If you are the 4 corners area (where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet) you really MUST MUST see Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. It's a World Heritage Site.

https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

If you find a restaurant serving pinon pancakes, order them. AMAZING. But no grits. I'm sure our Southwestern members can chip in about what else to do/see/eat.
 
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