Very slow cooking... is my HP soap done yet?

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KirstyJay

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Hi all. I’m currently doing my first attempt at Soap making and I’m doing it hot process in my crock pot. I have an older crock pot that’s a bit smaller and fits snugly in my other bigger one, so I’ve put some water in the bigger one and put the smaller one inside it to cook the soap because I was unsure whether it’d be ok to use my crockpot for food after cooking soap in it so I thought better safe than sorry!

however, the cook has taken forever... about two hours up to now and it’s not bubbled or anything. I’ve been babysitting it the entire time because I didn’t want it to bubble over, but it seems like it’s just cooked really slowly. It’s not separated or bubble at all, but it has changed colour as if it has gone through the gel stage.

i want to know if i can switch off my crock pot yet! The temperature is currently 168f and it hasn’t got hotter than that the whole cook.

attached is a photo of it changing colour. The brown on the outside gradually made its way into the centre until it was all that colour.

Thanks in advance!

kirsty x
 

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Hi Kristy!

The outer part looks like it's gelling/gelled in this pic. What does it look like now? If the consistency is like a lumpy vaseline do a zap test. Here's how. If it doesn't zap your soap is done.

I use my slow cooker straight up so I'm guessing my temps are higher than yours, and most my recipes cook in 15-20 mins. I also stir a lot, distributing a lot of heat so it doesn't take long at all for my soaps to reach gel.

I'm no expert but I've collated some tips I wrote for myself into a post. Others have chimed in too, maybe you'll find something useful.

Also, my soaps don't bubble or volcano like some do, and I don't also get all the stages people talk about lol but here's a pic of some of the stages.

I hope your soap turns out ok!

Edit:
Oh! I also have pics of overcooked soap hehe
 
Thanks for your reply! I’ve decided to go for it. Tested the ph with my red cabbage water and it looks ok. Going to let it cool a bit and add some fragrances!

it looks vasaliney enough to me...
 

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Congratulation on your first batch. I do HP also but I am nowhere near as experienced as Dawni. I just finished a batch and today, for some reason, it seemed to take forever to cook. I masterbatched lye and it was pretty cold so that may have had something to do with it.
 
Congrats on your first soap! When I HP I use my oven around the same temps as you did. Mostly I just wait until my soaps are fully gelled and then mix in yoghurt/liquid, scent etc. So basically what you did;)
If you want the cook to speed up you can start with warmer oils and lye water (but keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't volcano!!)
 
Thanks all. I'm not bothered how long it takes. I'd rather it was slower and didn't volcano, so I can get on with other stuff while it's cooking, so this works fine for me.
:D
 

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