Teach Soap

Tonight I made a batch of Baby soap. It is a new/untested recipe that runs at a hardness of 28, with an iodine level of 75 and an INS of 124, so it should be somewhat soft, but I have seen other recipes that are way lower than my numbers, so I wasn't concerned with that. To further make it interesting, I decided to use goats milk in place of my water.

Here is where it got interesting. I was out of gm, so I used 1/2 condensed and the other half water. I have never used condensed before. I began with a slurry, but most of the milk portion was still pretty frozen, and I sat my lye/water bath down in ice cubes and cold water. Almost immediately, it turned a very deep orangey brown (deeper than that color), but never smelled burnt or anything, just darker and more orangy brown than I have seen before.

Then, I left it sit for a bit as I got my other oils, and when I went back to it, the temperature was very low (I guess I did a good job of not letting it overheat!), just barely 105 and it was pretty much a pudding consistency. Not nearly as bad as my last batch of seizing soap, but still thicker than I have ever seen before. Btw, I did not add anything other than the lye, milk and water.

So, is this usual for condensed g milk, for g milk ice cubes? for condensed g milk ice cubes? Is it because I over-did the keeping the temp low thing, or what? Is all of that normal or did I ruin a batch of soap? It is in the mold now and does seem to be gelling, so I am thinking it will be fine, but I am curious. Has anyone else had a thickened lye bath like this one? What about the coloring? I have only seen a nice dark caramel color before, not this dark orange-brown.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Just guessing here, but it could be because the condensed milk has more concentrated sugars and they caramelized somewhat. Keep us posted on how it turns out!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Tammy, unsure if you have checked out this video about how to use the different forms of goat’s milk but it is a very enlightening video! He talks about how to use fresh, condense, and powdered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCI4i2vHPdM

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~Alyssa
We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I would say it was the cool temps and goat's milk too.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Hi LavenderLady, nearly two weeks ago I made a batch using coconut milk witch I had frozen solid in ice cubes and slowly melted it down with the lye. This mix went exactly as yours did, really thick and never reach a high temperature. It ended up a yuckky, dirty looking beige colour. It is slowly changing to a lighter colour now and the end peice that was cut off thinly is noticeable lighter. Hopefully it will, in time, become a light white. Will update in a few weeks time.

Thanks everyone!
Alyssa, I have not seen that video, but will definitely watch it, thanks!

I kept an eye on it last night and it did gel, which was a feat in itself since it was in the silicone bar mold. It feels about ready to unmold, and looks lighter in color thank it did yesterday, so I am guessing that it is alright.

I am also guessing that you are right, SB, and it was, in part, due to the low temps.
And that LJM is also right about the sugar level in the condensed milk. I thought I took care of that with mixing it in half water, but when I reviewed my recipe in the light of day, I realized that I didn't exactly get a half and half mix.

When I reviewed this note too, I saw that the "I have never used.." words were more the color of the batch than the one I chose for the color, Lol. I will let you all know how it turns out, and thanks again for your responses!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I have had my goats milk thicken up on me before when I have left it to start on the oils, and I use just normal goat milk from the shop. I guessed it was just the lye starting to saponify the fats in the milk, the batch that this happed to came out perfectly fine.

I would have probably added the condensed milk at light trace. When making cream soap, I use half water as the liquid to dissolve the lye, and at thin trace add the cream as the other half of the liquid. My soap never turns orange.

Leesh; I think that is the reason, and mine ended up fine too, but it was worrisome for a bit. I had never seen it like that before. Live and learn!
LSG, yes, that is probably what I should have done too. But it turned out nicely, so no worries now. I think that I will add it in as you suggest, if I use the condensed milk again.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

My canned coconut milk does this all of the time. I usually stir it gentally and frequently or it will get so thick it does not want to pour. I have only used fresh goats milk and that will get to a thicker consistancy but not pudding.... so far. Once I use up the canned milk I have left I am going to try some regular coconut milk. I too think it is the lye starting to work on the milk fats, but don't know why my fresh milk does not do this. Maybe the fat content is lower. I will check some labels when I get to the store.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Soyna, I couldn't believe how fast it got that way, nor how thick it was. I had not had that happen before. And it was very very dark too, but that went away, today it is the nice carmels I expected. So strange, but it must be the fat/sugar content. I learn something new every day and this was a definite learning experience!

So do you like coconut milk better than buttermilk or goats milk? What difference do you feel it makes?

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I've used coconut milk several times and love the way the soap feels. I haven't notice any problems with it thickening up. I used frozen milk & added lye to it, but had all my oils ready to mix before doing the lye mix.

I've also been using powdered goat's milk in my soap, but rather than reconstituting it, I've been adding the powder directly to my warm oils (per Ann Watson's instructions in her milk soapmaking book) and blending with a stick blender. So far it has worked perfectly and it much easier than freezing milk, etc!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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~Alyssa
We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!