Teach Soap

Not sure if I made a dumb mistake so any pointers would be appreciated! I've also included a picture.

Long story short (since I had it all typed and ready to go and accidentally erased it! ) I made a batch using RTCP method and put it in the oven only to find it still really oily this morning. I tried something totally different than what I've done in the past and upped the superfat to 8% and 'forced a gel in the oven' (?). My understanding is if you force a gel then it can help to speed your cure time to get the lye gone-right? I'm impatient so that's why I wanted to try this.
But I'm wondering if the grounds added too much water since they were freshly brewed and that is what is contributing to the extra oilyness that I'm not used to. Following is the recipe and my method with a pic.
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Cafe Valencia

Castor 1.98 oz (5%)
Coconut 11.12 oz (28%)
Cocoa Butter 0.79 oz (2%)
Shortening 19.86 oz (50%)
Olive Oil 5.96 oz (15%)

Coffee (instead of H2O) @ 12.70 oz & Sodium Hydroxide @ 5.4 oz

Pthalate-free (sp?) Vanilla FO 1oz (going into about 2/3+ cup for 'topping')

Orange EO 2oz for main loaf portion

Coffee grounds in main loaf were @ 3/4 cup (freshly brewed grounds)
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Used freshly brewed grounds to line bottom of mold and sprinkled on top and then mixed around (you'll see in pic )

Used rtcp and melted all oils, incorporated soft oils, stick blended to just before trace. Separated out the 'topping' portion (2/3+ cup) and then mixed in the freshly brewed grounds into the main loaf portion in the pot and added orange EO and brought to trace and poured in mold.

Mixed FO into the 'topping' portion and brought to trace. Took longer and got only to light-medium trace. Poured low over loaf so it would rest on top and then sprinkled coffee grounds and mixed around.

Placed in 200 degree oven for 20mins. then turned oven off and went to bed. This a.m. the loaf was solid enough to cut just fine but the bottom was still very oily so I've turned them upside down to dry for awhile (pictured at bottom). This batch will dry out and cure okay won't it? My sample left-overs look great but they didn't go in the oven since they were in plastic. I left those covered loosely with towels on the counter overnight and now they're in the freezer so I can get them out.

Any thoughts?

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~Rachel~

I prefer to use 8% superfat and I find that mine are usually okay.

Your's will probably reabsorb the oils in a day or two. Next time you might want to use fresh, unused coffee grounds - it's what I do and I don't have any problems with it. I've never put a batch in a warm oven overnight so I can't comment on that.

BTW - it looks like a nice so just give it some time to absorb those oils.

Cheers

Lindy-
Thanks for the encouragement. I just went down to my studio and checked on them and they look like just maybe they will survive.
But I noticed something funky. In the picture you can see it too. I thought in the picture the part in between the layers was just a wet oil but it actually is physically separated. Could this be because it took me an extra few minutes to get the topping to trace and it didn't adhere well? I pushed them back together as it happened to a couple of slices and I'm hoping it will turn out okay and not fall apart. Would it help to turn up the heat higher in that room? I have a separate heater for my studio that I could crank up...it does get kind of cold in there.

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~Rachel~

Hey Rachel,

Be careful that you don't melt the soap. Usually if it's taking a couple of extra minutes to get the toppping on, I will spray it with Rubbing Alcohol to encourage the sitting soap to accept the top layer. I don't know if that would work now or not.

Cheers

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Steph
www.cajuncauldron.com

Steph-
You crack me up! My mother concentrates by holding her tongue at a point out and up over her upper lip...that's how you REALLY concentrate!

Hey, what do you think about this? In this picture, the lighter soaps are the ones I made from left overs from this batch and did not put them in the oven. Are those DOS? I also noticed this a.m. some different coloring in the soaps I DID put in the oven...could you get DOS in separate parts of the same batch? Or could it be the orange EO? All my oils were fresh. Hmmmm....

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~Rachel~

definately NOT dos........... DOS come after months of curing/storage from the rancid oils. to avoid DOS, never store your soaps, whether cured completely or not, in a completely sealed container.

i think the spotting is from the combination of goodies you've added to that soap!! And interstingly, they might go away, they might intensify, you wont know what that stuff will end up being for several weeks....lol

Just sit back and enjoy the changes as they occur. That's the biggest learning tool!

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Steph
www.cajuncauldron.com

and btw........they look yummy! sorta like some kind of cookies and cream dessert......

omg.....i better get back on my diet soon because this holiday food is giving some WRONG ideas......lol

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Steph
www.cajuncauldron.com