Teach Soap

hi everyone!

i have a big block of coco butter in a plastic bucket that is hard as a rock and i can't even scoop it out.

what would be the best course of action to get this butter pliable?

thanks!

_________________
~Shell

I have the same thing. I just dig it out with a spoon or butter knife. Total pain and takes forever

_________________
Amber D that'd be me!

How big? For my 50lb. Buckets, I use a chisel and a mallet.

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

wow. not that big. mines only 10 lbs thank god.

think i can melt it at all?

that's one heck of a hard butter!

<yeah can't sleep again>

_________________
~Shell

Can you stick it outside in the sun to soften it before scooping? Or maybe microwave it on low-medium power for a couple of minutes?

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

I used a paring knife (like Irena did with the chisel) think like the movie psyco! ... broke it into smaller pieces and stored in plastic containers.

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

Ugh, it is a pain. I just bought some of the cocoa butter wafers after getting tired of fighting with the big blocks.

After reading what Soapbuddy does a while ago, I've switched to using a chisel and mallet also. It works so much easier! I highly recommend it over chipping away at it with a butter knife, which was what I used to do.

Since I don't buy that much at a time, it comes in big chunks that I break up with a mallet.

_________________
Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

_________________
Amber D that'd be me!

If you take the chisel or a thick knife and bang it in the middle of the block/tub, then go out from there in pie like sections you can break it apart pretty easily and pretty quickly. Trying to soften 10 lbs or more of cocoa butter before you break it is just too much of a pain, it really is easier to break off chunks. I break a lot of chunks and put them in a clean pail so that I only have to do it once in awhile and not every time I make soap. After you get going it really doesn't take long to break a bunch. For years I used a thick knife (like in the steak houses) and just whacked it on the edges of the block. Better than a perry knife, but not as good as a chisel! Lol

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

Tammy