# hand stirring your first batch?



## reflection (Jul 17, 2016)

i saw that a soapmaking teacher has all her students hand stir their first batch of soap to really understand the process of getting to trace & also to know to use it to slow down for additives. what do you guys think? i'm considering doing this because i've never used a stick blender before and am a bit worried about splattering. i will take all the safety precautions and wouldn't normally be overly worried about using lye if i were used to using a SB. 

also, i'm only one person so am thinking i wouldn't mind starting with a few 1 lb. batches that i assume are too small for my 4.5 quart crock pot. i already have 3 recipes i want to try (not my own but from other experienced soapers) and even giving away bars to friends & family i'd be swimming in soap if i made three 2 lb batches. the cost savings would be good too so i can make more batches sooner rather than later. does anyone still hand stir their batches? i will definitely use a SB, and practice using it with cold water first, but maybe not the 1st batch and any 1 lb batches is what i'm thinking. thoughts?


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## Susie (Jul 17, 2016)

I think practicing with a stickblender in water is a very smart idea!  It will not only help you learn about the stickblender, but it will help you find the right size/shape container to mix in.  Be sure you get plastic containers with a 2 or a 5 on the bottom, or stainless steel only.  No glass or Pyrex.  Don't forget that you need to stickblend in 15-20 second bursts with an equal amount of time stirring to let the stickblender cool down.

If using a stickblender, don't forget to burp it every time you put it in the liquid.  You do this by tilting over to the side and getting all the air out.  Bumping it on the bottom helps dislodge any stubborn bubbles.

I think if you hand stir your first batch, it might be your last batch.  Use a stickblender.

Regardless of where you get your recipe, run it through a lye calculator for yourself.  Every. Last. Time.  It is, by far, the safest/smartest thing to do from the first batch onward.  Typos happen.  What if someone transposed a 9 for a 1?  It could make a drastic difference in a recipe!

I would actually suggest you make 2 lb (of oil) batches.  It is easier to work with that amount of liquid with a stickblender for me.


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## lsg (Jul 17, 2016)

I second what Susie said.  If you wear protective goggles and other protective gear and stick blend in the kitchen/utility room sink, then you should be pretty safe.  Just remember not to turn the stick blender on until it is under the soap mixture and to turn it off before raising it out of the mixture.  Pretty elementary stuff, I know, but just a reminder.


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## Soapmaker145 (Jul 17, 2016)

I prefer to hand stir my soaps.  I did that for years.  There is nothing wrong with hand stirring but it takes a long time.  It is easier to use a stick blender if your new to soap making.  

If you are afraid of splashing, get a piece of cardboard to cover your bowl and cut a hole in it to insert the stick blender.  It will give you a disposable lid for your bowl to catch any splashes.  You can also use a plastic disposable plate.  After you add the lye to the oils, insert the stick blender and tilt to remove any trapped air.  Lower the cardboard to cover the bowl.  Stick blend for 30 sec to 1 minute at a time and look at what is happening to the mix.  If you introduce air bubbles, finish by hand stirring to remove them before pouring.  You still need to wear your protective gear, particularly goggles and gloves.


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## Cindy2428 (Jul 17, 2016)

If you decide to go the SB route..... I have 4 right now - a Kitchen aid, a Cuisenart and 2 $13.00 cheapies I found on Amazon. (Walmart carries them as well). Guess which one I use the most - Yep the cheapies. 

They are less powerful and do not create as many bubbles in my soap. For small batches like you want to make, this is probably the best one for you. The only negative is that it is one piece; the heads do not come off - I know this because I destroyed the first one I bought by trying


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## DeeAnna (Jul 17, 2016)

"...It is easier to use a stick blender if your new to soap making...."

It's easier even if you're a more experienced hand! 

That said, I stick blend for only a small amount of time anymore -- maybe 5-10 bursts of 1-2 seconds each -- separated by gentle hand stirring. I've found by SB'ing less, the batter doesn't thicken as quickly and the whole process is more relaxed and fun.


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## Arimara (Jul 17, 2016)

I tend to pulse my stickblender  when I make a batch. After a near motor burnout from a previous liquid soap batch, I have come to pulsing for any batch I make.


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## faerytech (Jul 17, 2016)

I hand stirred my first batch... and ended up giving up after about 4 hours, assuming I had ruined it. I poured it into jars thinking I might be able to use it for something, and it solidified in there... Afterwards I was so nervous about whether or not it was good to use, I ended up throwing it away...


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## Steve85569 (Jul 17, 2016)

I use a mini SB for nearly all my soap making. It helps me not beat a batch to death and get soap on a stick. ( small battery powered one)

Stirring alone can take a long, long time and wear out your good cookie and jam making arm. I'm not willing to take that risk.


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## dixiedragon (Jul 17, 2016)

You can practice in water if you feel comfortable. You need to make soap in a container that is tall and deep - more like a bucket than a bowl.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jul 17, 2016)

reflection said:


> i saw that a soapmaking teacher has all her students hand stir their first batch of soap to really understand the process of getting to trace & also to know to use it to slow down for additives. what do you guys think? i'm considering doing this because i've never used a stick blender before and am a bit worried about splattering. i will take all the safety precautions and wouldn't normally be overly worried about using lye if i were used to using a SB.



I often hand stir. It depends on what recipe you want to start with. Some trace faster and some much slower. You may not want to try hand stirring the slow ones, but you can do it if you like when your recipe has a good balance of hard oils and you are soaping at conventional (warm) temps. There are good formulations that aren't even very practical to make if you insist on hitting them with the SB, and there are fragrance oils that make things move much faster, so it's good to be flexible and use the most appropriate technique.


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## reflection (Jul 18, 2016)

thanks for all the helpful answers.  the idea to practice stick blending in cold water comes from anne watson. i like the idea of using a piece of cardboard with a hole in it too if i'm really worried about doing it. i read on another thread someone said to tilt the bell away from you so if it splatters it'll go toward the wall & not me.

here are a couple recipes that will probably be my first three. if any of you have any ballpark guesses of how long it'd take to hand stir either the first or second that'd be awesome. i definitely won't hand stir the third, a bastile. i'll be doing CPHP if that makes a difference.

1. the first is 100% coconut oil, 20% SF (from heather at the mommypotamus blog)

33 oz coconut oil, 76 degrees
4.83 oz lye NaOH
12.54 oz distilled water
.5-1 oz essential oil (optional)

2. anne watson's shea supreme recipe which she recommends for a 1st batch:

10.5 oz (298 g) coconut oil
10.5 oz (298 g) olive oil
9 oz (255) shea butter
8 oz (227 g) distilled water
4.2 oz (119 g) lye

3. baby bastile recipe: (also from mommypotamus blog) (no hand stirring here)

3 oz (85 g) coconut oil (infused with dried chamomile or calendula petals) 
1 oz (28 g) jojoba oil
25 oz (709 g) olive oil
3.72 oz (105 g) lye
10 oz (284 g) water

here's my thread regarding a question about a specific SB in the shopping forum. i thought it might be perfect, albeit rather pricey, but now i'm not sure if some of the features will hold up to lye rather than food.


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## Arimara (Jul 18, 2016)

reflection said:


> thanks for all the helpful answers.  the idea to practice stick blending in cold water comes from anne watson. i like the idea of using a piece of cardboard with a hole in it too if i'm really worried about doing it. i read on another thread someone said to tilt the bell away from you so if it splatters it'll go toward the wall & not me.
> 
> here are a couple recipes that will probably be my first three. if any of you have any ballpark guesses of how long it'd take to hand stir either the first or second that'd be awesome. i definitely won't hand stir the third, a bastile. i'll be doing CPHP if that makes a difference.
> 
> ...



I will warn you- if you have sensitive skin, decrease the coconut in in Anne's recipe and reallocate it to the shea. Other than that, and maybe bumping up the superfat of that first recipe and adding 30% oil weight's worth of sea salt, you're good.


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## reflection (Jul 19, 2016)

Arimara said:


> I will warn you- if you have sensitive skin, decrease the coconut in in Anne's recipe and reallocate it to the shea. Other than that, and maybe bumping up the superfat of that first recipe and adding 30% oil weight's worth of sea salt, you're good.


i have not really looked into adjusting recipes at all yet but after a quick google search i think i'll leave the recipes as is or just change anne's recipe to all equal amounts of oils. thanks though.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jul 19, 2016)

You need to check all of these recipes in a lye calculator any way - for your safety and also for practice


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## Susie (Jul 19, 2016)

^^^What Craig said!  Typos happen.  What if someone transposed numbers?  You must run every recipe, regardless of where you got it from through a lye calculator for yourself!  I happen to prefer Soapee.com.  It is easy to use and I can save the recipe.  Which you need to do from batch 1.  I have a binder full of both my successes and failures.  I learn from both!


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## reflection (Jul 19, 2016)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> You need to check all of these recipes in a lye calculator any way - for your safety and also for practice





Susie said:


> ^^^What Craig said!  Typos happen.  What if someone transposed numbers?  You must run every recipe, regardless of where you got it from through a lye calculator for yourself!  I happen to prefer Soapee.com.  It is easy to use and I can save the recipe.  Which you need to do from batch 1.  I have a binder full of both my successes and failures.  I learn from both!



i am definitely planning on running them through a lye calculator.  i am just a little hesitant to start messing around with the oils & other ingredients in recipes at this point. i figure i'd rather start with experienced soapers' recipes than try to wing it and come up with my own. some day though.


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## Arimara (Jul 19, 2016)

reflection said:


> i am definitely planning on running them through a lye calculator.  i am just a little hesitant to start messing around with the oils & other ingredients in recipes at this point. i figure i'd rather start with experienced soapers' recipes than try to wing it and come up with my own. some day though.



Wow, I wonder if I was just brave or stupid because I switched a few things in my first batch. :mrgreen: I'm glad I did too, I still like that soap. No pressure though. If you want to try it as is, just make sure to run it through the calculator.


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## reflection (Jul 19, 2016)

Arimara said:


> Wow, I wonder if I was just brave or stupid because I switched a few things in my first batch. :mrgreen: I'm glad I did too, I still like that soap. No pressure though. If you want to try it as is, just make sure to run it through the calculator.



i'm going with you were brave


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## Susie (Jul 20, 2016)

reflection said:


> i'm going with you were brave



There's an old southern saying, "There's a fine line between brave and stupid.  If it succeeds, you are brave.  If it does not, you were stupid." (Not really, though.)


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## reflection (Jul 20, 2016)

i think i'm going to get the waring SB but am still thinking about hand stirring my first batch of the 100% coconut oil, 20% SF recipe just so the whole process will be a bit more relaxed.

33 oz coconut oil, 76 degrees
4.83 oz lye NaOH
12.54 oz distilled water

do any of you have any idea how long this would take to hand stir? i will make either 1 or 2 lbs. not sure yet. i can handle hand stirring 1 hr no problem, 1 1/2 hr i'll be getting a bit tired & bored and 2 hrs would be the absolute maximum of hand stirring for me.

ok, here's the soap calc. i'm assuming 4.83 as opposed to their 4.84 oz lye is okay, right? (eta: oh, it calculated fragrance which i won't be adding but it is still 4.84 when i recalc it.) conditioning is only a 10. hmm, maybe i do need to up the SF but i thought this is the amount usually done for this soap?


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## topofmurrayhill (Jul 20, 2016)

reflection said:


> do any of you have any idea how long this would take to hand stir? i will make either 1 or 2 lbs. not sure yet. i can handle hand stirring 1 hr no problem, 1 1/2 hr i'll be getting a bit tired & bored and 2 hrs would be the absolute maximum of hand stirring for me.
> 
> ok, here's the soap calc. i'm assuming 4.83 as opposed to their 4.84 oz lye is okay, right? (eta: oh, it calculated fragrance which i won't be adding but it is still 4.84 when i recalc it.) conditioning is only a 10. hmm, maybe i do need to up the SF but i thought this is the amount usually done for this soap?



It's doable. 100% CO traces slower than I expected before trying it, but I remember once having to do it by hand for some reason and it was okay.

Don't worry about the conditioning number. It doesn't really mean anything and it will lead you astray trying to learn to formulate your own recipes.


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## Arimara (Jul 20, 2016)

IS the soap meant yo be cold process? If not, that recipe is fine but if so, you have quite a bit of water. I found 3 to 5 pulses help to kick start things.


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## wearytraveler (Jul 20, 2016)

I'm still very new to this (started in May and have only 9 batches under my belt) but I pulse for a second or two till I reach the point where it's past emulsification and just before light trace then use a balloon whisk to continue and mix in scents.  
Also, since I'm not much into colors I have taken (since batch No. 5) to SBing right in my mold.  This leaves me no concerns about fast moving FOs.  Maybe I'm going against the grain but it works for me!


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## reflection (Jul 20, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> It's doable. 100% CO traces slower than I expected before trying it, but I remember once having to do it by hand for some reason and it was okay.
> 
> Don't worry about the conditioning number. It doesn't really mean anything and it will lead you astray trying to learn to formulate your own recipes.



actually, i saw someone here said using soapcalc to come up with recipes isn't a good idea and to go by oil properties & fatty acid profiles instead. i did start looking into all that last night and it's pretty interesting. i'm sticking to my recipes though as i trust that experienced soapers who've made these soaps know what they are talking about. humans over computers. 



Arimara said:


> IS the soap meant yo be cold process? If not, that recipe is fine but if so, you have quite a bit of water. I found 3 to 5 pulses help to kick start things.



i'll be doing the crock pot method, CPHP.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jul 20, 2016)

reflection said:


> i think i'm going to get the waring SB but am still thinking about hand stirring my first batch of the 100% coconut oil, 20% SF recipe just so the whole process will be a bit more relaxed.



I forgot to fully address what you said about mixing times. It should take way less than an hour.

Forgive me if this is obvious or already covered, but by "hand stirring" we normally mean a whisk. Let's call it a brisk whisk because you want to emulsify the ingredients well and help keep things moving along. It's still possible to splatter.

You can use any kind of whisk, but if it's metal it should be a high quality one that won't rust.


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## reflection (Jul 20, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> I forgot to fully address what you said about mixing times. It should take way less than an hour.



awesome 



> Forgive me if this is obvious or already covered, but by "hand stirring" we normally mean a whisk. Let's call it a brisk whisk because you want to emulsify the ingredients well and help keep things moving along. It's still possible to splatter.
> 
> You can use any kind of whisk, but if it's metal it should be a high quality one that won't rust.



i have an oxo metal whisk. dang thing is rather large so i thought it was cheap but maybe it is good being oxo brand. is a long stainless slotted spoon okay too? that is what i was planning on using.


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## Arimara (Jul 20, 2016)

reflection said:


> actually, i saw someone here said using soapcalc to come up with recipes isn't a good idea and to go by oil properties & fatty acid profiles instead. i did start looking into all that last night and it's pretty interesting. i'm sticking to my recipes though as i trust that experienced soapers who've made these soaps know what they are talking about. humans over computers.
> .



It's good to know which oils have what properties and what not (soft, brittle or hard) but soapcalc is not bad to use for making a soap recipe once. In truth, you won't really be able to make a well balanced recipe until you get a feel for how the oils and butters you may want to use behave when soaping. I started out with recipes  formulated via soapcalc purely for seeing how they'd be. Now, 10 months into soaping, I have a better idea for what soaps I may continue to make what ideas to let fade in the winds.


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