25% Shea - slowing acceleration

[AndyRoo]

Hi all,

I recently decided I wanted to make some firmer bars, so I increased the amount of Shea in my recipe to 25% (up from 20).

I get a firmer bar, but I am finding that it seems to trace pretty fast. I've tried soaping with a variety of temps from 30 - 40c, but that doesn't seem to make too much difference. I have also started soaping at emulsion to try and give myself some more time on the soaps where I pour designs as opposed to just 1 or 2 colours.

Any ideas on how I might slow down the trace?

Cheers,
Andy

 

[KiwiMoose]

@cmzaha - how do you handle your high shea recipe?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

5% more shea sounds like not a large change. From which ingredient(s) have you carved off these 5%? What else is in your recipe? Did you start a new batch of shea butter/pomace OO/lye/… lately?

 

[Arimara]

5% more shea sounds like not a large change. From which ingredient(s) have you carved off these 5%? What else is in your recipe? Did you start a new batch of shea butter/pomace OO/lye/… lately?

Depending on what is used, 5% can make a difference. I'd personally play around with the water ratios to see what the soap may like.

 

[AndyRoo]

The other oils are olive, castor, sweet almond, and coconut. So nothing fancy.

I have noted that I do get quite a lot of ashing working this way, so I need to figure out how to work round that too.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

If all of the fats you’re using are the same ones you’ve used in previous batches, I wouldn’t expect much change at all with a 5% increase in shea when the bulk of the recipe is liquid oil. I have had the occasional issues with older olive oil and unrefined shea misbehaving.

 

[GemstonePony]

Are you using a stick-blender at all? If so, you may want to stop, and just stir it with a spatula to get it to emulsion.

 

[cmzaha]

@cmzaha - how do you handle your high shea recipe?

In my 59% shea recipe, I soap with 24% liquid oils with a 30% lye concentration and soap cool enough to hit a false trace in the beginning and only hit with the SB for a second or so. I also soap this with only 12% CO and 5% Castor. I still do not plan on doing swirls with this recipe but it does stay thin enough to pour into individual hummingbird molds for me using 45 oz of oils, so I could probably do 1 color swirl if I was pouring in a log mold.