Adjustments for Coconut Milk

[dippy]

I am trying some soaps with the split method using coconut milk and some with goats milk added to my oils. I read that some people work out the coconut oil of the milk as otherwise you are in effect adding to the sf. I don't think I will complicate things by doing this at the moment as it sounds like it is not necessary but I have dropped my sf from 5% to 3% in the recipes I am putting milk into.

My question is if some of your liquids are in fact oils do you need to add extra liquid? I always use 33% lye concentration and I am not at the stage yet of experimenting with this (and don't really understand lye concentrations yet) but should I be taking it into consideration?

I always make sure I have the same amount of water to mix the lye into (I actually use 1g extra water to be on the safe side as my scales are not the most accurate and I am doing small batches at the moment.)

How much will the reduced water effect the soap or is it like the oils and make a slight change but nothing to worry about.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm not quite understanding your question. I use a 3% SF in my soaps that I'm adding milk to (mostly Coconut).

I'm not understanding your second question though. I mix my lye with an equal amount of water and then add the difference in milk to my oils. I'm not sure what you mean by reduced water.

 

[dippy]

Someone wrote a post saying you can work out the coconut oil in your coconut milk as if you don't your SF is actually increasing - so does that mean you also need to add a bit more water?

Eg if I have 50g lye, 50g water, 50g coconut milk should I be adding a little extra water as some of that coconut milk is actually oil and not water. Sorry I am not explaining it well but don't know how better to word it.

 

[shunt2011]

@dippy No, no adjustments needed, just keep everything as is. Won't affect anything. I've never changed anything. I soap at 30-33% lye concentration with no problems

 

[SPowers]

I mix my lye with an equal amount of water and then add the difference in milk to my oils. I'm not sure what you mean by reduced water.

I made coconut milk in preparation of making coconut milk soap... If I add 1/2 water, 1/2 coconut milk, does that mean I don't have to put the coconut milk in with the lye? I can put it in the oil instead. It seems a pain (and extra time) to add the lye to the frozen milk. What effect on the soap does 1/2 coconut milk vs full coconut milk in the recipe? Does it affect creaminess?

 

[dippy]

Yes its called the split method and I have found it very easy. No need to freeze anything! Someone else will advise on creaminess as I am new to this.

 

[SPowers]

thanks!

 

[dippy]

Some people add powdered milk also to make it up to full milk.

 

[SPowers]

great tip... thanks,

 

[IrishLass]

I make my coconut milk soaps (using the split method) with a 33% lye concentration and a 3% superfat. For what it's worth, as with Shunt, I don't adjust my water amount to compensate for the extra fat in the coconut milk........I only adjust my superfat percent (instead of 5% I use 3%).

Some people add powdered milk also to make it up to full milk.

That's what I do. I mix my lye with an equal amount of water in weight, then in a separate vessel I weigh out enough coconut milk (or goat milk) to replace whatever remaining amount of water I need for my batch. Next, I add enough powdered coconut milk (or powdered goat milk) to the liquid coconut milk (or goat milk) to bring the total milk concentration up to equal what would be a 100% milk as total liquid amount for my batch........and this I add to my oils either before adding the lye solution to my oils, or after adding it.

Or, if I don't have any liquid coconut milk or liquid goat milk on hand, I'll just use all powdered. I'll still mix my lye with an equal amount of water in weight, then mix the remaining required water with enough of the powdered milk to equal what would be a full concentration of milk for my total liquid amount.

What effect on the soap does 1/2 coconut milk vs full coconut milk in the recipe? Does it affect creaminess?

When I first started making milk soaps with the split method, I did not use what would be a full 100% concentration of milk like I do nowadays, but my soap's lather still came out nice and creamy compared to the same recipe using just water as my liquid. The 100% concentration is even creamier.


IrishLass

 

[SPowers]

really appreciate all the feedback... thanks

 

[KiwiMoose]

Someone wrote a post saying you can work out the coconut oil in your coconut milk as if you don't your SF is actually increasing - so does that mean you also need to add a bit more water?

Eg if I have 50g lye, 50g water, 50g coconut milk should I be adding a little extra water as some of that coconut milk is actually oil and not water. Sorry I am not explaining it well but don't know how better to word it.

In essence - you would actually need to add more lye to compensate for the extra SF, or conversely reduce your superfat in the main recipe. I've reduce mine to 3% to compensate.