Anybody have gel issues with the WSP silicone loaf molds?

[Stinkydancer]

I saw the spongy top with the green mold but never with my woods...hmmmm? Could have something to do with it- I'm thinking.

 

[judymoody]

I have now gotten these to work for me. I warm the mold in the oven on the lowest setting. I turn the oven off. Then I insulate the mold and put it back in the oven or if it's got heating ingredients, I wrap it in towels and set it on the counter. I've gotten complete gel this way without overheating. They are now unmolding nicely too as long as I don't get impatient and wait at least 24 hours.

 

[Hazel]

I have now gotten these to work for me. I warm the mold in the oven on the lowest setting. I turn the oven off. Then I insulate the mold and put it back in the oven or if it's got heating ingredients, I wrap it in towels and set it on the counter. I've gotten complete gel this way without overheating. They are now unmolding nicely too as long as I don't get impatient and wait at least 24 hours.

I want to make sure I understand your steps since I've had the same difficulty with the corners, too.

Warm the mold and then turn the oven off
Pour the soap in, insulate and put back in oven (what do you use to insulate it?)

By heating ingredients, do you mean something like beer or honey which get hot?

Thanks for starting this thread. I just assumed it was my recipe, not a gel problem.

 

[MrsFusion]

I've been waiting for 24 hours before unmolding, and the soap comes out great with nice clean edges. I know it's hard to wait the 24...

 

[Hazel]

I've waited 24 hours and I still lose a bit of the corners. So, I've taken to leaving the soap in the mold longer but I'd prefer not to wait. I get impatient to see how the soap has turned out.

 

[krissy]

i turn my oven to 170* and then leave it on until full gel, then i either leave it on a bit longer or turn it off. doing it this way i have never had it overheat and i always get full gel with hard corners.

 

[newbie]

I've had problems getting this just right. I preheat the oven to 170 (but not the mold) and then turn off the oven as soon as I put the soap in (green silicone soap mold). I watch for gel and about every 20-30 minutes I'll reheat the oven to 170 degrees until I get gel. Once it's gone all the way to the corners, I take it out and leave it on the counter. Even so, it seems like these CPOP'ed soaps are oilier and often have a funky texture on the top, a little spongy as people have said. Sometimes there will be a rough texture on the bottom too. It's happened with different recipes and different FO's so I assume it's the heat. I've switched back to heating pads because I can't seem to get the temps right.

I'll try the preheating of the mold and then no additional heat, as suggested.

This seems pretty tricky!

 

[SudsyKat]

Do you (whoever) put the mold directly onto the oven rack??

 

[krissy]

yep. i put it on the wire rack and never have any issues with it.

 

[Bukawww]

I'm reviving this thread for more tips on NOT gelling in the green WSP molds.

Even if I freeze the molds prior, soap at room temperature (which is about 68 this time of year), I canNOT seem to prevent gel. Its getting irritating. I do use coconut milk or beer and know this is not helping, but I've SEEN beautiful ungelled, creamy goodness with these ingredients, and obviously poured in a loaf mold so what gives?

 

[soapbuddy]

I've used it twice now. One batch I gelled on purpose, one I didn't. The ungelled one went in the freezer. It took a little wiggling and slight pulling, but the soap came out in whole piece.

 

[judymoody]

I want to make sure I understand your steps since I've had the same difficulty with the corners, too.

Warm the mold and then turn the oven off
Pour the soap in, insulate and put back in oven (what do you use to insulate it?)

By heating ingredients, do you mean something like beer or honey which get hot?

Thanks for starting this thread. I just assumed it was my recipe, not a gel problem.

Hi Hazel, I tried various methods and now I place the mold in a shoebox. I fill the area between the mold with foam packing peanuts - the kind that invade your home if you buy too many FOs - I place it in the oven on the lowest setting for five minutes. Then I pour the soap, put the lid on the shoebox and either put it back in the oven (now turned off) or wrap the box with towels and leave it on the counter. Either works. And yes, by warming ingredients I mean beer, honey, milks or milk powders of any kind, or fragrances that are known to heat up. I take a peek after an hour or so and adjust insulation as necessary.

BTW, if you use the foam peanuts, don't let them get under the mold. The bottom of the mold is much more flexible than the sides and they can push on it and make the bottom surface of your soap uneven. Ask me how I know!

This may sound like it's more trouble than it's worth but now that I have a system down, it's pretty easy.

 

[Hazel]

packing peanuts - the kind that invade your home if you buy too many FOs

Uh...no, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Thanks for taking the time to explain how you do it. I'll have to give this a try next time because I actually do have a lot of peanuts.

 

[krissy]

what a great suggestion for all those packing peanuts! i have a huge garbage bag full of them but i can't bring myself to throw them out. i will find a way to use them all one of these days!

 

[FloridaSoaper]

Is the spongy top a CPOP thing? THe first time I tried using the oven for soap is w/the green molds & mine did the same thing. I wasn't sure if it was the because of my recipe or if that was typical.

I honestly don't think it's a "cpop" thing as much as an overheating thing....but don't have a ton of experience with cpop since I stopped using my oven for soap, ha! But experiment and see...

 

[shteph]

that's a very interesting discussion. i am a very beginner.... tried the gel phase. i have only used silicone muffin moulds and got gel in the middle of the mould, never on the edges. the colour is different, darker in the middle and lighter on the edges. i tried to insulate them properly with towels, but i dont know how well it was. How much time should the moulds stay in the towels.... how long time does the gel phase last? mine... after 3-4 hours got cold. I usually left them over night, altogether... 8hours.
and..by the way.. whats CPOP? thanks

 

[FloridaSoaper]

that's a very interesting discussion. i am a very beginner.... tried the gel phase. i have only used silicone muffin moulds and got gel in the middle of the mould, never on the edges. the colour is different, darker in the middle and lighter on the edges. i tried to insulate them properly with towels, but i dont know how well it was. How much time should the moulds stay in the towels.... how long time does the gel phase last? mine... after 3-4 hours got cold. I usually left them over night, altogether... 8hours.
and..by the way.. whats CPOP? thanks

CPOP is "cold process oven process"...basically you make the soap like you would regular cp, but you stick it in the oven to force the gel stage. You can have the oven on 170 or lower and check on the soap every now and again to make sure it doesn't overheat, but you should be able to just preheat the oven, turn it off, and then stick the mold in there and have good luck with that. Some people don't even turn the oven on at all, but just stick the mold in and have the pilot light on the whole time, which creates gentle heat to encourage gel. Now you do have to make sure that your mold is oven proof, lol! I would be super careful with wood, for example. I have tried wrapping with towels for my silicone 2lb mold, and it wasn't enough heat, even with the towels all the way around, to gel all the way to the edges. I have had really good luck with a styrofoam cooler though...all I did was set the mold in the bottom and put the lid on, and then drape a towel over the lid because my lid had a hole on each end, and I didn't want the heat to escape. It worked great! You might try a heating pad...would probably work better than towels...I have never tried this method though. Oh, and gel phase should only take a couple hours...depending on your batch size...

 

[shteph]

thanks for the explanation. i tried that but it came out...bad. i do small batches just to exeprimet. i read, and i was told that is difficult with small batches...but i like anyway experimenting. I had a small batch of which i got 3 silicone muffin moulds. i tried the oven method with one of it. the colour is dramatically changed... it looks like it is burnt. the temp was 60C (i think is undet 170F). i dont know how to upload pictures cos i would be curious to have your opinion about that. if i wrap them in towels... i get "gel" in the middle and the edges remain unchanged... different colours in the same piece. if i don't gel at all would the soap be ok?

 

[FloridaSoaper]

Oh yah, the soap would definitely be ok if you didn't gel. You would just unmold and let it sit for 4 weeks min. so it can finish curing. It just might not be as far along in the saponification process as a "gelled" soap would be. And seriously, try a heating pad instead of the oven and wrapped towels methods. I didn't have good luck with the towel method either, and my mold makes about 8-9 1" bars. Trial and error...not sure what happened to your soap in the oven...sounds interesting...I don't know how to upload pics either though...guess I need to fiddle around with it some more. Well good luck Shteph!!

 

[Giangxamar]

I had this problem also with my 2nd batch. I covered my mold with a towel. The next day I opened it, tending to cut into bar but some part in the bottle of the mold was still "wet" and had a transparent look. I thought it wasnt ok to cut so I put it back and covered it with towel again. The next day I unmold again, the wet part was still there and didnt look like become smaller or something. So I cut into bars anyway and the soap cracked (maybe because I didnt used specific knife for soap).
After 2,5 weeks of curing, the transparent parts are still there (i'll upload some pictures later).

Can anyone tell me what actually happened with my batch?

(I suggest that in the silicon mold, soap cant "breath", the water hardly get out, isnt it right?)