Attaining smooth texture

[kayeway]

Hello...I made a soap with Madagascar (Ylang Ylang and Vanilla) and apparently put in too much cocoa butter. The vanilla turned it dark brown and the texture is rough...it looks like a big block of cow manure! But it smells wonderful! So my question is...do you others- to save money and make a smoother texture, only add in the cocoa butter and shea butters for superfatting? Also what is the preferred method...discounting or adding superfat in at the end. What, do please tell, is the secret for a very smooth looking bar of soap? Temperature? Ingredients? Help please. Love and Thank yous...Kaye

 

[ChrisShepp]

Kaye,

I was just reading today about cocoa butter, and the need to temper it properly. If it is melted too quickly, it can crystallize and create an unpleasant texture. Could that be the case here? If you post your recipe, one of the regulars who has more experience than I can offer you some feedback.

 

[kayeway]

smooth texture

Thank you for your reply. That very well could be what happened. It took a long time to melt, so I probably had the heat turned up a bit. I will take notice and compare it to the bars that don't include cocoa butter.

 

[ChrisShepp]

I read that very slowly melting the CB over a 45 minute period, stirring often, then allowing a 10 minute cool-down is the best way. Good luck with your experiment!

 

[sistrum]

Love Madagascar! But it does make a BROWN soap.

 

[carebear]

Did you HP or CP your soap?

You don't need to temper cocoa butter in soap.

 

[kayeway]

Cold Process

It was cold process. It does smell wonderful. I haven't tried a vanilla stabilizer yet. I did get some titanium dioxide to use in future batches..but unsure if it will help with vanilla.