Botched Castile - With Pictures

[Fyrja]

The below pictures are of a Castile batch I did last week. When I unmolded it and began to cut the bars I discovered that the very center of the loaf was extremely crumbly and it had split in the middle. The outer edges of the bars were nice and creamy.

Upon researching I suspect I processed at too high of a temperature and that the soap got too hot in the mold. I did process it at a warmer temperature than my other batches. But I'm curious has anyone else had an experience like this one? Next time I will process at a cooler temperature and chalk this one up as a learning experience.

 

[ToniD]

I have had a lye heavy soap crumble like that. It was Castile, actually. I rebatched with additional oil and it came out fine.

 

[nattynoo]

My first castile I soaped too hot & it volcanoed out of the mould with hot molten soap going everywhere.
I smooched it back down & it was usable.
Its EXTREMELY hard. I wouldn't fancy cutting it now, it would definitely crumble.
It doesn't zap. In fact it had no zap from the moment it was cut.
Probably due to the high temp, it was literally a HP soap.
Does it zap?????

 

[Elly]

I also like ToniD have experienced crumbling soap that were lye heavy, make sure yours is not just due to the high temp check if you didn't put too much lye.

 

[agriffin]

That's what I'm thinking...lye heavy. Does it zap?

 

[Fyrja]

My first thought was lye heavy also, but strangely enough there's no zap to it. Just the really dry crumbly center.

So I'm guessing the lesson I'm learning here is that when it comes to Castile I should keep soaping temperatures fairly low?

 

[anolinde]

Hi! I just joined this site and am a total noob at soapmaking, but I started my very first batch on Friday and today, I had the exact same problem when I cut the soap! My soap isn't castille, though .. it's actually a basic olive oil and lard soap. And I don't believe the temperature was too high with me, either. I used tupperware as a mold, though, and I put a lid on it .. maybe it got too hot then? I also don't think it was lye-heavy because I'm pretty sure my recipe uses 10% discount, but I should probably re-check that ..

Anyway, would love to hear what others have to say about why this batch is so crumbly in the middle!

Can't wait for the 4-week cure period and can't wait to start on a second batch!