Coffee soap - still gellin'

[Miz Jenny]

Okay, so my coffee soap is still gellin'. Is this normal? Assuming I shouldn't cut until it's done?

 

[Ruthie]

You might get partial gel so I would wait.

 

[Miz Jenny]

I've never gotten gel, so I just wasn't sure. Weird. I don't want to take the chance of loosing this soap. It really has a lovely scent.
I

 

[Lotus]

I'm about to start mine. I have a question. Did you freeze your coffee first? Is that really all that necessary? I read in a search on the forum that someone did. The only reason I can think of for using it in cubes is the possible change of "flavor" if it's too hot. I'd like to know, if you don't mind, before I waste a bunch of oil, and coffee, for that matter.

 

[Miz Jenny]

No, I didn't. I soap at room temp so had no problem with overheating.

 

[Lotus]

Perfect, Miz Jenny. Thank you. I can't wait for your photos (you will show some, right?)!

 

[Lotus]

Thanks for the inspiration. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to gel or not. I decided to try for not. Really, if I don't insulate, I don't have a problem with keeping them from gelling. I'm wondering if it's the fact that it's relatively dry here, at the moment. I used to live in a house with a really cool, drafty basement, which was where I would set my soaps up. They never gelled there. Anyway. . . good luck on yours!!

 

[Miz Jenny]

I'm probably gonna wait a couple more days before cutting. It doesn't smell like coffee or chocolate but like caramel. Who knew? I didn't use coffee pot coffee. I boiled a cup of ground coffee in water in a sauce pan. Let simmer till crema formed on the top. Poured it through a strainer and let it sit overnight and it thickened a bit.

 

[Lotus]

I'm probably gonna wait a couple more days before cutting. It doesn't smell like coffee or chocolate but like caramel. Who knew? I didn't use coffee pot coffee. I boiled a cup of ground coffee in water in a sauce pan. Let simmer till crema formed on the top. Poured it through a strainer and let it sit overnight and it thickened a bit.

Oh! I should've done that! I pretty much made a really strong "batch" of french press coffee from a local coffee roaster, called Stumptown. I let it reach room temperature and then mixed it with my lye. Then I added some extra grounds at trace. Mine doesn't seem to smell much like coffee anymore, at them moment, but then it's under plastic. It did also smell very caramelly while I was blending it, as well.

 

[cursivearts]

How is everyone's turning out? I used my espresso machine and brewed mine on the strongest setting, let it chill in the fridge overnight, then used my burr grinder to grind superfine grounds for exfoliant (I used to manage a coffee shop). :smile: Mine is super dark, like tootsie roll brown. It definitely gelled. Of course, I did it in a PVC mold, so it took like four days before I could get it out. I need to get photos for you guys.

I'm looking forward to seeing MizJenny's.

 

[Lotus]

How is everyone's turning out? I used my espresso machine and brewed mine on the strongest setting, let it chill in the fridge overnight, then used my burr grinder to grind superfine grounds for exfoliant (I used to manage a coffee shop). :smile: Mine is super dark, like tootsie roll brown. It definitely gelled. Of course, I did it in a PVC mold, so it took like four days before I could get it out. I need to get photos for you guys.

I'm looking forward to seeing MizJenny's.

Oooh! I can't wait to see your photos! Mine still hasn't gelled (yay). I'm really not a fan of my soaps when they gel. I don't know, I just like the creamier bar. I used my burr grinder for the extra grounds too (I come from a hipstery, coffee snobby, weird family), and mine didn't turn out that dark. I suppose next time I should make it even stronger, and maybe let it steep MUCH longer. I like that idea of a tootsie roll brown.

By the way, did anyone do anything special with their recipe? I just used Olive oil, Lard, and Coconut oil. Granted I went a little bit high with my coconut, at 20%.

 

[Miz Jenny]

Lotus, I lived in Portland 12 yrs. Youngest sis still lives there. I'm a Coffee People fanatic and use it with my Keurig.

Wish I'd get up nerve to use a pvc mold!

 

[Lotus]

Miz Jenny, cool! It's a really fun, friendly city. I've been here all my life, and wouldn't dream of leaving. Coffee People seems to be going out, quite a bit, in the last few years. Stumptown seems to be putting a lot of coffee shops to shame. I really like them, to be honest. But, there are some pretty awesome smaller places that are coming up pretty nicely. Extracto, heart, and Coava.

I don't have any nerve for using PVC either.

 

[stargazer44]

I soap either room temp or thermal soaping, but I still freeze my coffee or milk. I don't know why - just how I was taught. But I never check temps on anything.

ETA - I am 20 min north of Portland

 

[cursivearts]

Here's the pic of my coffee soap. It was the best and only one I could get because the baby was hurtling toward it at full speed.

I didn't do anything special. Olive oil, coconut, palm and castor. My coffee was super, super dark, but that's about it. The last (and first time) I made coffee soap it came out much lighter, like Lotus' but it was in a very thin mold and didn't gel at all

 

[dimitris]

That's quite dark! How did you manage to make it so?
I also managed to get a light brown soap when I used a very strong coffee.

 

[cursivearts]

I know it gelled really really well in the PVC mold. I also wonder if it was the FO I used (I got it from a fragrance oil supplier on Etsy, before I discovered the vast wealth of info on this forum) and it could have been that I used espresso (I have a small machine, and I cranked it up to the strongest setting). I'm suddenly blanking on what the coffee soap looked like before I poured it into the mold, but I feel like it was already darker than what Lotus' soap looked like earlier in the thread, so if I had to guess, I'd say the combination of the FO (it def has vanilla scents in it and I know that browns soap) and the espresso.

 

[Lotus]

Cursive! That is gorgeous! I came here to report and ask a question. I've never had a bad batch of soap, and I'm wondering if I'm going to have to re batch this one. It gelled all the way through, but very lightly (if you can imagine what I mean) last night. I woke up to this. Is this the notorious lye pockets?

Edit: No, the lye pockets are white, right? So, would this be oil? It's not oily and feels the same as the rest of the bar. As far as I can tell, it's just a discoloration.

 

[cursivearts]

If I had to guess, I'd say discoloration, perhaps from the coffee grinds. Because if you look at them, you see they look blurred there, almost like watercolor. Perhaps some moisture was pulled out of the air.

 

[Lotus]

Thank you, cursive. I was able to shave a sliver off of the top, and it wasn't there underneath. So I'm thinking it's fine.