Cold Process Oven Process

[KCKblogger]

I saw a youtube tutorial mentioning about this process and I am wondering what you guys think of it. Can I do the oven part using my usual regular cold process recipe or do we have to tweak it for the oven. Thank you very much.

 

[houseofwool]

I use CPOP all the time for recipes that I want to gel. I do my same recipe and when I am ready to add the lye water to the oils, I turn the oven on to the lowest setting to preheat for a few minutes.

Once I have the soap poured, I put the molds into the oven (now turned off) and flip on the light. It works to keep the soap insulated and to force it to gel. The light adds just enough extra heat.

I check it frequently to ensure that it isn't overheating. If it starts to overheat you will see the top of the soap start to bulge upwards, if overheating progressing, the soap can crack. If it gets too warm, I pull it from the oven.

Otherwise, I keep it in the oven until gel reaches the corners of the mold and then just a bit more to make sure the bottom corners gel as well.

Really, you are using the slightly preheated oven as a way to capture and hold all of the heat generated by saponification.

 

[engblom]

You could also use a delayed CPOP method. Begin as you would do with a normal CP project and pour the batter into the molds. Let them be until most of the reaction has taken place. It does not matter if your soap is partially gelling at this point.

Then when the soap is stable enough for the oven, put it into the oven and force it to gel (50C). This with delaying the oven stage will prevent the "Sponge Bob" problem some silicone molds are causing.

 

[KCKblogger]

Thank you houseofwool. I will try that right now. I understand it shortened the waiting time for curing as well, right?

 

[shunt2011]

I've tried CPOP and have not had good luck with it. Always overheated. I prefer my wood molds lined with silicone and then just put the cover on and a light towel an I get gel every time with no overheating. As for curing no it does not shorten the cure time. You will still want to cure your soap 4-6 weeks.

 

[ilovesoap2]

Is CPOP only for gelling?
I know we can hot process on the stove top or in a crock pot, but can we
not cook the soap in the oven also? 1 hr? 2hrs? or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[paillo]

I CPOP most of the time, popping last night's batch into the oven the next morning so my pretty tops have had time to fully gel and keep their shape.

It removes more water, and your soap will feel harder than it would if you didn't CPOP. But as others have said, this is NOT a substitute for a good long cure. It will have none of the qualities that require the usual good cure time.

 

[ilovesoap2]

@paillo
at what temp and for how long?

 

[paillo]

I preheat the oven to 170, pop the soap in, turn off the oven after an hour, and let the soap rest in the oven 'til evening, when it gets cut. That help?

 

[ilovesoap2]

Sure did.
Thank you.

 

[houseofwool]

I rarely leave the oven on while the soap is in it. That's when I have issues with overheating.

I rarely take temps when soaping because I use the thermal transfer method, which usually results in a fairly cool batter once my liquid oils are added.

 

[pattime]

I've made 3 batches of soap and used this method all 3 times.....BUT!!
Learn from my mistake and DON'T do it if you have sugars and milks in your batch....gets too hot.
[URLhttp://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=43240][/URL]

Apart from that though I soap at room temp and LOVE this method!