cow milks in soapmaking

[melstan775]

The advice I commonly hear when adding milks to soap making is subtract 1/2 the water and substitute milk. Has anyone tried running soapcalc numbers to see what happens if you account for "milk fat, any bovine" into the oils/fats part of soapcalc? I did and I got numbers with higher hardness rating and an even 40:60 sat:unsat ratio of fats. The bubbly factor was low but the creamy factor was a whopping 28! (That's whopping for me, I can never get them that high!)

However, the lyewater reduction was a mere 3 grams. So it seems it is possible to use full water AND milk and get a harder bar. Just wondering what other people's experiences are when accounting for the milk in the fats instead of using it as a substitute for water.

 

[lizflowers42]

I assumed that in soap calc they were referring to Paula Dean's favorite ingredient, butter.

 

[melstan775]

Excellent point Liz. But they also have ghee, clarified butter. And if it is butter, what have you got against it that it's only Paula Deen's favorite ingredient? *leers suspiciously*

 

[Ianto]

From the FAQ's on soap calc:

9. What is milk fat (bovine)?
It is not butter, half and half, or heavy cream. It is the pure cream contained in those products. It is made by spinning natural whole milk (straight from the cow or other bovine animal) in a centrifuge like device. Some soapers have access to natural whole milk and can buy a cream separator or can buy milk fat from a local dairy. Heavy cream has a fat (cream) content of between 36% and 40%.

 

[melstan775]

So what you're saying is the reference to bovine milk fat is the pure cream you spin out from milk?

 

[dagmar88]

When I make milk soaps, I use them as 100% of the liquid and add the lye while the milk is frozen.
I don't take the extra fat in account; it'll just give a slightly higher superfat.

@melstan, butter in soap, really? I've always learned it makes a stinky mess.

 

[melstan775]

When I make milk soaps, I use them as 100% of the liquid and add the lye while the milk is frozen.
I don't take the extra fat in account; it'll just give a slightly higher superfat.

@melstan, butter in soap, really? I've always learned it makes a stinky mess.

I've never used it but it is on the list!

 

[lizflowers42]

Excellent point Liz. But they also have ghee, clarified butter. And if it is butter, what have you got against it that it's only Paula Deen's favorite ingredient? *leers suspiciously*

I've got nothing against it! I actually quit buying margarine recently and made the switch to using real butter, coconut oil, or olive oil in all of my cooking!

We have a semi local guy bring fresh milk to the farmer's market-its pasturized but not homoginized....so yummy! You have to shake it before using or else you get thick delicious cream blobs!

 

[Ruthie]

lizflowers, that Reminds me of my childhood! Yummy!

 

[lsg]

I have substituted homemade yogurt for 100% of the liquid and used half water and half cow's cream with great results. I don't worry about adjusting the lye calculator when using milk or cream.

 

[Nevada]

Melissa, I like to use Full Cow cream
80 oz oil batch size
2:1 Water:lye ratio
28 oz water
I use a 16 oz Carton of full cream in the recipe.
according to the Carton label, 16 oz of cream contains 160 gr of Fat.
Then enter 7% "Milk Fat, any bovine in the recipe". Go to the view/print recipe page to make sure net fat in Milk fat column matches.
For different batch size or cream amounts, adjust the percentage to end up with the proper weight in grams.
Use 12 oz of water to carefully dissolve lye, (28-16), you can add an additional 5 oz water because full cream is 1/3 water.
Hope this helps.
Roy

 

[cursivearts]

I second that I just use full milk, though I have only tried goat, not cow yet. I just replace the water with the same amount of milk and freeze it into cubes so it doesn't scald when I add the lye. So far all of my goat milk has turned out well.

 

[melstan775]

Melissa, I like to use Full Cow cream
80 oz oil batch size
2:1 Water:lye ratio
28 oz water
I use a 16 oz Carton of full cream in the recipe.
according to the Carton label, 16 oz of cream contains 160 gr of Fat.
Then enter 7% "Milk Fat, any bovine in the recipe". Go to the view/print recipe page to make sure net fat in Milk fat column matches.
For different batch size or cream amounts, adjust the percentage to end up with the proper weight in grams.
Use 12 oz of water to carefully dissolve lye, (28-16), you can add an additional 5 oz water because full cream is 1/3 water.
Hope this helps.
Roy

I got 22 oz of water in a recipe. What lye calc are you using? I dont' see anything called net net fat on the print page either?

 

[melstan775]

I second that I just use full milk, though I have only tried goat, not cow yet. I just replace the water with the same amount of milk and freeze it into cubes so it doesn't scald when I add the lye. So far all of my goat milk has turned out well.

I replace 1/2 milk usually. I was just curious if anyone had any idea what happens if you do milk and full water. but I think buy the early responses on this thread that I was wrong about bovine milk fat meant.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I assumed that in soap calc they were referring to ... butter...."
"...But they also have ghee, clarified butter....

Yeah, and some soap calculators (not sure about soapcalc specifically) also list linseed and flaxseed; they are the same thing. Just being helpful if you know one name, but not the synonym.

Anyways, look at the sap value for ghee and milk fat -- they are within 0.001 of each other. So for the purposes of soap making, ghee and milk fat are essentially the same thing. Neither would be the same as heavy cream, half-and-half, etc. since those products include some water, milk protein, and milk sugar.

If I were going to look at the effect of the milk fat content on the qualities of my soap, I'd just include the grams of fat provided by the dairy product to the oils in my soap recipe.

"...It is not butter, half and half, or heavy cream. It is the pure cream contained in those products. It is made by spinning natural whole milk (straight from the cow or other bovine animal) in a centrifuge like device...."

This is confusing, IMO. And impractical -- how many people have access to a cream separator and raw milk? :sad: