does everyone stick blend?

[brandnew]

ladies, a question on blending...I live overseas and am visiting my mother in Calif. and am dying to try soaping with good ol Crisco I'm sure I can borrow a scale from someone and but the thought of actually buying a stick blender seems silly. Now how long do you think it'd take the soap to trace if I just stirred the soap? :? Thanks!! Am looking forward to a new experiment!!!

 

[Lindy]

Wouldn't want to live without my stickblender....

 

[brandnew]

me either BUT..... that doesn't answer my question!!! Is it about 20-30 minutes?

 

[ClaraSuds]

me either BUT..... that doesn't answer my question!!! Is it about 20-30 minutes?

When you say Crisco, do you mean Crisco and something else? Just Crisco? I believe Crisco's formula is different depending on 'stuff'. Lots of variables.

 

[green soap]

me either BUT..... that doesn't answer my question!!! Is it about 20-30 minutes?

Not for crisco, but a blend of soft and 20% PKO for my first batch took over an hour to saponify by hand mixing. Crisco might go faster. Make sure you enter the right type of crisco in soapcalc.

I would guess 45 minutes.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Here is what happened when I did NOT stick blend: spongy, soft, and crumbly soap (no lye pocket and oil separation, just soft and like a loaf of pound cake). I have been using a lot of formula with tallow lately and got complacent. I thought there are enough hard oils but I forgot I was also working with a lot of castor oil. Too lazy to bring out (and wash afterwards) the stick blender; hand stirred it to what looked like a thin trace and poured.

That was 20 hours ago. Not I am sticking the whole thing in 170F oven and see if I can rescue it and to avoid re-batching (which is a pain because I don't have a crock pot and no plan to clutter up my nice kitchen with more stuff).

In case anyone is curious, it is:

300g coconut
300g palm (leftover from earlier days)
240g castor
240g olive

superfat @6%

Only additives are 5g rosemary oleoresin, 30g tea tree, 10g peppermint.

Incidentally, this is the first time I followed a recipe. Even my very first batch of soap, I made up the formula myself. Not saying it is a bad recipe, just frustrated. Between that and the experiment with FO (an entirely different batch), I am not having a good soaping weekend.

 

[brandnew]

ok...been out of the country too long...are there different types of Crisco? I'd use a blend of oils but thought there was only ONE kind of Crisco!

also to Seifenblasen I was under the impression if you use Castor oil it's best to use it as a support for your existing oils and not as a main ingredient...perhaps I'm wrong?...ladies?..... :?

 

[Seifenblasen]

I was under the impression if you use Castor oil it's best to use it as a support for your existing oils and not as a main ingredient...perhaps I'm wrong?...ladies?.....

Normally, yes, except when it come to shampoo bars and shaving soaps, most recipes bump the percentage of castor oil way up. I was trying to make shampoo bars.

ok...been out of the country too long...are there different types of Crisco? I'd use a blend of oils but thought there was only ONE kind of Crisco!

Looks like Crisco is a mix of palm and soybean oils. Not sure if the manufacturer will disclose the percentage of each. If not, you can run it through gas chromatography or do titration. :shock:

 

[brandnew]

yikes!! thanks...just googled it on kathy miller's site (and a couple of other sites) and the sap value given for Crisco is 0.1369 for lye crystals...won't be making it til Feb. so.....we'll see thanks for the help! .

 

[Lindy]

I do know of some people who have soaped using Crisco and liked it.

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

I have soaped with this type of shortening I does take a long time to trace in my experience. (over an hour) There is an off brand of shortening available at walmart (has that chain spread to CA?) it contains tallow and palm. It takes 15-20 mins to trace, for me. Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[brandnew]

yes they do have Walmarts in LA (don't think folks could live without it ). When you use the walmart brand do you use the same sap value at 0.1369? or just use the new crisco on the soapcalc? thanks alot...I'm really looking forward to trying it! In La la land I should be able to get my hands on lots of other oils/butters! yippee !! :!:

 

[Seifenblasen]

Scroll to the bottom to the last question about shortening. It has a bit more information that Kathy Miller's site:

http://www.soapcalc.net/info/FAQ.asp

Personally I am not a fan of Crisco (in my food or soap). One danger is the manufacturer can modify the formulation without notice based on commodity prices (of soybean oil, palm oil, etc). If they use more soybean oil than palm, all they need to do is up the level of hydrogenation and the product will behave quite identical (to something with more palm) in cooking, but may mess up your soaping.

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

I dont pay much atten to sap, probably should. But any way the soapcalc has an option for Walmart GV shortening tallow and palm. Looking at a tub right now. Ingre: Beef tallow, Palm oil,Vegetable Mono and Diglycerides, BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid. I like the way this soaps, no problems as of yet.Usually throw in some castor oil,too. I understand Seifenblasen's point about ingredients levels they're subject to change. I don't like to use regular crisco, I've read claims of dos.

 

[Maythorn]

I can't not stickblend. I had a batch lose heat from just sitting there and stirring was doing nothing. It took 20 minutes longer to trace that way and just looked different. The result was a ton of ash. My soaps harden faster with stickblending and it breaks up any milk that wants to make clumps or dots.

 

[Lilahblossom]

I use the short bursts of stick blending. Arthritis means you use a stick blender. I love crisco soap. I usually HP it though and use the samples from Bramble Berry for fragrance. Usually one three lb. can will use just a half oz of fragrance for me. And the three lb can fits nice in the crockpot. Makes a pretty good soap really. Last one I used still had the soy and cottonseed.
If you have nothing else, at least get a stick blender. I have black and decker and it really goes to work. Besides that and an old thrift store crock pot, you can use plastic for just about everything else. Good luck!