Does PKO run hotter than coconut?

[MarlinFlake]

I'm pretty new to soaping (just did batch #6). I did one batch that was 39/28/28/5 Olive/Palm/Coconut/Castor, and then a few days later another batch that was 60/40 Olive/PKO. Both were 1000g of fat, 330g of water, CPOP one hour in the oven at 170 F, then sitting in the oven overnight with the oven off. The temperature of the first batch was around 110 F going into the mold, and the second batch was around 105 F. The first was a 2% lye discount and the second was 6%. Both batches came out fine, but the second one got "alien brain" on the surface. It's a minor cosmetic defect, but I'm wondering how to avoid this in the future.

I've read in a Soap Queen article that this is caused by overheating. I'm curious what advice the experienced folks on the forum might have. Why did one turn out perfect and the other had this "brain" look? Was it the difference in oils that I used? The different lye discount? Should I add more water when using PKO? Was this just a fluke? Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[newbie]

DId you use any FO? I see you used the same amount of water but how did the water compare to the lye amount?

 

[shunt2011]

I've used both and not noticed a difference between them. However, I soap cool and I don't CPOP. I have no problem getting gel without the help of the oven.

Did you use a water discount? Did you use eo/fo or sugar/honey? Those can affect the heating too.

 

[MarlinFlake]

Thanks for the replies!

You reminded me that I did use a different FO. Just 1 tbsp each time, but they were different. The first was Brambleberry's Black Tea, and the second was their Papaya Coconut. I've used the Papaya Coconut before in CP without noticing anything, but of course it could be different in CPOP. Maybe that's the answer.

I didn't use any sugar or anything with sugar, or any other additives. There was no deliberate water discount; the water amount came from the Brambleberry Lye Calculator. Both were more than 2x the amount of NaOH, so while the difference in NaOH/water ratio could be a thing, there seems to have been plenty of water both times. If the oils don't behave differently the FO sounds like the more likely factor to cause this problem. Does that seem right? If it's the FO, is there a way to compensate for that? E.g. CPOP at a lower temp when using that one?

 

[shunt2011]

I can't help you with the CPOP as the two times I did try it I didn't like the result (bubbles on my soap and overheated). I just cover and lay a towel over my soap and always get gel. Can't help you there. Sorry!

 

[newbie]

Black Tea is not a heater but someone else is running some tests on Coconut FO's and boy, do some of them heat up! If it is a heater and you CPOP'ed it as well, that could easily give you cracking or alien brains. YOu can always try it again without using the oven and just covering the molds and watching. I use a heating pad if I have to but even that with a heating FO can cause problems.

 

[cmzaha]

Coconut fo is notorious for overheating. Mine overheats to the point of liquefying before I can even get it into the freezer. Also, less heating will occur with water discounting. More water more heat

 

[ShySoaper]

Black Tea is not a heater but someone else is running some tests on Coconut FO's and boy, do some of them heat up! If it is a heater and you CPOP'ed it as well, that could easily give you cracking or alien brains. YOu can always try it again without using the oven and just covering the molds and watching. I use a heating pad if I have to but even that with a heating FO can cause problems.

My alien brained cucumber soap was the same recipe as my aloe Vera but the fragrance was different now I kinda understand why there’s cracking and wrinkles. I left it in the oven over night also no gelling took place.

 

[ShySoaper]

My alien brained cucumber soap was the same recipe as my aloe Vera but the fragrance was different now I kinda understand why there’s cracking and wrinkles. I left it in the oven over night also no gelling took place.

My Aloe Vera bar fragrance came from a different company as well as my wrinkly alien brained cucumber