First CP batch - Texture?

[wearytraveler]

​I kind of like the idea of putting the loaf into the oven then waiting for the next day to see what it looks like. OK, I think I'll see if I can find some old, beat up towel and wrap the mold in the oven. I'll need to see how low my oven can go​. I'm thinking to pre-heat to 100 (or as low as possible) then, after pouring into the mold I'll turn off the oven then I'll cover, wrap and insert into the oven overnight leaving it on the middle tier. I'm looking forward to trying this!

 

[IrishLass]

Can you please post a picture of a soap with melted confetti in it? I have heaps of confetti to get through... [emoji2]

Actually, my confetti or scraps aren't melted, just softened up a little so that they stay put in my soap, i.e., they keep their shape, but don't become un-lodged and fall out when washing with the soap. I was having a problem with some of my larger scraps falling out when bathing/showering, especially if they were older scraps, but dampening them with a spray of 2 of water and heating them to soften was the trick in getting them to 'meld' to my gelling soap batter and stay put when using the finished soap.

As an alternative to adding your confetti to new batches of soap, you can do what I do with the majority of my own scraps (it's only occasionally that I ever add them to new batches of soap). The majority of the time, I squish them up like clay when they are still soft/new and press them into individual, decorative plastic soap molds to form pretty bars of usable soap. If I wait too long, though, and the scraps have hardened up considerably, I'll do the same thing as I do when I want to add the scraps to new soap- I just spritz with a little water to dampen, and heat until softened, only I make sure to heat them until they are soft enough for me to be able to squish them together into a lump of 'soap clay' so that they can be pressed into my decorative indy molds to form bars of soap. They actually look pretty cool when done:

IrishLass

 

[penelopejane]

What I've been doing (trial & error got me to this) is mixing 150g confetti (coarse grated by a diligent DH) with 300g new soap batter at light trace and putting it in as a layer or swirl in new soap batter mix. No problem with separation and confetti sticks. My mix is your "Irish cream" (I call it that) with RB instead of safflower oil but I am changing the RB. Can't get safflower here.

Embeds are another matter. I have a moon soap and the moon falls out when the soap is 2mm thick without fail!

 

[wearytraveler]

So in preparation for this I went home last night and checked out my oven and found the lowest temp I can get to is 175. I figure I can preheat to 175 then let the oven cool off enough before popping in the covered and bundled mold. I guess I can get an oven thermometer and when it hits 100 I can put it all in and close the door for 12 hours. Hoping this works out.

 

[Arthur Dent]

By covering and bundling the mold before putting it into the oven, aren't you effectively insulating it against the gentle heat that you are going for?

 

[dixiedragon]

Penelope, that is really lovely! it looks like some kind of very delicate swirl. I never thought of putting confetti in only one layer of soap!

 

[dixiedragon]

So in preparation for this I went home last night and checked out my oven and found the lowest temp I can get to is 175. I figure I can preheat to 175 then let the oven cool off enough before popping in the covered and bundled mold. I guess I can get an oven thermometer and when it hits 100 I can put it all in and close the door for 12 hours. Hoping this works out.

It's not a super precise process. Just make sure your mold can stand up to that temperature. I frequently make my soap, put it in the pre-heated oven and leave it for 12 hours (or more, if it's a workday.) I'd preheat the oven to 175, turn it off, flap the door a few times to drop the temp a bit, and put the soap in.

I put my soap on a cookie sheet covered with a dish towel or wax paper. I figure if I have a volcano, the cookie sheet will catch it and the wax paper is to protect the cookie sheet from the soap, b/c raw soap reacts dramatically with aluminum.

 

[penelopejane]

By covering and bundling the mold before putting it into the oven, aren't you effectively insulating it against the gentle heat that you are going for?

No because the soap is heating itself from the centre. You are just providing a micro environment where the whole soap warms up evenly, holds that gentle heat for a little bit and slowly cools down.

 

[IrishLass]

By covering and bundling the mold before putting it into the oven, aren't you effectively insulating it against the gentle heat that you are going for?

It depends on how hot and how long you keep your oven on. I particularly don't like having my oven on hot for very long if I can help it, so heating it to 110F, turning it off, and covering my mold before placing in the oven works like a charm to provide just the right amount of sustained heat for complete gel to occur, while also keeping my electric bills down.


IrishLass

 

[wearytraveler]

So last night I tried the CPOP method following the exact same recipe (including scent) as the last batch that I posted about in this thread. Well, not exact... I omitted the sodium lactate to see if that was what gave the last batch the rubbery texture. I found this method just as easy as the non oven processed. The mold was placed in the oven (preheated to 175 then allowed to cool for a few minutes) at 10:30 last night and I was able to un-mold and cut by 10:30 this morning. I found the loaf to be just as hard as the first CP batch that was popped into the freezer to prevent gel. The feel/texture of this batch is just as the last; rubbery feeling like I had described earlier in this thread. The bars are hard, not sticky or tacky and they are not flexible (in a rubbery way). They just have that rubbery feel. Maybe, as I've stated earlier, this is the way CP soap feels when done and I just don't know any better. My first batch (HP) had a smoother, waxy feel and seeing that it's the only experience I have with home made soaps it's the only thing I have for comparison. I guess after a proper curing period I'll check them out again and see if the texture is the same.
Something I noticed was that the scent for the CPOP batch was definitely faded a bit. I used the same FO in the same amounts and there is a definite case of vanishing scent.
Question: since the batch was popped in the oven and left alone for 12 hours, how can I tell it fully went through gel?

Thanks!

 

[penelopejane]

Did you still use 2 tbsp TD?
It shouldn't be spongy a day later. What is the actual recipe? My soap feels like real soap 12 hrs after making it.

It is clear right the way through the bar so that part worked and the colours are lovely as is the swirl. It's a beautiful soap. My first 4 go it alone soaps are now confetti!!

 

[wearytraveler]

I used 2 TSP of TD, not 2 TBSP. My recipe is below.

Did you still use 2 tbsp TD?
It shouldn't be spongy a day later. What is the actual recipe? My soap feels like real soap 12 hrs after making it.

It is clear right the way through the bar so that part worked and the colours are lovely as is the swirl. It's a beautiful soap. My first 4 go it alone soaps are now confetti!!

 

[penelopejane]

I used 2 TSP of TD, not 2 TBSP. My recipe is below.

Your recipe looks fine and your soap looks great. I think the way you describe it is how it is supposed to feel. Wait a few days and look at it again.
It's very pretty.

2tsp of TD is fine. I know my high EVOO soaps cure out white so I only use 1tsp per kg but yours will be much whiter with Lard.