Gelling 55% lard soaps

[KentuckySilks]

Hi all! I have recently been using high lard soaps and it’s difficult for me to gel them, do you guys cpop or use the heating pad and cover method? I do a 36% lie concentration which I know is harder to gel, I never had problems yelling until I started with higher lard concentrations.
On one recipe a while back. I kept the soap in the oven at 175 for about 45 minutes and it gelled. But that seems so hot for such a long period of time.

 

[DeeAnna]

So what problems are you having with the soap you're currently making? Is it that you are only comfortable when you see visible signs of gel and your current recipe doesn't do that? Or are there other issues about the soap that concern you?

I mean, my typical recipes are based on about 50% lard. I generally don't see obvious signs of gel when the soap is saponifying, but the mold is toasty warm to the touch. Also the cut bars are firm, translucent, have good depth of color -- everything that I expect of soap that has gotten warm enough to be at or near its gel temperature. I decided it's less about me having to verify the soap is in the gel stage and more about the soap getting warm enough to have the benefits without necessarily showing a visual difference.

But maybe that's not what you're concerned about, so I'm curious to know more about your observations of your soap.

 

[KentuckySilks]

So what problems are you having with the soap you're currently making? Is it that you are only comfortable when you see visible signs of gel and your current recipe doesn't do that? Or are there other issues about the soap that concern you?

I mean, my typical recipes are based on about 50% lard. I generally don't see obvious signs of gel when the soap is saponifying, but the mold is toasty warm to the touch. Also the cut bars are firm, translucent, have good depth of color -- everything that I expect of soap that has gotten warm enough to be at or near its gel temperature. I decided it's less about me having to verify the soap is in the gel stage and more about the soap getting warm enough to have the benefits without necessarily showing a visual difference.

But maybe that's not what you're concerned about, so I'm curious to know more about your observations of your soap.

The cut bars aren’t translucent or smooth, which always happened with my 30% palm ones, I love gelled soap- I’m not that gung ho on bolder colors, but the translucent instead of rough texture

 

[DeeAnna]

OKay, so I agree your soap probably isn't getting warm enough to get the results you want.

Sometimes in winter, I cover my soap with a towel or box to hold in a bit more warmth to ensure the soap gets hot enough all the way to the edges and ends. That seems to work pretty well when my house is cool (60-70F).

I seldom have to cover the soap in the summertime when my house is a fair bit warmer. My soap batter usually starts around 90-100F / 32-38C, just for reference, so not real warm.

Many years ago I did the 170F / 75C CPOP thing, but really thought that method caused more troubles than it was worth.

It's been my perception that many people are doing CPOP a bit differently in recent years -- preheat the oven to around 140-150F / 60-65C, turn the oven off, then put the soap into the warmed oven. Let the soap stay in the oven for a couple hours ... or even overnight if you can spare the oven.

It's a bit more foolproof in that the oven is turned off when you start the CPOP process, so you don't have to remember to turn it off later. That is good for me -- I can be pretty absent minded. You might try that instead?

 

[AliOop]

With 40% lye concentration, masterbatched room-temp lye solution, and usually ~50% lard recipes, I gel with the heating pad + overturned box. Wrapping the mold with towels or blankets instead of a box would work just as well. Either way, gelling with a heating pad doesn't tie up the oven, doesn't risk having someone else turn on the oven with your soap in it, and doesn't transfer scents to the oven. If your pad has a timer, or if you connect it to a plug-in timer, you can set it to the time that works for your soap. Usually 1-2 hours does the trick for mine.