Gloppy rice flour

[SoapSisters]

I recently decided to try rice flour instead of rice puree because it seemed like less fuss. I used 2 teaspoons of rice flour in a batch with 500g of oils. I let the rice flour soak in 1 tablespoon of distilled water for about 45 minutes. Since I use soy wax and it needs to stay very warm, I heated my rice mixture in the microwave for about 10 seconds before adding it to the oils.

Well! It turned into gloppy rice paste! I probably should have diluted it more at that point, but I just added it to the oils and stick blended. Even after stick blending for quite a while, I could still see bits of rice flour paste floating in my oils. I soaped as usual, and it was mainly okay, but the end of the pour was a bit gloppy. And the bars have a rough texture on the cut sides.

I know that @Dawni and @Misschief use rice flour in soap. I read through the triple rice thread and didn't see anything about rice flour being problematic/challenging.

Questions: Did I use too much rice flour? Would it have helped if I had diluted more? Has anyone else experienced gloppy rice flour? How do others add rice flour to the batter?

 

[Dawni]

This is CP, yes?

I've not tried rice flour nor rice puree in CP but before my soap starts cooking, the puree indeed makes a gloppy mess inside my pot when mixed in with the oils. It sinks to the bottom and "acts" quite funny (I poke it n move it around with my spatula before mixing lol) until I'm done with the mixer.

My powder/flour I add in a bit at a time, more like sprinkle it like how you'd do for powdered sugar on desserts otherwise it cooks to orange-y, gel like, weird particles in my case (yeah, sucks finding that out lol), if they go in as clumps and I didn't mix well.

I could be wrong, but maybe the amount of mixing I'm allowed to do, because I HP, helps break down/dissolve/incorporate much of the puree and powder particles. I just try to make sure everything is as smooth, even if thick, as possible before I add them.

 

[SoapSisters]

Wow! Thanks so much for your reply @Dawni ! It's CP, yes.

You actually just helped solve another of this soap's mysteries (!!!), because I also had "orange-y, weird particles" in my soap, a spot or two in each bar. And I just couldn't figure out what was brownish-orange in my batch.

I think I'm going to try your method next time. I just wonder how that would work in CP. Would you sprinkle and add to the oils, stick blending after each sprinke, before adding the lye?

 

[Dawni]

You're welcome! Glad to be of service haha

Would you sprinkle and add to the oils, stick blending after each sprinke, before adding the lye?

That's exactly how I do it. Just a short burst or two

 

[SoapSisters]

You're welcome! Glad to be of service haha

That's exactly how I do it. Just a short burst or two

Thanks again! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Anstarx]

Rice flour mixed and cooked with water is what traditionally used as paper glue here
I did a CP soap with rice flour and rice wine. When adding rice flour, I mixed it with some of the oil so it's a thin poaste, added back into the rest of the oil, then do a couple of SB bursts before adding lye.

 

[SoapSisters]

Rice flour mixed and cooked with water is what traditionally used as paper glue here
I did a CP soap with rice flour and rice wine. When adding rice flour, I mixed it with some of the oil so it's a thin poaste, added back into the rest of the oil, then do a couple of SB bursts before adding lye.

Hence the gluey-ness, huh?

Thanks for the advice! I'll give your way a try.

 

[Quilter99755]

Rice flour mixed and cooked with water is what traditionally used as paper glue here
I did a CP soap with rice flour and rice wine. When adding rice flour, I mixed it with some of the oil so it's a thin poaste, added back into the rest of the oil, then do a couple of SB bursts before adding lye.

My method is similar to this both for the puree and the rice flour. I thin with a little of the held back water at room temperature to make a smooth paste, add a little of held back oils at room temperature to thin it out and make sure there are no lumps. Then I add a little bit of the heated oils....sort of like adding hot pudding mix to the eggs before adding that back into the hot pudding mix. Just enough to make sure that the rice puree or flour isn't instantly cooking. Then I pour into the hot oil mixture. I don't have to use the blender very much to keep it all smooth...I am mostly stirring it into the oil with very few stick blender bursts. So far no lumps at all.

 

[SoapSisters]

My method is similar to this both for the puree and the rice flour.

Thanks so much for your reply! Would you mind sharing how much rice flour you add? I used 2 tsp for 500g of oil (approx 16 ounces) and I'm wondering if that was too much.

 

[Quilter99755]

My notes say 1 1/2 teaspoon per 500 grams. I'm not sure where I got that amount, but somewhere in the Triple Rice thread. I was more worried about getting it in the oils while it was smooth as I didn't think that it could be stick blended into smoothness after it was in the oils. I added the hot oils a little at a time so that it gradually raised the temperature of the mixture. It takes a bit of extra time, but then you don't have to stick blend hardly at all to mix it into the oil. I didn't take notes but seem to remember that I used a small mini whisk to stir in the water and oils since the stick blender was useless for such a small amount.

 

[SoapSisters]

@Quilter99755 Sorry for the delay in my respsonse. I really appreciate your detailed explanation!! Thank you! I'm going to give it a try.

 

[Quilter99755]

I hope it works for you. I love my Triple Rice Soap. I was a little skeptical at first, but when @Dawni said she wasn't sure how much she put in the soap when she first made it, I figured I could try and probably not mess it up. I don't think your extra amount of rice flour would make a difference. My hubby is a potato man, so I have to actually cook for this process...although I started freezing the puree and sometimes even the rice water so I don't have to cook it on the soaping date! LOL

 

[janesathome]

I hope it works for you. I love my Triple Rice Soap. I was a little skeptical at first, but when @Dawni said she wasn't sure how much she put in the soap when she first made it, I figured I could try and probably not mess it up. I don't think your extra amount of rice flour would make a difference. My hubby is a potato man, so I have to actually cook for this process...although I started freezing the puree and sometimes even the rice water so I don't have to cook it on the soaping date! LOL

Help! I’ve just cooked up some rice with extra water and strained the water to freeze into ice cubes. Will blend up some of the cooked rice with distilled water as well. I’m just trying to figure out how to figure out the water discount… my brain isn’t working for me but I think I have to adjust the amount of my thick “rice water” from the cooked rice, to go into the sodium hydroxide, yes?

 

[AliOop]

The easiest way is to weigh the water you use to slurry the rice, and then subtract that from your total water.

Honestly, I just use the rice water/milk as a 1:1 water replacer. Then I don't worry about the additional water in my rice slurry, since I don't add that much of it, and I normally soap at 40% lye concentration.

If you are soaping at a lower lye concentration, or adding lots of rice slurry, then it may be best to keep track of the additional water weight.

I do love rice soap - hope you do, too!

 

[Quilter99755]

Help! I’ve just cooked up some rice with extra water and strained the water to freeze into ice cubes. Will blend up some of the cooked rice with distilled water as well. I’m just trying to figure out how to figure out the water discount… my brain isn’t working for me but I think I have to adjust the amount of my thick “rice water” from the cooked rice, to go into the sodium hydroxide, yes?

The portion of water that I use to dissolve the lye is from rinsing the rice, not cooking it. My notes say that I used 75% of the water from the rinse and 25% with the slurry. I used 1/4 cup of rice with 1/2 cup or more of distilled water. Cooked that until the rice was very mushy, then drained off the water but saved it. Then used the 25% that had been drained off back into the rice to make a smooth slurry. I did not make any notes about how much of the rice I used for the slurry

Since I HP my soaps I use 2:1 water to lye and sometimes if needed add a bit more to make the batter a little more fluid.

I can't find my notes on the rice slurry that I froze, but know I figured it out so that each ice cube of slurry would go into a batch of 500 grams of oil...give or take a bit.

Good luck. Hope this helped a bit.

 

[janesathome]

The portion of water that I use to dissolve the lye is from rinsing the rice, not cooking it. My notes say that I used 75% of the water from the rinse and 25% with the slurry. I used 1/4 cup of rice with 1/2 cup or more of distilled water. Cooked that until the rice was very mushy, then drained off the water but saved it. Then used the 25% that had been drained off back into the rice to make a smooth slurry. I did not make any notes about how much of the rice I used for the slurry

Since I HP my soaps I use 2:1 water to lye and sometimes if needed add a bit more to make the batter a little more fluid.

I can't find my notes on the rice slurry that I froze, but know I figured it out so that each ice cube of slurry would go into a batch of 500 grams of oil...give or take a bit.

Good luck. Hope this helped a bit.

Thank you so much! I’ll try making a batch this week. Always interesting to learn

 

[janesathome]

The easiest way is to weigh the water you use to slurry the rice, and then subtract that from your total water.

Honestly, I just use the rice water/milk as a 1:1 water replacer. Then I don't worry about the additional water in my rice slurry, since I don't add that much of it, and I normally soap at 40% lye concentration.

If you are soaping at a lower lye concentration, or adding lots of rice slurry, then it may be best to keep track of the additional water weight.

I do love rice soap - hope you do, too!

Thanks! I think I may abandon my cooked rice “water” and use the water from some soaked, but not cooked, rice. Then add a touch of the cooked slurry. Will be fun to see what happens!

 

[janesathome]

Thanks! I think I may abandon my cooked rice “water” and use the water from some soaked, but not cooked, rice. Then add a touch of the cooked slurry. Will be fun to see what happens!

Update - so I made a small batch of rice milk soap last night just to see what would happen with the rice milk and slurry from the cooked rice. Time will tell on how good the soap is, but I am happy with how it set up and the way it looks! And it was nice to have a batter that I could just pour into the mold - no colours, designs and easy cleanup
Thanks to you and Quilter99755 for sharing your experience, and encouragement!

 

[Quilter99755]

Update - so I made a small batch of rice milk soap last night just to see what would happen with the rice milk and slurry from the cooked rice. Time will tell on how good the soap is, but I am happy with how it set up and the way it looks! And it was nice to have a batter that I could just pour into the mold - no colours, designs and easy cleanup
Thanks to you and Quilter99755 for sharing your experience, and encouragement!

I sure looks beautiful. I hope you love it as much as I do.

 

[AliOop]

Those bars are just lovely!