Goat milk questions

[daniel.banning]

I’m making goat milk soap today. I’m going to soapcalc a recipe together with oils I have in house, rather than follow a specific recipe. I’m finding bits and pieces of the info I’m looking for, but would just like to confirm. Can goat milk (frozen) fully replace water in a recipe? And keep super fat at 5% to account for extra fat in milk? Some goat milk recipes I’ve referenced have different ratios of water to milk. Not sure if that affects lye measurements. Thank you!

 

[Hermit]

Check out this thread: it answers your questions and has some great advice on how to use milk in soap.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/mixing-lye-with-milk-questions.87303/#post-933291

 

[artemis]

Try here: Goat Milk Soap threads

 

[daniel.banning]

Ah, good info. Thank you!

 

[TheGecko]

I’m making goat milk soap today. I’m going to soapcalc a recipe together with oils I have in house, rather than follow a specific recipe. I’m finding bits and pieces of the info I’m looking for, but would just like to confirm. Can goat milk (frozen) fully replace water in a recipe? And keep super fat at 5% to account for extra fat in milk? Some goat milk recipes I’ve referenced have different ratios of water to milk. Not sure if that affects lye measurements. Thank you!

Whether you use a 30% Lye Concentration or a 50% Lye Concentration or use Distilled Water or Aloe Vera or Goat Milk or Coffee or Beer, the amount of Sodium Hydroxide does NOT change. The amount of Sodium Hydroxide needed is determined by the type of oil/butter you are based on SAP Value. SAP Value is the amount of NaOH that is needed to turn that oil/butter into 'soap'.

With that said, there are many different way to make GMS starting with the type of goat milk you use: Evaporated Goat Milk, Store Bought Goat Milk (homogenized and pasteurized), fresh-from-the-goat Goat Milk and Powdered Goat Milk. I have made GMS with the first three, but do have Powdered GM to try one of these days.

I do a full GM replacement (see post #8 Mixing Lye with Milk Questions), but I know that some folks do a half and half where they take their 'water'...use half to make a 50% Lye Concentration and then add the other half of the 'water' as GM directly into their oils. You can also use a portion of the water to make a slurry with the powdered GM and add to oils or just add the powdered GM to the oils with full water.

You can use the same recipe for GMS that you use for Regular Soap...it's how I started. All you do is replace all or some of the Distilled Water with Goat Milk. As noted in a recent conversation, Goat Milk only contains about 4% Fat...not enough really to warrant doing the math. But you can always lower your SF if you're worried about having too much unsaponified fats. Not only do I not care, but I also use Shea Butter.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

and Powdered Goat Milk

I made GMS for a wholesale customer for 10 years. They used fresh goats milk because they raised goats. I used Meyenburg Goats Milk Powder and customers couldn't tell the difference.

On the plus side, I used water to make the NaOH solution and added the powder to my warmed oils. SB'ed for one full minute before adding the lye solution, straight from the fridge where it had been stored over night. Worked for me!

 

[TheGecko]

I made GMS for a wholesale customer for 10 years. They used fresh goats milk because they raised goats. I used Meyenburg Goats Milk Powder and customers couldn't tell the difference.

On the plus side, I used water to make the NaOH solution and added the powder to my warmed oils. SB'ed for one full minute before adding the lye solution, straight from the fridge where it had been stored over night. Worked for me!

How much powder to water do you use? Do you follow the directions as if you were drinking it or do you use a set amount PPO or what?

 

[Basil]

I have goats, so I use my own ( or rather ‘theirs’ lol) goat milk. I started with full goat milk and still do sometimes, but also do 1/2 goat and 1/2 whatever I feel like… aloe Vera juice, beer, carrot juice, and recently melted snow water. It all seems to work so far. I freeze it all in cubes and the lye solution stays really cool that way without putting the bowl in ice water. I have a separate freezer tho so I can store it. I’ve settled on 2% super fat mostly because I personally have a septic tank and live in the country and get concerned about the oils and pipes. It seems to be fine at that ratio so far. No complaints from anyone. I asked that same question about a year ago

 

[Zany_in_CO]

How much powder to water do you use? Do you follow the directions as if you were drinking it..?

Yep.

Directions: To make one cup, mix two unpacked scoops of powdered goat milk with 8 ounces of warm water. One can makes three quarts of milk.

I remember weighing 2 unpacked scoops X 3 to get an average weight. Only had to do that once to get the right amount of powder for the amount of water to make the lye solution.

ETA: I bought the powder locally. Many stores around here carry it.

 

[AliOop]

How much powder to water do you use? Do you follow the directions as if you were drinking it or do you use a set amount PPO or what?

I typically add 2T goat milk powder PPO, and stick blend it into my oils. That makes it easier for me since I start with MB lye solution, and use the extra water to dissolve my citrate and sorbitol. I suppose I could add the GM powder to that liquid after dissolving the other stuff. Maybe I'll give that a try.

 

[daniel.banning]

Whether you use a 30% Lye Concentration or a 50% Lye Concentration or use Distilled Water or Aloe Vera or Goat Milk or Coffee or Beer, the amount of Sodium Hydroxide does NOT change. The amount of Sodium Hydroxide needed is determined by the type of oil/butter you are based on SAP Value. SAP Value is the amount of NaOH that is needed to turn that oil/butter into 'soap'.

With that said, there are many different way to make GMS starting with the type of goat milk you use: Evaporated Goat Milk, Store Bought Goat Milk (homogenized and pasteurized), fresh-from-the-goat Goat Milk and Powdered Goat Milk. I have made GMS with the first three, but do have Powdered GM to try one of these days.

I do a full GM replacement (see post #8 Mixing Lye with Milk Questions), but I know that some folks do a half and half where they take their 'water'...use half to make a 50% Lye Concentration and then add the other half of the 'water' as GM directly into their oils. You can also use a portion of the water to make a slurry with the powdered GM and add to oils or just add the powdered GM to the oils with full water.

You can use the same recipe for GMS that you use for Regular Soap...it's how I started. All you do is replace all or some of the Distilled Water with Goat Milk. As noted in a recent conversation, Goat Milk only contains about 4% Fat...not enough really to warrant doing the math. But you can always lower your SF if you're worried about having too much unsaponified fats. Not only do I not care, but I also use Shea Butter.

Thank you! I ended up doing 100% fresh goat milk, frozen into cubes. It seems to have come out good, no scorching!