Help please, LS separating during cook

[seven]

I've not made LS many times, because as you know a batch lasted a long time. Tonight, i needed to restock and i made a small (300 gr) batch using the all water method. everything went well, soap was getting real thick till i cant SB anymore, cooking process began. 30 mins later i saw oils on the bottom of the pan (i was using double boiler). tried to stir it back together but failed. the soap just won't progressed, it kept getting softer and softer, like mashed potato consistency. i'm frustrated. my last LS batch didn't go this way. it was hardening up nicely during the 3 hour period.

what did i do wrong?

 

[Susie]

I need your recipe and cooking method(crock pot, double boiler?) to even begin to guess.

 

[seven]

doh! sorry Susie... here we go:

recipe:
Coconut 30%
Castor 35%
Pomace olive 15%
Palm 5%
Sunflower 15%

3% SF
66.8 gr KOH
200 gr water

i also used goatmilk, so the water was split b/w 150 gr water to mix the KOH, and 50 gr GM which i added when the soap was getting thicker.

double boiler set up. mix KOH solution with oils, SB till thick, add GM, more SB till very very thick. cook. disaster.

 

[Susie]

Sorry, my brain went on "math strike" there for a minute until I convinced it that the lye calculator would figure the weights.

What I see as your weights is this:

CO-90g
Castor-105g
OO-45g
Palm-15g
Sunflower-45g

Other than I show you have a bit(85g) too much water, it should be OK. I have successfully used more than that amount of water "excess" with no problems.

I would, if it were me, just wrap that pot up in a heavy towel or blanket and walk away to let it think about it's behavior.

No, seriously...I would just CP at this stage. See what you have in 8 hours or so.

And, I know this is difficult to accept, but even the same exact recipe has gone through different stages for me. One decides it is going to be mashed potatoes, the next decides it is going to be rock hard gel. I cook(when I cook) 3 hours MAX, then zap test. No zap, I dilute. If it zaps, I CP it over night or until I get back home. I have not yet failed to have any of them turn out fine. (It may happen tomorrow, but not yet.)

 

[Lindy]

You may have added your goat milk a little late in the process which caused the separation.

 

[seven]

well, i tried to follow Susie's advice and just let the soap do its own thing. after vigorous stirs, i managed to make the separation go away, and there was a thin paste going on. today it's getting thicker but a small dilution test still showed a cloudy result. i'm just going to let it sit for a few more days.

 

[Susie]

Checking for clarity does not ascertain safety. You need to zap, pheno, or pH test. I am not sure you are ever going to get a clear soap with goat's milk in there.

 

[seven]

it still zap quite a bit. so i guess more time..

 

[Susie]

Yeah, I have never had to wait more than 12 hours, but I am not ruling it out. I think, unless someone has tried a longer CP time, that at a week, it is done with whatever saponifying it is going to do. So, wait and see time.