Help w/ Volcano

[sanjosedave]

Hello Fellow Soapers -

I'm making what seems like a pretty basic HP batch and it is volcanoing for some reason. Any ideas?

 

[AliOop]

Coconut oil gets pretty hot on its own. When you HP it, you need to keep the heat very low. If it starts to expand, or puff up, immediately remove it from heat and use a whisk - not a stick blender! - to stir it down.

If it keeps puffing up, take it off the heat, whisk it down, and get it into the mold. Even if it isn’t fully cooked, it will finish saponifying on its own in the mold.

To help it cool down in the mold, elevate the mold and if possible, have a fan blowing on it.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Nothing to add to Ali's spot on assessment, except to say that that is one mighty impressive volcano! Glad you had something under the slow cooker

 

[AliOop]

Nothing to add to Ali's spot on assessment, except to say that that is one mighty impressive volcano! Glad you had something under the slow cooker

Yes, I was admiring that, too. Not sure I would have been calm enough to snap a pic while that was happening.

 

[sanjosedave]

Here it is about an hour later. There's more on the table than there is in the bowl

 

[AliOop]

Wowsers. If it is still soft, you can scoop it up and press it into a mold. Then cut when it is still warm but firm to the touch. Don't wait too long - 100% CO gets hard as a brick within a few hours.

 

[Relle]

Wowsers. If it is still soft, you can scoop it up and press it into a mold. Then cut when it is still warm but firm to the touch. Don't wait too long - 100% CO gets hard as a brick within a few hours.

"Wowser" is an Australian and New Zealand term that refers to a person who seeks to deprive others of behaviour deemed to be immoral or sinful.

 

[Rsapienza]

"Wowser" is an Australian and New Zealand term that refers to a person who seeks to deprive others of behaviour deemed to be immoral or sinful.

In the US, it just means WOW.

 

[Quilter99755]

I learned the hard way to NEVER leave your HP soap while it's cooking! Even for a minute. I left the room to check my dryer which is steps away from my kitchen counter where I was soaping. I don't remember the recipe but know it wasn't 100% CO...probably no more than 10-15%. I caught it while the lid was still on top of the volcano and it was just starting to boil over. I had the whisk handy and stirred like mad, so that I could get some hot pads and pull the crock out of the heater element. I did save most of the soap that day, but it was a lesson learned. Don't leave your crock pot unattended!
PS: I no longer put my setting on high these days either!

 

[sanjosedave]

Crock pot was set to low temp. I never left it for an instant. I stood there the whole time and watched in amazement as it foamed up and boiled over. I had no idea what to do about it at the time.

What's a good oil temp to have for this recipe when I pour the lye water in?

 

[AliOop]

Crock pot was set to low temp. I never left it for an instant. I stood there the whole time and watched in amazement as it foamed up and boiled over. I had no idea what to do about it at the time.

What's a good oil temp to have for this recipe when I pour the lye water in?

It all depends... are you aiming for low temp HP (LTHP) or high temp HP (HTHP)? I strongly recommend the former if you are new to soaping, and would suggest keeping both lye and oils at no more than 120F at the time you combine them.

Another option is to use the heat transfer method to melt your hard oils. Put your unmelted hard oils into the crock and turn the crock on low. Mix your lye solution, and immediately pour the hot lye solution into the unmelted oils and begin stirring. Once the heat of the hot lye solution melts the hard oils, then add your soft oils and stick-blend to trace. Since you are planning to cook the soap anyway, you aren't worried about keeping low temps or avoiding false trace like you might otherwise be doing for a cold processed soap. And you save time because you don't have to wait for your lye solution to cool down.

What did you end up doing with the boiled-over soap?

 

[sanjosedave]

>>>What did you end up doing with the boiled-over soap?

It was a mess so I tossed it out.

I made a new batch with the crock on "Warm" instead of "Low". It took longer to melt the CO but it eventually got there. I added the lye water and stick blended it to light trace. I then put the crock on "Low" and sat there and watched it while reading a book. It was well behaved and cooked normally. I stirred about every 20 mins. After several hours I poured it in the mold where it is now cooling.

 

[AliOop]

>>>What did you end up doing with the boiled-over soap?

It was a mess so I tossed it out.

I made a new batch with the crock on "Warm" instead of "Low". It took longer to melt the CO but it eventually got there. I added the lye water and stick blended it to light trace. I then put the crock on "Low" and sat there and watched it while reading a book. It was well behaved and cooked normally. I stirred about every 20 mins. After several hours I poured it in the mold where it is now cooling.

Awww rats, you could have had your first rebatch. But I understand that sometimes one would rather start over than deal with a messy save. Glad to hear that your next batch went well!

 

[lenarenee]

How many quarts is the crock pot? Your recipe is 4 lbs, so suggest you size it down for next time. Even without a true volcano, hp soap can have ”fits” of expansion and your vessel needs to have room for the growth spurt.

 

[Becky1024]

Crock pot was set to low temp. I never left it for an instant. I stood there the whole time and watched in amazement as it foamed up and boiled over. I had no idea what to do about it at the time.

What's a good oil temp to have for this recipe when I pour the lye water in?

I aim for 110 - 135 F for both oils and lye water when I mix them. Then I turn the crockpot to low and monitor the temperature with a stainless steel meat thermometer. With my recipe, if the temperature gets above 200 F it will volcano, so that is a starting point for you.

 

[user 49910]

@sanjosedave
Your crock pot is way too small for your batch size. The SoapCalc shows a total of 2876.34 grams total weight including oils, water and lye. Convert that to pounds and you have 6.34 lbs.!

6.34 pounds equals 3 quarts plus 5.44 ounces volume That crock pot appears to be a round one so it's probably 4 quarts or so. However no crock pot I have ever used measured total volume correctly. They're usually undersized by about 10-12 ounces or so on the 4 quart models. My oblong 6 quart cooker actually measures 5-1/2 quarts with that being all the way to the top of the crockery. (Which no one ever goes that far due to boil over, etc.)

Remember that oils take up more volume by weight versus water, so you're probably at around 3-3/4 quarts by volume or so.
(Just a guesstimate on my part but probably close.)

You need to have a least twice the volume of a cooking container versus the batch size you're making.

You're making a 100% Coconut Oil soap. Just curious, but why are you doing that? The resulting soap will be extremely harsh on the skin. It will bubble like a beast but will strip the skin oils at the same time. The "Conditioning" range on SoapCalc is 44 to 69, your formula shows 10. You might want to reconsider your formula if you're planning on using this soap on a regular basis.

Just trying to give you some helpful tips. We're all here to help and encourage one another on this forum.

BTW - Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Quilter99755]

[QUOTE="sanjosedave, post: 919581, member: 1575
After several hours I poured it in the mold where it is now cooling.
[/QUOTE]
Several hours? I haven't made 100%CO soap by HP but my usual recipes usually take less than an hour from start to finish for them to be zap free...and at that point is when I put them in the mold. There are several discussions on here about HP soaping and lots of different ways to achieve it. But I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about cooking it for hours....just until it is zap free. Check out posts by @linne, @Dawni, and @msunnerstood as they all work with HP. I have gotten wonderful advice from all...still need to work on my fluidity, but am usually in a hurry and still end up plopping mine into a mold. I love the rustic look!