Help with HP, please

[Jesusismygrace]

Good Morning/Afternoon Beautiful Soapy Folks,
I just made my first batch of hp soap yesterday and I still have a few questions that I was unable to find answers for:
What temp do you put the Crockpot on and do you leave it on that temp the whole cooking process? My Crockpot gets very hot and I was afraid that I was going to burn to soap.
Do we cook the oil until it all melts and then add the lye or cook the oils for a certain of time period even after it has melted?
There was white dried soap around the edges of the pot and got mixed in the soap. I couldn’t get it to turn clear like the bulk of the batch. When I put the soap in the mold and the next day when I took it out the mold there were still white chucks in the soap. What is that?

Overall, I really like this process


Thanks in advance and have a bless day

 

[Loolee]

When I hp, I get white around the edges, too. I just toss that. I think it is soap that's gotten to hot. It's still usable, but unsightly.

You mix your lye and water first, then blend until thin trace, then add to your crock pot.

I cook mine over low heat. It is slower, but it doesn't get as much white around the edges and overall I just like it better.

If you add lye to hot oils, then it will trace superfast. And slower trace is better.

 

[Hazel]

Loolee is correct about the lighter colored soap being soap which didn't get scraped from the sides and dried out too much. But it's generally flaky looking. I mix it in to the soap because it doesn't bother me. If it bothers you, you can scoop it out and roll it into a ball so you can try the soap. However, people who want the soap to look nice for gifts or selling remove it. You described it as chunks which I usually consider larger. Are they larger pieces?

I used Ms. Brenda's tutorial for HP in a crock pot to learn how to hot process. However, I recently found another tutorial is on Gracefruit's blog. Different ways of phrasing the info is sometimes helpful. You may not quite "get it" until you read it somewhere else. Then it clicks in what was meant in the other tutorial, kwim?

I do it like it's stated in the tutorial - melt the oils on high and then turn off once the oils have melted. Then I pour in the lye solution and blend until I get to to a medium or heavy trace. Cover it and turn the crockpot back on to warm. You might want to do it like Loolee does and do it all on low if your crockpot gets really hot.

 

[new12soap]

You mix your lye and water first, then blend until thin trace, then add to your crock pot.

Loolee, I don't understand what you mean by that, lye and water do not trace.

Mix your lye and water (I like to do that outside so I don't have to smell the fumes), melt your hard oils either in the crockpot on low or in the microwave or on the stove, add your liquid oils, then add your lye water while stirring. No, you don't "cook" the oils, if they get too hot they will start to break down. Mix to light trace, then cook. Newer crockpots get hotter than older ones, I would use the lowest setting you have. Also make sure you have enough soap in it for the size crockpot. You don't want too much (boil overs are a mess) but you don't want too little either. The soap will overheat.

Those white bits sound like overcooked, dried soap. They won't hurt anything, and with time as the soap continues to dry out they will be less noticeable. I would recommend that you cook it lower, stir it more often scraping down the sides as you go, and cook it for less time. As the soap starts to gel it will look more liquid around the outside edges with w a solid "island" in the middle. As soon as all the soap looks like those edges and there is no longer any of the solid island (and you can break that island up a bit as you stir to help it cook) the soap is done. Something between mashed potatoes and vaseline is what you are looking for, nice and consistent throughout.

I make 2 to 2 1/2 lb batches in my crockpot and from trace to done is anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes depending on the recipe and such. HTH

 

[Genny]

You mix your lye and water first, then blend until thin trace, then add to your crock pot.

Loolee, I don't understand what you mean by that, lye and water do not trace.

I think she was just listing the steps. Mixing lye and water and then blending the lye solution with the oils until thin trace. Not that water and lye traces

 

[new12soap]

You mix your lye and water first, then blend until thin trace, then add to your crock pot.

Loolee, I don't understand what you mean by that, lye and water do not trace.

I think she was just listing the steps. Mixing lye and water and then blending the lye solution with the oils until thin trace. Not that water and lye traces

That's what I thought, too, until I got to THEN add to your crockpot...

I think we just got the steps out of order, but wanted to be clear for those that weren't sure

 

[Jesusismygrace]

Thanks LooLee, I think you are right about the lower heat

Thanks Hazel for the advice and tutorials, you are right different ways to explain the same thing, something is bound to click. It is more like small chips.
Bless you New12Soap.

I think I got it. Thanks for being there