Holy crap I think I'm doing this wrong

[PersianPenName]

I'm trying to do crock pot hot process soap.

I ran my recipe through a lye calculator, and measure all my oils and melted them in the crock pot. I mixed my lye water and added it. I added more water than was called for, trying to follow this tutorial:

http://www.msbrenda.com/hpsoap1.html

It took a few minutes to trace, going from the consistency of applesauce to that of pudding. I added my additives (in this case, clay), set it on low, and let it cook.

I checked in periodically for half an hour, and have not seen gel (so far as I can tell), but the soap went from a solid chunk to being the consistency of vaseline. It feels waxy when I touch it, but still zaps my tongue, so it's not done yet. (I've never licked a battery, but it tingles, so I'm guessing that's what's meant)

It looked really dry to me, so I added water, and let it sit for another 15 minutes. It still looked dry, so I added a can of coconut milk. Yes, that's right, I panicked!

So... Is it already soap, and what I'm doing is some kinda half-assed rebatching-in-the-cookpot? Or am I just not done cooking?

 

[JumpinKaren]

How long did it cook for and how large was your batch? Typically I use the zap test to determine if my HP soap is done. Sounds like yours still needed to cook longer.

I do usually add a little bit of extra water when doing HP vs. CP.. but just a little bit. Adding a can of coconut milk is definitely a lot. You may have to cook down some of the excess water and/or let it cure and dry out for a long time.

 

[PersianPenName]

It was a 2lb batch, and it cooked for about an hour all told, but with all the poking and adding things that I did, I don't know how much of that cook time actually counts.

 

[cambree]

Please let us know how your HP soap turned out. I am curious to know what happened to it after you added the coconut milk, etc.

I also want to try HP soap soon. I like that we can use it sooner then CP soap. And the frangrances are suppose to last longer in HP soap. So this will be a really fun experiment.

 

[robindeb]

Hi Brenda,

I have made about 30 batches of CPHP and I think I have it down so let me help if I can. If your soap is forming a dry film on the sides in most cases it is because your heat is too high. It depends on the corockpot sometimes Low is to hot and you need to put it on warm instead. The goal is to have a nicely gelled almost the consistency of mashed pototaoes glob when you are done. Don't add more water than the soap calc recommends this will throw it off. You can add a little oil of your choice or aloe at the end of the cook about 1% of your total batch size. One last thing don't be afraid to stir it to keep it from scorching. I use a potato masher for this and to mix in the FO at the end.

Deb