Quick directions for how I make my crockpot HP-- it's now my preferred soapmaking method:
- use your regular recipe
- mix lye with full amount of water.
- melt solid oils in crockpot on 'high'. When they're melted, turn off the crockpot, add liquid oils. Stir.
- add sodium lactate (if using it) to your lye/water solution. Stir.
- Pour lye/water/sodium lactate into the oils. Stick blend to trace-- I generally go to medium trace for HP.
- Let it sit for a few minutes. Once it starts to firm up, run a rubber spatula around the edges so no soap is drying on the sides of the pot.
- Turn pot to 'keep warm' and let it cook about 2 hours. Stir. If it's at the 'vaseline stage', zap test. If you get zapped, cook another 15 - 30 minutes and try again.
- Test the temp. Add your FO once the temp is below the flashpoint. Stir well (I use a wire whisk). Add color if desired.
- Pour into mold. Bang mold on the counter a few times, and spread the batter out a little on the sides with a spatula. I generally don't scrape the crock clean or I get bits of dried soap in the batter. Press Saran Wrap on the top, and 'smoosh' it flat with the mold's lid, your fingers, etc. or leave it rough if you want a rustic look. If you want it flat, go back and press firmly on the lid a few times while it cools; otherwise you will end up with a slightly lower spot in the middle, so keep that in mind when designing your tops.
- when cool, unmold and slice. It's soap at this point, but I generally give it two weeks to dry and become milder before use; longer if possible.
* if using sugar, dissolve it in water before adding lye
* if using sodium lactate, stir it into the lye solution, or add to water before adding lye (I prefer to add it to the solution)
* if using a boiled sugar syrup or honey, add it in at trace.
Once the soap left on the sides of the crock has dried, scrape it out and add it to the rebatch box.
** if your crock doesn't have a 'keep warm' setting, cook it on 'low' and keep an eye on it. Usually there is NO climbing or volcanoing on low, but watch it carefully until you know how your crock works. If using low, you can usually cut the cook time down a bit. Some tutorials recommend cooking on high, and you can do that, but then you have to watch the soap really closely and be prepared to stir it back down once it starts to foam. I like the texture of the finished soap better cooked for longer periods on lower settings.
