"...First you said "As the water content goes down, soap is less and less likely to go into the gel phase"
Then you say "A lower water soap may get as hot or perhaps even hotter than a soap with a higher water content".
Those statements contradict each other...."
No, I'm not contradicting myself. I mean exactly what I said.
1. A lower water soap may get as hot or perhaps even hotter than a soap with a higher water content
Here's why -- Saponification releases heat which drives an increase in temperature of the soap. The total volume of the soap batter in the mold, the specific heat of the batter, the rate of saponification, and the heat of vaporization of the water will all affect how warm the soap becomes during saponification. All other things being equal, less water in the soap means an equal or somewhat higher peak temp for the saponifying soap, compared to the same soap made with more water in the batter.
2. As the water content goes down, soap is less and less likely to go into the gel phase
Here's why -- The gel phase of soap is simply a physical state -- exactly like liquid, solid, and gas are physical states. Studies of the phase changes of soap clearly show that lower-water soap has to reach a higher temp before it will go into this gel phase. The required temp needed for this phase change is often high enough that normal techniques for making CP soap will not cause the temp to go that high. That's why I recommend making lower-water soap to reliably avoid the bullseye look of a partial gel -- if the soap doesn't gel, it can't have a bullseye.
Knowing this is not something you can get from "common sense", it's something you get from studying soap chemistry and understanding the phase diagrams of soap. Again, Clara Lindberg's experiments and Scientific Soapmaking provide a general overview. For greater depth on this subject, study soap chemistry -- I recommend Luis Spitz "Soap Manufacturing Technology" and "Soaps and Proteins" by Martin Fischer as well as anything written by James McBain about soap phase changes.
3. "...but your disagreeing to just disagree no offense...."
You said "no offense" in order to justify poor manners. You're increasingly behaving badly toward me and toward others, and that is not acceptable.
