How long to cook hot process soap?

[bristles]

I have seen various answers on here ranging from 20 mins on low heat setting to 2 hours on high.
I know that generally the saponification is done in the first 30 minutes, so what benefits are there to cooking it for 2 hours on high for example?
I know different recipes take different times.
But what is the telltale sign that your soap is done cooking, is it just the zap test or are there visual signs also?
Many thanks!

 

[Obsidian]

There are no benefit from cooking it past saponification. It only needs to be cooked until its zap free which is usually vaseline stage.
I cook on low until the whole batch looks glossy and transparent, then I mold it up. I don't bother checking zap, if its not quite saponified, it will finish in the mold.

 

[NsMar42111]

I cooked too long for a while until I realized it....now I just cook until vaseline stage (like obsidian). Depending on the receipe, that's 20 min to an hour.. if I cook on high it volcanoes, which is fine if I'm there but if there's a chance I might step off for a second I'll cook longer on low. Once it's past the sepereated greasy stage you can mold it though...

 

[DawninWA]

I do it "wrong" and leave it uncovered and stir it, I also don't use a crock pot, just a big stainless steel bowl on a hot plate. I put the oils in the bowl, on the hot plate on low. Then I make the lye water. When the oils are anywhere between slushy and melted, I add the hot lye water. Then stick blend until very thick. I used to blend to trace and it would take about 30 more minutes to get to the next stage. I finally realized if you stick blended a few minutes longer, you could shave a lot of that time off. So now I get it to about mayonnaise thick. Stir occasionally. The next stage, it kinda separates and looks like applesauce. Just keep stirring randomly. When it all comes back together, it's about done. I used a different recipe today, and that stage was taking longer than usual to finish, so I stick blended and it came together much faster than just stirring. This method takes about 20 minutes, I'd say.

 

[homesteaders]

I do HP like Obsidian. I don't zap test anymore. By the time it's all, or mostly to the vaseline stage, it's fine. Different recipes have different times for the cook. Some seem to move quickly from trace to vaseline, in the mold in 20 minutes. Others stay at the applesauce stage for an hour or more. Sometimes weather affects the cook. At least I think that's it. I've used the same recipe one day when it's hot and dry, and the next day when it's cooler and humid. Almost seemed like a completely different recipe.

 

[Lin19687]

There ARE so many ways to do it. How long it takes depends on the Recipe and What Process you are using.

I kind of stopped doing HP as I am having way too much fun with CP But I won't give up my Crock pot that I bought. BTW I have done both the crock pot and Oven method (oven for big batches in a lobstah pot