donniej
Well-Known Member
With my new kettle burning a hole in my attention span, I've been busy in the kitchen finalizing my recipe and methods. Here's what I've learned, I'm hoping others will also chime in.
The more you cook, the easier it is. This is because the larger the mass, the better it holds in the heat. Heat up the oil to just less than waters boiling point, while it's heating mix up your KOH lye water. I've been using 2/3 the weight of the oils for my amount of water. Add 2% potassium carbonate to the lye water, this makes it *much* easier to stir. Do not superfat, and the carbonate will make it slightly too alkili. Dpeending on application, after it's done you may want to add some boric or citric acid to nuetralize the excess alkili.
Don't let the lye water cool, mix it all hot. It may volcano so use a big pot. I have not been using a double boiler and direct heat has not burnt it. Heat until it starts boiling then shut off the heat, wrap in a blanket and let sit overnight. The next day saponification will be well on its way.
Heat until you get lots of "champagne bubbles" and maintain these bubbles until it stops. It should take ~3 hours. Stir about every hald hour. Weigh and add ~4X the weight of the oils and lye of water. Adding 2- 5 ounces of Borax will thicken it.
The more you cook, the easier it is. This is because the larger the mass, the better it holds in the heat. Heat up the oil to just less than waters boiling point, while it's heating mix up your KOH lye water. I've been using 2/3 the weight of the oils for my amount of water. Add 2% potassium carbonate to the lye water, this makes it *much* easier to stir. Do not superfat, and the carbonate will make it slightly too alkili. Dpeending on application, after it's done you may want to add some boric or citric acid to nuetralize the excess alkili.
Don't let the lye water cool, mix it all hot. It may volcano so use a big pot. I have not been using a double boiler and direct heat has not burnt it. Heat until it starts boiling then shut off the heat, wrap in a blanket and let sit overnight. The next day saponification will be well on its way.
Heat until you get lots of "champagne bubbles" and maintain these bubbles until it stops. It should take ~3 hours. Stir about every hald hour. Weigh and add ~4X the weight of the oils and lye of water. Adding 2- 5 ounces of Borax will thicken it.
