Lye pockets how, why?

[dobaym]

Hello,

The batch is 100% OO, made with frozen, then broken to a slush goat milk batch, nothing else in it.
My wife and I have been making this same kind of soap with this same recipe for 2 years now ( this is the 47-th batch we have made)with no problem at all. Now, for the first time we experience these little white powdery bursts on top of, and on the inside of the cut soap also.
They looked totally normal when they were cut, I just checked on them almost 2 weeks after I cut them and noticed this change, the ones with these white spots on them are also much darker ( I guess the milk might have heated up from the excess lye).
This is a 20pound batch so it would break my heart if we would have to throw it out. Yes the "zap test" resulted in a quite stingy zap 3 times ( I wanted to make sure I wasn't just imagining it).
If anyone can give us some calming instructions on how I could create a usable-salable batch of soap out of it, We would be very happy ( or of course if it's not at all recommended to do anything other than trash it, please help me understand why).

I hope these imgs will be visible:




Please help if you can!

A sad soapmaker

 

[Happy Lass]

I have no idea why this happened, I'll let more experienced soapmakers tackle that. But to save the batch, I suggest you rebatch it: chop it up and put it in a crock pot with some water and cook it down until it looks like a thick gel. Then scoop it back into your molds.

My mind is slightly blown at the idea of a 20 lb batch. Whoa!

 

[jennikate]

Well throw it out is one way to but due to size of batch I can understand not wanting to lose that much soap. If you can figure out how much extra lye you could rebatch it with that much added oil.

 

[dobaym]

Thank you for the replies!

The measures were precise as far as I remember, I have no reason to think I screwed anything up there. The strange thing is, I always stir the lye and milk until I feel there are no more lye particles in the mixture, and so I did so now also. The temperatures were also the same as they usually are (87 degrees F).

Thanks for the idea Jennikate, but if I imagine pouring oil into the warmed thick mass, I would think the added oil would just "slip off" the thick stuff and not combine into one mass? Do you have any such experience?

Thanks again for your replies!

 

[calico21]

it may not be lye heavy, it may just not be mixed properly. I recently did a rebatch in the microwave only. Shredded soap with food processor, added 2 oz reconstituted goats milk(helps melting) and an oz more of olive oil to about 1 pound of soap. Don't stir alot, just enough to mix it in between 30-45 second burst in micro. It will be thin jelly like consistancy, but pourable. Try it with part of your batch and see what happens. If it still zaps or you don't like how it turns out then toss it.

 

[dobaym]

Thanks for the precise advice calico21!
I will try what you suggested ( probably tomorrow), with one modification, I will put the test portion in the oven, because we don't have a microwave.
I will post the results when I'm done.

Have a nice day

A hopeful soapmaker

 

[dobaym]

Today I followed the instructions I got yesterday and everything seemed to go as planned.
I didn't wait till the whole 2.2lb turned into gel, but almost, the milk was caramelizing enough with this heat allready.
I squished the stuff into the form a bit higher than usually so I will be able to cut off the uneven surface.

Well, we will see how it goes in a few days I hope I will be able to take it out and slice again.
imgs below:

 

[tawane]

New to soap making

Hi,
I'm new to soap making and I live in Woodbridge Virginia. I would like to be able to meet with people and share ideas. If anyone is interested please let me know.