Melting palm oil

[Carolyne Thrasher]

Hey fellow newbies. I wanted to share that I had bought a gallon bucket of palm oil from a local supplier and when I picked it up I asked about melting it down and was told no need. Fast forward to a few recipes into this bucket and I’m definitely having to wait 2 days to unmold from my loaf molds. I thought it might be my lye but no palm recipes were behaving normal so...I spent 45 minutes today melting down and portioning out this gallon of palm oil because I was researching tempering cocoa butter and ran across a reminder about melting palm ALL the way down.

 

[hungryhawaiian]

I forgot where I read it but I do remember something about having to melt down palm oil completely and stirring it up before use so that some type of particles (I forgot what exactly) mix up evenly throughout the oil. If I find the link I’ll post it for ya.

 

[Carolyne Thrasher]

I forgot where I read it but I do remember something about having to melt down palm oil completely and stirring it up before use so that some type of particles (I forgot what exactly) mix up evenly throughout the oil. If I find the link I’ll post it for ya.

I believe it is the stearic acid which sinks to the bottom which is helps harden the soap which is why I think my first batches from the bucket were softer than they should have been. I’d still love to read the link if you find it.

 

[shunt2011]

If the palm has been melted and then hardened more than once yes, it's a good idea to melt the entire thing and separate it out into smaller amounts. I always ordered mine when it was cool/cold out so that it would separate out and just scooped down into the bucket. I now purchase homogenized palm which I don't have to worry about it. It comes in a bag in a box and I can just scoop it out. No worries.

 

[Kurt]

Hi Carolyne.

Discussion here: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/handling-bulk-palm-oil.47870/