By the way, here is the easier alternative to the Pharmacist's Method of dissolving the KOH for the formula in this tutorial. For lack of a better term, I guess I'll refer to it as the 'easier water/glycerin method':
So far, I have only used this easier method of dissolving the KOH once for this particular formula. All went well with it, but I need to mention that if you use this easier method, the normal dilution rate that is spelled out earlier in this tutorial no longer applies and will need to be adjusted....
Here is the adjusted dilution rate for my Creamy Cocoa Shea formula when using the easy water/glycerin method of dissolving the KOH :
Distilled water: 31% of my finished paste weight
Sodium Lactate in 60% solution: 3% of my finished paste weight
Tetrasodium EDTA in 39% solution: 1.96% of my finished paste weight
Stearic Acid: 3% of my finished paste weight
PS80: .15% of my finished paste weight
Dilute in the same manner as spelled out earlier in my instructions, but use the above dilution rates instead.
The easy water/glycerin method of dissolving the KOH:
Dissolve the 98g KOH called for in this tutorial in 98g of distilled water. Once it is dissolved (takes only a minute or 2), add the full recipe amount of glycerin to it (10.4 oz/294.8g). Give it a stir to combine, then add it into the warmed oils/fats. Quick and easy-peasy!
Here is how things went for me when I did the above:
After I poured my KOH/water/glycerin solution into my warmed oils/fats, I hand-whisked for 13 minutes before I switched over to my stick-blender (totally off the heat from here on out, by the way). During those 13 minutes that I hand-whisked, the temperature of the batter dropped from 149F/65C to 125F/52C and not much looked to be happening during that time except for a very slight thickening of the batter. In terms of appearance- the batter looked like slightly thickened light-beer. Continued with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring (more hand-stirring than stick-blending, btw).......
Three minutes later (at the 16 minute mark), the temp went down to 120F/49C and the batter got thicker and took on a milky/opaque look. Continued in the same manner with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring.......
Two minutes later (at the 18 minute mark), the batter started developing some large bubbles laying on the surface from the stick-blender, but they'd all go back down whenever I hand-stirred. Continued in the same manner with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring.......
Two minutes later (at the 20 minute mark), the temp started going back up (121F/49.4C) and the batter started to gradually get thicker (only very slightly so). Continued in the same manner with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring.......
Five minutes later (at the 25 minute mark), the temp went up to 125F/52C and the batter was at a nice med-thick trace. Continued in the same manner with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring.......
One minute later (at the 26 minute mark), the temp increased to 127F/53C and the batter started thinning out considerably, but it was still opaque, and it had big bubbles on the surface that did not stir down. Continued in the same manner with the intermittant stick-blending/hand-stirring.......
Two minutes later (at the 28 minute mark) Lawrence Welk came for a visit (i.e., I had flying bubbles, lol). The temp. was 130F/54.4C, the batter was still somewhat thin (barely a light trace, but completely emulsified), and it was still opaque, and it looked like the milky/yellowish color of vanilla pudding. I covered my soaping pot with plastic wrap and started cleaning up my laboratory (kitchen).
Eleven minutes later (at the 39 minute mark), I happened to look over at my pot and it all still looked the same, but I picked up the pot and gave it a swirl just to see how the batter was doing, and it wouldn't budge! We had paste! WooHoo! Talk about quick!
I wish I had taken pictures, but I decided it was probably better to focus my attention on taking temps and writing everything down in real time as I went along, etc.... Maybe next time....
IrishLass
