Ok i gotta ask

[vance71975]

Im not noob by any means but i have seen something that i have personally never done in a lot of posts and i gotta ask why.

I have seen a lot of post with people saying they put their soap in the oven for an hour Why is that?

All i have ever done is put plastic wrap over the top, wrapped it in a towel and i have had ONE failed batch since i started. But then again my molds are plastic from the dollar store so i couldn't put them in the oven if i wanted to.

 

[Fragola]

Mostly for forcing/speeding up gel.

 

[Hazel]

It's called CPOP (cold process oven process) and as Fragola already mentioned it is to ensure the soap gels completely. You can search for CPOP and find numerous discussions about it. Here's a link to a recent discussion.

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30615

 

[saltydog]

I almost always CPOP : )

 

[IrishLass]

Yep- to ensure full gel.

IrishLass

 

[carolyntn]

When I used to live in a colder climate, the house would be too cold overnight to get a nice full gel. Even with wood molds and insulating. Therefore during the winter months, I would put my insulated soap into a warm oven (turned off) and leave the light on overnight. This helped avoid a partial gel.
Now that I live in a hot climate I never have to do that anymore.

Carolyn

 

[sudbubblez]

This is called cold process oven process CPOP. And you can take it even further to speed up cure (the water loss part not pH) by putting it in the oven again, this is called twice bake. I read in one of my books that to do the oven process, set the oven for 140F and leave soap in for 4 hours. After this saponification is complete. Turn oven off and let the soap cool in the oven. This is how I always do it. To do a twice bake, you would cook it yet again for 4 hours at 140. If you do this oven process, keep in mind the flashpoints of any fragrance or essential oils in thes recipe. The oven temp should stay lower than that; maybe even play it on the safe side and stay 10 degrees lower because ovens actually cycle above and below the temperature you set, as Alton Brown explained in one of his shows.. higher-end ovens keep more consistent temperature with smaller fluctuations.

check this link about twice baking and speeding cure:

http://morganstreetsoap.blogspot.com/20 ... -what.html

CPOP is a great technique for preventing ash, as it happens before soap becomes tongue neutral.. neutralize the lye quickly with OP and no worry about ash.

 

[vance71975]

This is called cold process oven process CPOP. And you can take it even further to speed up cure (the water loss part not pH) by putting it in the oven again, this is called twice bake. I read in one of my books that to do the oven process, set the oven for 140F and leave soap in for 4 hours. After this saponification is complete. Turn oven off and let the soap cool in the oven. This is how I always do it. To do a twice bake, you would cook it yet again for 4 hours at 140. If you do this oven process, keep in mind the flashpoints of any fragrance or essential oils in thes recipe. The oven temp should stay lower than that; maybe even play it on the safe side and stay 10 degrees lower because ovens actually cycle above and below the temperature you set, as Alton Brown explained in one of his shows.. higher-end ovens keep more consistent temperature with smaller fluctuations.

check this link about twice baking and speeding cure:

http://morganstreetsoap.blogspot.com/20 ... -what.html

CPOP is a great technique for preventing ash, as it happens before soap becomes tongue neutral.. neutralize the lye quickly with OP and no worry about ash.

Thanks for the Link that explains a TON!

 

[new12soap]

This is called cold process oven process CPOP. And you can take it even further to speed up cure (the water loss part not pH) by putting it in the oven again, this is called twice bake. I read in one of my books that to do the oven process, set the oven for 140F and leave soap in for 4 hours. After this saponification is complete. Turn oven off and let the soap cool in the oven. This is how I always do it. To do a twice bake, you would cook it yet again for 4 hours at 140. If you do this oven process, keep in mind the flashpoints of any fragrance or essential oils in thes recipe. The oven temp should stay lower than that; maybe even play it on the safe side and stay 10 degrees lower because ovens actually cycle above and below the temperature you set, as Alton Brown explained in one of his shows.. higher-end ovens keep more consistent temperature with smaller fluctuations.

check this link about twice baking and speeding cure:

http://morganstreetsoap.blogspot.com/20 ... -what.html

CPOP is a great technique for preventing ash, as it happens before soap becomes tongue neutral.. neutralize the lye quickly with OP and no worry about ash.

EXCELLENT link sudbubblez! That is PERFECT for crazy people like me that demand (almost) instant gratification!

 

[Guest]

CPOP

Hi! New here and new to soap making so far I have made 2 batches of soap. One CPOP (kinda) and one HP. The CP took 2 days to get hard and the HP well that didn't go very well. I read a day later after making my cp soap that you could put it in the oven, and how you could do this twice! Well after it was already hard my olive oil soap I put it the over heated it to 170 then turned off oven and left in there for I think it was 10 hrs. It came out a little soft then I put it out to dry again. At this point it has been 6 days! To my amazement my soap is super hard and I tried a zap test and NO ZAP! I even cut the thickest bar in half and nothing again. I have washed my hands with it twice and no burning or itching. My noob question is..It is possible for it to be fully cured/hard and also PH balanced? Thanks so much for reading my post this is my first Soap Making Forum I have joined.

 

[green soap]

Re: CPOP

Hi! New here and new to soap making so far I have made 2 batches of soap. One CPOP (kinda) and one HP. The CP took 2 days to get hard and the HP well that didn't go very well. I read a day later after making my cp soap that you could put it in the oven, and how you could do this twice! Well after it was already hard my olive oil soap I put it the over heated it to 170 then turned off oven and left in there for I think it was 10 hrs. It came out a little soft then I put it out to dry again. At this point it has been 6 days! To my amazement my soap is super hard and I tried a zap test and NO ZAP! I even cut the thickest bar in half and nothing again. I have washed my hands with it twice and no burning or itching. My noob question is..It is possible for it to be fully cured/hard and also PH balanced? Thanks so much for reading my post this is my first Soap Making Forum I have joined.

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, it is possible the saponification reaction was close to 100% from what you describe. I make HP soap in a double boiler and it is 'tongue neutral' in 30 to 40 minutes. So, 10 hours at 170F? yes, it can be completely saponified.

This is different than neural by pH standards. The reaction is complete, there is no extra lye, but the pH of the soap will never be neutral, it will be alkaline. Somewhere between 9 and 10.

 

[new12soap]

So, how many others have actually done the double oven process? Er, twice baked or however you call it. Does the fragrance hold up? Depending on the flashpoint of course. What about texture? Ash? Any other issues or any reason NOT to do this? Is it really ready to be used right away?

Can you tell I am really excited about this?

 

[sudbubblez]

Oven processing may not be for soaps that have FO or EOs. My previous post was a little lacking in information. Some ovens cycle wildly at 60 degrees or more above and below the set temperature. I can't specifically comment if the soap batter is swinging in temperature too b/c I've never stuck a thermometer in it and monitored the temp during cook. I don't use FOs and don't generally twice bake recipes with EOs. I did successfully twice bake a batch with clove EO but it was a rebatch, with the EO added after the first oven process... then did the second oven process at low temp of 140. I have been doing twice bake with great results. This last one I did was ginger and beer and it was very firm after a day on the curing rack, lovely color and full gell except the top crust of the loaf where the soap was too dry to gel being in the oven uncovered. It still smelled of hops and ginger from the spice. If you don't have FO or EO in the recipe you could OP at higher temperatures and not have to cook it as long. Preheated ovens will keep a more consistent temperature, so maybe something to keep in mind when oven processing soap with EO or FO.

Since I first tried this double oven process its all I have been doing.