Overcooked HP

[MarnieSoapien]

I made my first batch of HP today! Yea! And overcooked it. Awww. So, what does that mean for my soap? Will it be OK? It was pretty crumbly but stuck together if squished it into a ball.

Other info, if needed... It was cooked on the stove top on low for 3 hours. Yep. Three. Hours. Since it was my first HP batch, I did quite a bit of peeking under the lid and stirring. The recipe I used was a Marseille inspired recipe, 72% Olive oil, 18% Coconut Oil and 10% Shea butter, 2.6 : 1 lye concentration, no water discount.

 

[lsg]

You can still use the soap, if it is holding together. HP soap usually goes through several stages, the volcano stage, mashed potato stage and finally the translucent stage. I use an old Crockpot for HP and re-batching. Here is a video tutorial:

 

[MarnieSoapien]

Very useful video. Unfortunately my soap was at more the crumbly pastry dough stage instead of the vaseline stage when I put it in the mold.

 

[szaza]

It's perfectly good soap HP is generally finished much faster than you think, most HPers on here report cooking times of between 20-40minutes. It also doesn't absolutely need to go through every single stage. Just zap test if you're not certain whether it's done or not if you don't have a crockpot, oven HP also works (70-80°C). I've never really tried stovetop HP to be honest..

 

[cmzaha]

I do not even worry about zap it will finish saponifying during cure. The few times I do hp simply because I have a naughty fo it takes approx 20 min.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

Crock pots are surprisingly hard to come by here. I'll see how it holds up when I unmold it tomorrow. I get nervous with crumbly soap because I think they will fall apart when I try to used them.

 

[Ale]

I always usa HP for my batches. The first times I used to cook it at least for an hour and a half, which is definitely too much! Though, my soap was never so crumbly to break in pieces when used.
Now I know that you can understand when the soap is ready by checking the translucent stage. When you reach it, it means that the soap batter is fully gelled and it's ready to be poured in the mould.

Indeed, I usually don't see ALL the phases the batter is supposed to reach. I think it also depend how frequently you stirr the soap. I do it quite often (every 5-10 minutes) and so I can't clearly recognize the volcano stage. But the traslucent gell stage i s always visible (usually after 35-40 minutes)

Regarding the cooking method, I use a double boiler (baine-marie). I once tried the oven but I didn't like it. It makes difficult to check and stirr and, in addiction, the finished bars had a layer of soda ash on the surface.

 

[linne1gi]

I always usa HP for my batches. The first times I used to cook it at least for an hour and a half, which is definitely too much! Though, my soap was never so crumbly to break in pieces when used.
Now I know that you can understand when the soap is ready by checking the translucent stage. When you reach it, it means that the soap batter is fully gelled and it's ready to be poured in the mould.

Indeed, I usually don't see ALL the phases the batter is supposed to reach. I think it also depend how frequently you stirr the soap. I do it quite often (every 5-10 minutes) and so I can't clearly recognize the volcano stage. But the traslucent gell stage i s always visible (usually after 35-40 minutes)

Regarding the cooking method, I use a double boiler (baine-marie). I once tried the oven but I didn't like it. It makes difficult to check and stirr and, in addiction, the finished bars had a layer of soda ash on the surface.

I have finally been able to make a fluid HP soap. A couple of tips I got which might help you. Don't water discount HP soap, it loses a lot of moisture during the cook. I keep a bottle of hot water with a spray top nearby. I spray lightly the top of the soap every time I stir it. Although I say don't discount HP soap, I actually hold back 2-3 tablespoons of water. After the cook, (30-40 minutes or so) I add 1 T greek yogurt, 1 T coconut milk, 1 T ACV (apple cider vinegar), 1 T premixed sugar solution, 1 teaspoon sodium lactate per pound of oils, my extra superfat and my fragrance. Every thing you add after the cook (except the yogurt) needs to be quite warm. I keep a saucepan filled with water on my stove with containers filled with each additive at the ready. I don't add everything all at once, I add one or two items, stir in very well (crockpot is turned off at this point), let it rest a minute and add something else. I also superfat at 3% up front and an additional 4% after the cook. Then I split and color my soap, my containers (for colors) are also kept warm. I hope this helps someone - it sure helped me.

 

[AliOop]

Crock pots are surprisingly hard to come by here. I'll see how it holds up when I unmold it tomorrow. I get nervous with crumbly soap because I think they will fall apart when I try to used them.

I do HP and almost never use a crockpot - it is just too hard on my wrists to hold the big crock when getting the soap out, or washing it up later. Instead, I either microwave my oils and do high temp hot process, or I cook everything on the stove in a heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot. It's usually done cooking in less than 20 minutes.

I also agree with what others said about not worrying whether you get through each stage. Even if you don't completely cook your batter, saponification will continue in the mold, just like it does for cold process. There have been times that I needed to hurry up and mold the batter earlier than usual, and it all turned out just fine. And it was a lot more fun that way for me than hovering near a big heavy crockpot for an hour or more. But that's me. Keep trying, and you will find what works for you.

 

[ShySoaper]

Crock pots are surprisingly hard to come by here. I'll see how it holds up when I unmold it tomorrow. I get nervous with crumbly soap because I think they will fall apart when I try to used them.

MarnieSoapien this is one of my hot process soaps that I overcooked and came out too crumbly at first.I rebatched it and it wasn’t a bad idea.

 

[gloopygloop]

I only make HP and never use a crock pot as I found them to be too hot, for many years I did OPHP which worked well once you get the time right, I found maximum one hour in the oven on between 80 to 100c max. Now I tend to do stove top which I rather like. With SL and enough liquid it should not be crumbly. No need to cook and cook, and cook, and as said it does not even need to zap test as it will cure out anyhow as long as your recipe is correct. For stove top you can turn the heat on and off as needed to control the heat so as not to get any volcano, just get it hot enough then out the heat and leave it alone covered to do its thing, check it, stir it and add heat again for a short blast if required, mostly you want to let it go to gel without too much intervention, it will get hot on its own and all you want to do is keep it there. HTH.

 

[lsg]

When I do HP or re-batching, I stir in about 1/8-1/4 cup (instant) dry milk. It smooths out the soap magically. The dry milk needs to be instant, if not dissolve it in a little hot water. Add to the HP soap and watch the magic.

 

[AliOop]

When I do HP or re-batching, I stir in about 1/8-1/4 cup (instant) dry milk. It smooths out the soap magically. The dry milk needs to be instant, if not dissolve it in a little hot water. Add to the HP soap and watch the magic.

@Isg thanks for sharing that tip. I get similar results using powdered goat milk, or slightly warmed yogurt. Can’t put the yogurt in cold, or the batter tightens up.

 

[Sally Scheibner]

Ever so often my HP batch cooks fast and gets stiff. I added half n half w/ yogurt too (Came out with white blobs in blue). Slopped it in molds decided to remake it next day & it looks clear like glycerin. Nice. I usually make big batches so I end up stealing half to add different FOs anyway. Never have thrown soap out except once w/ a heavy lye batch.