Small Cavity Silicone Molds & Gel

[KristaY]

I'm going to make baby shower gifts in these elephant molds. Each cavity is 2 oz and I want them to gel. I'm thinking the best way to ensure gel (to maintain color) is in a 150-170 degree oven. They're silicone and marketed to baking and soap making so should stand up to it. What are your thoughts? Am I on the right track? I've never soaped in such small molds before and really don't want to screw it up, lol.

 

[shunt2011]

With the individual molds I highly recommend CPOP. I would turn the oven on and heat to 170 then when you put the molds in the oven turn it off. I have a difficult time getting individual molds to gel without doing this. Fortunately I don't use them often.

 

[KristaY]

Thank you Shunt! That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm off to the soaping room......

 

[shunt2011]

Good Luck! Hope they turn out nice. That's a cute mold.

 

[dixiedragon]

I do what shunt does. I put mine on a cookie sheet b/c I don't want the mold touching the hot oven rack. I have no idea if this is actually helpful or not - but I always do it and have no problem.

 

[KristaY]

Thanks dixiedragon! That's just what I did. I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper, put the molds on then poured the soap batter in. These molds are really flexible so I was worried I'd spill soap all over the house getting them from my soaping room to the kitchen. They're tucked in the warm oven now so hopefully will end up okay in the end.

 

[lizflowers42]

Next time, set them inside of an insulated cooler, it will trap the heat and force them to gel!

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I put small silicone molds into big flat plastic containers with lids. Cover them up after filling with soap and wrap in towels. Works almost every time.
Some FOs are tricky and don't heat that well and I occasionally end up with just few gelled or partially gelled.
I hope CPOP works for you.

 

[KristaY]

Thanks lizflowers and fuzz-juzz! I'll look around to see if I have anything large enough to hold molds. Great ideas!

 

[KristaY]

Holy Bubbles, Batman!

I've made 2 attempts so far at the elephant molds. Seriously the ugliest soap I've EVER made! The blue faded to gray but the BUBBLES are horrible! All 3 soaps in the pic are the same recipe of oils which is:

35% OO
25% CO
20% PO
15% RBO
5% Avocado oil

5% SF
36% water

The only difference is the small cavity molds and CPOP. I pre-heated the oven to 170* F, put soap in and turned the oven off (but left the oven light on). They were left in the oven about 12 hours. The 3rd soap is my usual routine in a 2 lb silicone log mold, covered and left at room temp. Because of the bubbles in the 1st batch, I used the SB only to bring to emulsification then stirred with a spatula on the 2nd batch. It's worse by far than the 1st! I banged the crap out of them too before putting into the oven. Well, obviously not "the crap" or there'd be no bubbles, lol. The only save for these little guys is to rebatch but how do I avoid the huge amount of bubbles in future or can I? Does CPOP have an influence in bubble formation or a lack of the ability to release them? Is it the 2 oz cavity molds? I've used the larger 4 oz cavity molds before and they came out great. I'm baffled and bit irritated.

I just cut several of them in half and the bubbles are not throughout the soap, only 1-2mm deep on the outside. It's the same for both sizes of small molds. Any thoughts on my problem? TIA!!!!

 

[dixiedragon]

I actually like the bubble effect. If it was on a plain square, circle or oval it would be really cool.

Maybe try CPOP at a lower temp? I have read that most ovens are plus or minus 25 degrees or more. Maybe get an oven thermometer and see if 170 is actually 170, or maybe it is higher.

 

[KristaY]

I actually like the bubble effect. If it was on a plain square, circle or oval it would be really cool.

Maybe try CPOP at a lower temp? I have read that most ovens are plus or minus 25 degrees or more. Maybe get an oven thermometer and see if 170 is actually 170, or maybe it is higher.

I was concerned about that too, dixiedragon, especially at such low temps. I put my oven thermometer in to verify it was at the right temp and it was. My oven is 22 years old so I test it routinely to make sure it's where it's supposed to be. (I really want a new one but this beast won't die, lol!)

If the bubbles were on a log or loaf, I'd just trim and no worries. But the mom-to-be wants blue elephants. She may be out of luck!

 

[AMyers]

I've read quite a bit that silicone molds are prone to bubbles when CPOP, you might just be destined to get them using this method. What about setting the mold on a heating pad to ensure gel?

 

[Obsidian]

Silicone mold + CPOP can cause bubbles. I would suggest preventing gel in such small molds to get the smoothest soaps possible.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I can also guess it's too much heat in silicone molds.
I don't do CPOP but use log silicone molds and sometimes get bubbles in the middle where soap gets hottest while gelling.

 

[KristaY]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm going to give it one more shot and see what happens. Third time has to be a charm, right? :lolno: This time I'm not going to do anything, just leave them on the counter. If I develop bubbles again I'm going to drop kick the molds into the nearest bin!

 

[Seawolfe]

I would stop with the oven, try a heating pad or a warm cabinet or something cooler than the oven.

 

[KristaY]

Thanks Seawolfe, that was sort of my thought too. I have a small space heater in my soap room so I'm going to set it at about 80 degrees, close the door, and leave it overnight. Because of the small cavity size of the molds, I'm worried even a heating pad might be too much. If I set the molds on towels then cover and leave it alone, I think it may work to avoid the bubbles. Especially if I keep the ambient air temp up. I'm especially thankful for the heater right now since we have a major storm sitting on us. It's 26 degrees with 6-8" of snow and it's not supposed to let up until midday tomorrow. Once it moves out our temps will be in the teens. I know, all you people in northeast think this is spring weather and I'm being a total wimp, lol! I have to adjust for soaping since this is the type of storm we get only a couple times of year, if that. This is the life in AZ - 0 degrees in one spot and 60 degrees 150 miles away.8)

FYI - I just saw a bit of the Time's Square New Year's Eve show and it's warmer there than I am in Northern AZ! Funny, funny weather.....

 

[xraygrl]

Try either a heating pad or placing the molds in a bed of warmed uncooked rice.

 

[Marley]

CPOP multi-cavity silicone molds

When I CPOP small cavity silicone molds, I turn the oven to 170F but turn it off when I put the mold in the oven (yes, on a lined baking pan). I also leave the light on but for a different reason...I want to watch the gel because once the soap gels (and it only takes about half an hour depending on the size of the cavity of the mold) I immediately remove the mold from the oven and let it cool at room temp. I also remove the mold from the baking pan to help it cool down quicker.