Stainless Steel

[Deda]

Does anyone use ONLY stainless? I am in the process of converting all my soaping supplies like pitchers, measures and bowls to stainless steel. Basically everything except the 3.5 gallon buckets I mix in and the silicon/rubber spatulas I scrape with.

I tried plastic, love the Ikea pitchers. The downside is that I could never get them clean enough, they always feel greasy. Glass is great, but I am THE Queen of Crash Bang and really don't want shattered glass, either from my own clumsiness or breakage due to heat.

I have an old kitchen scale, not the soaping kind. It came with this great little flat stainless bowl about 10" across. I've always used it measure lye and sometimes for small amounts of oil. Everytime I wash up all it takes is a quick wipe and the thing is sparkling and grease-free. Soooo - all stainless for me.

I just ordered a nice collection of frothing pitchers and water pitchers along with some prep bowls, measuring spoons, cups, mixing bowls and bain maries. I am thinking it will make my clean up easier. Time is money and all that.

Does anyone have any whizbang ideas about other equipment that would make clean up easier? and my soap kitchen neater?

 

[chrisinflorida]

I use a combination of stainless steel stock pots and pyrex glass mixing bowls. I also use a large, I guess, salad-type bowel for weighing my oils.

Does anyone have any whizbang ideas about other equipment that would make clean up easier? and my soap kitchen neater?

A MAID. Just kidding. Sorry, don't have any ideas. I currently let my soap pots sit until the next day or later and then clean them out.

Chris

 

[MikeInPdx]

My best investment has been something I already had. Much easier than paper towels.

Get some old bath towels or some cheap white kitchen towels and set them aside chiefly for soapmaking. When you're done with your batches....use these towels to wipe out your soap pot, and all your soap spatters, drips and the like. Put them into a plastic bag and set them aside for a day or two. In this time, the soap will saponify.

Then, all you need to do is toss them in the washer....there's enough soap in the rags to clean them and you don't have a paper towel mess every time.

That's my best investment.....and the stainless steel digital scales that measure in grams.

 

[Deda]

I like the stainless bowls and pitchers for things like measuring lye and weighing out oils. It's so much easier to wash. I soap in a 35 lb bucket and scrape with a rubber spatula, so there is not much left in that. The messy parts are the prep bowls I use to weigh EOs, measuring cups for clays. I stick my blenders in a water pitcher as soon as I'm done using it.

I agree with the towels, I bought 3 dozen kitchen towels in all white and keep them in my soap kitchen. Makes it easier to tell them apart from my kitchen stuff. I'm kind of a pain about not mixing food 'stuff' with soaping toys.

 

[digit]

The downside is that I could never get them clean enough, they always feel greasy.

I found that I was not satisfied with simply using a pan of dishwater because the items had a greasy film. Now I use a rag with dish soap right on it and the dishes are squeaky clean. Yes, it does use more liquid soap but I feel better about it. This includes the stainless steel.

I should try a few drops of orange EO in the dish washing liquid. But I do like Chris' solution of a maid.

Digit

 

[Deda]

Run them the through the dishwasher, extra liquid, all options. (I really like the Orange EO - I will add some of that to my regular dish liquid!) But stainless is just so **** easy. And after about 20 batches my lye containers start to get a rough feel to the insides, like they are melting.

DH just called and told me he ordered a steel cover (think: head - ski cap) for my work table. I have worn away the laminate finish on the surface, and currently using a new vinyl tablecloth each week. I'm looking for simple and easy to withstand heavy usage.