Stirring Beeswax

[hellomimi]

Hello, I attempted to make a body salve with Cera Bellina yesterday. Everything went smoothly until to end where I took it off the stove and attempted to stir it. A soon as I begun to stir, a portion of the salve instantly went hard and flakes appeared.

The recipe says that the mixture should be stirred as a cools down, so now I’m confused. I think the Cera Bellina may have caused the problem, but now i don’t know when I should stir the product, or if I should even do it at all.

 

[Marsi]

warm your stirrer
cold tools make the beeswax harden

Hello, I attempted to make a body salve with Cera Bellina yesterday. Everything went smoothly until to end where I took it off the stove and attempted to stir it. A soon as I begun to stir, a portion of the salve instantly went hard and flakes appeared.

The recipe says that the mixture should be stirred as a cools down, so now I’m confused. I think the Cera Bellina may have caused the problem, but now i don’t know when I should stir the product, or if I should even do it at all.

a method:
before you turn off the heat, add your whisk or spoon to the salve
when the cooled flakes melt, turn off the heat and continue with the recipe

stirring while cooling helps keep the product smooth

 

[DeeAnna]

You definitely want to stir, but you can refine how you're doing it for better results. Marsi's advice is spot on.

Another tip -- I use a bamboo chopstick to stir salves rather than a metal spoon. That helps too.

Also if you're making a fairly small batch, remember it will cool off faster compared with a larger batch, so the smaller amount is going to be more sensitive to cold implements.

 

[lsg]

I also use a wooden stick to stir beeswax into my salve. After everything is melted on low heat or in the microwave and cooled a bit, I add my essential oils and then pour my salve into the container in which I am storing it, and then stir off and on as it cools.

 

[hellomimi]

warm your stirrer
cold tools make the beeswax harden



a method:
before you turn off the heat, add your whisk or spoon to the salve
when the cooled flakes melt, turn off the heat and continue with the recipe

stirring while cooling helps keep the product smooth

Thanks for the advice! How should I go about warming my stirrer?

Also, forgot the mention this, when I try to pour the mixture into the jar, it ends up hardening as it pours out the container. Will stirring help with this issue?

 

[cmzaha]

I also use a wooden screwer or small wooden spoons/spatulas I had dedicated to making salves. I did not use so much beeswax or Cera Bellina that my salves were really hard so they never hardened as I poured them into my jars.

 

[dibbles]

Thanks for the advice! How should I go about warming my stirrer?

Also, forgot the mention this, when I try to pour the mixture into the jar, it ends up hardening as it pours out the container. Will stirring help with this issue?

You could warm your jars as well.

 

[Marsi]

lsg's method may work for you
(pour warm and stir in the jar)

I also use a wooden stick to stir beeswax into my salve. After everything is melted on low heat or in the microwave and cooled a bit, I add my essential oils and then pour my salve into the container in which I am storing it, and then stir off and on as it cools.

Thanks for the advice! How should I go about warming my stirrer?

before you turn off the heat, add your stirrer to the salve
when the cooled flakes melt, turn off the heat and continue with the recipe

or use wood (as advised by deeanna, lsg and cmzaha)

Also, forgot the mention this, when I try to pour the mixture into the jar, it ends up hardening as it pours out the container. Will stirring help with this issue?

warm your jars
pour before the product goes completely cold