Taking temperature of soap in mold....any point?

[Purplerain]

I'm quite enamoured of my little temperature gun. Took the temp of a coffee soap I just made when I poured it into the (loaf) mold. 71F in the center of the top. A little less on the ends and sides. 3 1/2 hrs later, 74F. 3 hours after that, 80F. Does this tell me anything useful? I've had glycerine rivers a few times and the odd crack so my thinking is that if I monitor heating I can maybe act expeditiously to avoid overheating issues. Or, maybe I'm just playing?
What do you think?

 

[Cookie]

Don't know the answer to your question, but have to admit taking random temps when I have my temp gun out..lol...cause I just find it fun....I'm sure someone can give you a proper answer

 

[Purplerain]

Oh, I'm glad its not just me......

 

[boyago]

All data is good data (well when it's good data anyway), but keep in mind the temp gun will only give you temps of the outside and all the gel rings and things tend to happen in the center if that's the info your going for. I expect you could predict/prevent an over heat but you would have to take your reading pretty regularly.
I'm actually really enjoying this programing/controls class and just got my first Arduino. I in and could probably build a soap babysitter to monitor the temps and sound an alarm if they get too hot. Ya know cause I need more silly overbuilt soap projects.

 

[Susie]

I am not saying that gathering data is every completely wrong(you are writing all of this down, right?), but bear in mind that the very time you need that tool the most, the batteries are going to die on you. It would be better if you learned the appearance of soap about to misbehave. That way you can operate without the temp gun.

 

[Soapsense]

I also randomly check the temp with a gun, lol. But I mostly use it to tell when it is done. If I lift the blankets and it registers room temp after 18-24 hours,I take it out.
I must say, my temp gun was my husbands, bought to check tire temps on our RV when we went out West. That was 6 years ago, and the batteries
haven't failed. Whoops I bet I just jinxed myself.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I thnk that is the important part - experience of what temp with which recipe means that reaction. So with recipe 1, a temp of x means I will be fine, but temp y means it is too hot. But with recipe 2, both x and y are fine, but temp z is too hot.

 

[DeeAnna]

The surface temp of a well-mixed material (soap batter) gives some idea of what's going on in the whole, but the surface temp of a large solid mass (molded soap) is just telling you something about the outside of the soap -- not terribly useful. Like the others, I mostly use appearance as a guide. I do sometimes monitor temperature to help me better understand what's going on with my soap, but that's me being my usual geeky kitchen-chemist self.

IMO, handheld IR (infrared) guns are simple and easy, but are not helpful to me for soaping. They are useful to check surface temperatures of motor bearings and the like, but not really useful for monitoring chemical reactions like soap. At the very least, I want my hands free to work, not be holding an IR gun.Get a thermocouple type temperature probe that gives a constant readout and use that if you want useful info. You can put the tip of the thermocouple into the soap where it will be the most useful and a quick glance is all you need to check the temp.

 

[Purplerain]

I seem to be turning into a geeky kitchen chemist!
So, if the outside temp is, say, 85F, is that not an indication that the inside is even hotter? And things are still cooking away and too soon to unmold? As, for example , my coffee soap right now, after 20 hrs. It's still softish as well. Otherwise looks good although I still haven't nailed down whether or not it has gelled. I guess, maybe that's what I thought the temp gun would help with. Determining whether or not a soap has gelled/is gelling. The soap gets hotter when it's doing that - right?

 

[User196221]

Great idea DeeAnna....I have a meat probe with a digital readout that sets outside of the oven....very easy and accurate to do...think its a good thing to know where your soap is at when you have honey, goatmilk or whatever that might heat your soap up toooo much....I will just use the bar with the hole in for myself!!

 

[DeeAnna]

With an insulator like a molded soap, there is a longish lag between the inside and outside temps. If the outside temp rises, all you know is the inner temp rose some time in the past. You don't know when or by how much. You cannot use the outer temp to anticipate overheating for example. By the time the temp rises the inside of the soap may be too hot. You're better off in that case to pay more attention to appearance of small cracks or softness rather than temp. Also heat loss due to cool air temps or air movement can cool the surface enough to keep the outside of the soap cooler and mask what's going on inside.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

 

[shunt2011]

I've never felt the need to check temp either once in the mold. I just check on my soap periodically to see if it's gelling as I can tell just by looking at it. If it's getting too hot you can certainly see it and I just remove or open the top to let some heat out. I've not had any problems doing this and no volcanos.