Thermometers, IR, Meat, or are they even necessary?

[Johnez]

Firstly this is regarding Hot Process soap making.

I've been using a meat thermometer to measure the temp of my soap in the crock to see when I should add my EOs. I have seen so many youtubers using IRs and many people seem to think they're easy to use, a necessity and usually advise to get a cheap one off Amazon. Well I went to Amazon and every one has had negative reviews mentioning lack of accuracy. Even if accuracy wasn't at issue I've found many have to have settings adjusted for specific materials (one even has specific settings for different metals). Doesn't sound so easy to me.

So I'm thinking of getting another meat thermometer instead of dealing with IRs. My question is-is there any reason not to go the meat thermometer route? And are there any tried and true thermometers out there that work well for soaping. Thanks guys.

 

[Ford]

Hi. It's not rocket science. I use temps for ref.
You can spend as much or as little as you want. My Amazon ir unit works just fine. I do own expensive candy thermometers for making maple products. Where temps "are" more critical.

 

[earlene]

For HP, I did use an IR thermometer, but it's not essential. They are easy to use, but you have to remember that it measures the surface, so to stir & fold the batter a bit, then take the temp. That'll give a more accurate reading for the overall temp of the batter. What I like about the IR Thermometer is that there is practically no clean-up involved.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Silicone spatulas with integrated thermometer are a thing. I have one, it is a handy tool for chocolate tempering and yoghurt. I haven't needed it for soapmaking yet, but I expect it to work well.

 

[Tara_H]

I got the Amazon commercials IR one recently (about €12) and it's been exactly what I need. Husband has also started borrowing it to measure oil temperatures for frying and says it's much better than the probe-based one he has been using up until now.

 

[earlene]

Silicone spatulas with integrated thermometer are a thing. I have one, it is a handy tool for chocolate tempering and yoghurt. I haven't needed it for soapmaking yet, but I expect it to work well.

That's pretty cool, but it looks like a bear to clean.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

You can pull out the thermometer. The thermometer can be used separately, and the spatula is dishwasher-safe (well, with the usual caveats of dishwasher-safety of silicone).

That said, I'm a very lazy person, so when heating milk (for yoghurt) I ended up with tiny bits of chocolate residues floating around. No problem in this case, but one could (and should) be more thorough whenever switching between food and non-food (or, better, having one dedicated to soapmaking), and also residual soap accelerating trace in new soap batter etc.

 

[earlene]

Even more cool!

I absolutely agree that dedicated soap tools are a must. The only thing I would use for both food & soap is a good quality Stainless Steel bowl I have, but only after a very thorough cleaning, followed by an alcohol rinse and air-dry. I do not intermingle silicone or other tools between soap & food prep. And I hate slotted utensils for soap because they are so bothersome to clean. I used one once & never again - even with a scrub brush it was hard getting dried soap out of the slots.