What can you Not Live without? :-)

[Layne]

Chocolate, lots of it!
Cant live without my chocolate gm cocoa butter soap.
Lots of cocoa butter, goats milk and hershies special dark cocoa powder, among other oils.
mmmmmmm
makes the skin say mmmmmm also.
so silky its almost naughty.
once dry feels like your covered in silk powder.
mmmmmm chocolate

 

[Wick's End]

Layne, are you saying that there is more than one way to be hooked on chocolate!?! How fun!
Do you get the cocoa powder that has a bit of a bitter flavor or the cocoa powder that is good for chocolate milk?

I sure am enjoying all the info and is interesting to see how varied it is.

 

[KD]

Can't live without

Oils: olive, palm, and coconut
Cocoa butter
Molds: Soap Mold Superstore's 9 inch loaf molds - no lining, great release, nice size and shape to bars.
Colorants: TKB Pop Micas - superior to ANYTHING else out there.
Rada large paring knife
Little battery operated whipper/foamer from Ikea
STICK BLENDER!!!
Digital scale
Pyrex measuring cups reserved just for soapmaking.
Ladle

 

[KD]

Can't live without

Oils: olive, palm, and coconut
Cocoa butter
Molds: Soap Mold Superstore's 9 inch loaf molds - no lining, great release, nice size and shape to bars.
Colorants: TKB Pop Micas - superior to ANYTHING else out there.
Rada large paring knife
Little battery operated whipper/foamer from Ikea
STICK BLENDER!!!
Digital scale
Pyrex measuring cups reserved just for soapmaking.
Ladle

 

[steffm]

Her-Hee, Steffm, I get one track mind like that too

I am really enjoying reading all the responses.
So you think 3x5 cards are too small for transferring the final recipe onto? I was thinking about writing it all out in my messy way, then transferring my tried and true's and then keeping them filed in an index box for quick reference.

May I ask... What is a "stick" blender? Is it a style of blender attachment or something else all together?

I like to keep mine in a binder so when I cut, I can see if I did anything wrong/different that I would like to change, see if I need different ingredients, pour lye and oils together at different temps, etc.

This is a stick blender http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-76B ... 040&sr=8-1. They are awesome!

 

[Wick's End]

Ok, thanks. I've seen those, just hadn't had the need for one in the past.
I wonder if walmart has a good one that won't corode in making the soap?

The binder makes sense.

 

[soapbuddy]

If you need a good stick blender, I would suggest one that has a stainless steel shaft. The ones that use plastic will melt if you try to use it with hot oils.

 

[BakingNana]

What everyone else says plus a find I made a couple of weeks ago at our Walmart. A set of plastic graduating measuring cups that includes 4, 2, and 1 cup measures shaped exactly like the Anchor Hocking glass cups for LESS THAN $2!!! I cleaned 'em out. Going to check back this week to see if they got more in. So much easier to use than heavy glass. Be aware that all of the printing will wear off any measuring cup real quick. Forces you to weigh, so that's a good thing I guess.