Will oven processing in CPOP damage the oven?

[narnia]

I am new to soap making but am really excited about it! I made my first batch of goat milk soap in the crock pot and it turned out just fine!

I saw a Youtube video about CPOP and am excited to try that, but my husband is concerned that the fumes from the lye as the soap cooks in the oven may damage the interior of the oven. Anyone have experience with this and can you tell me what, if any effect, the lye fumes have had on the oven interior? We have a really nice, expensive new oven, so we would love to know! Thanks in advance for your help!

Another thought....can the soap be cooked in a toaster oven?

 

[dixiedragon]

Have you looked at a bottle of oven cleaner? That is some nasty stuff! Lye will not hurt your oven. it's not radioactive waste.

I don't see why you couldn't use a toaster oven, if you wanted to try it.

 

[kchaystack]

ok, cpop is not cooking your soap. It is a way to add some extra heat to make sure your soap goes into gel stage. You should warm your oven to around 170F, put the soap in, and then turn off the oven.

Also, the only time you should have 'lye fumes' is when you first add lye to your liquids, and should only last for a few moments. Once mixed with the oils, your lye will be reacting with the oils, not turning to vapor. So no, cpop should not hurt your oven.

 

[narnia]

Thank you both so much!!!! Yes! Thanks for mentioning the nasty oven cleaner!! That stuff is REALLY caustic!!

Now I can OP in peace!!

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

Just wanted to chime in that I've CPOPd for a long time and have never had any damage to my oven.

Good idea on the toaster oven! I could move my whole "soap-eration" to the garage if I got a toaster oven.

I <3 CPOP! Gives a great finish to the soap.

 

[narnia]

Have you looked at a bottle of oven cleaner? That is some nasty stuff! Lye will not hurt your oven. it's not radioactive waste.

I don't see why you couldn't use a toaster oven, if you wanted to try it.

When I told my DH about the oven cleaner, he reminded me that our oven is self-cleaning and that we are not supposed to use those cleaners.

 

[McGraysoldtowngifts]

I work for Lowe's and we sell a ton of Appliances There is nothing in the process of soap making that will damage an oven. I would wipe it down with a damp cloth after each use before you cook food in it just in case you had any spills. But I am overly careful and this may not be needed.

Todd

 

[dixiedragon]

Maybe call the oven company? See what the inside of the oven is made of?

 

[cmzaha]

Just make sure you do not volcano the soap out into the oven. Lye will hurt my self cleaning oven. Also keep in mind you do not have to cpop to make a soap gel. A heat pad can be put under your mold, cover and insulate. The heat pad will promote gelling but you need to check it periodically for overheating. I would just leave it long enough to heat it all up then turn off the heat pad, that is when I gelled soap. Another way is to put your mold in a crate, the smallest that will hold your mold, put the lid on and insulate the crate with a blanket or two, depending the temp in your room. I personally detest using the cpop process. The other trick is to heat the oven to 170º F, turn it off and leave the soap in until your mold cools back down. Some in here can give details about the cpop process since I do not use it unless trying to fix a batch for one reason or another.

 

[narnia]

I work for Lowe's and we sell a ton of Appliances There is nothing in the process of soap making that will damage an oven. I would wipe it down with a damp cloth after each use before you cook food in it just in case you had any spills. But I am overly careful and this may not be needed.

Todd

Thank you! It's a new Electrolux that we love, so we do not want to damage it in any way.

 

[narnia]

Just make sure you do not volcano the soap out into the oven. Lye will hurt my self cleaning oven. Also keep in mind you do not have to cpop to make a soap gel. A heat pad can be put under your mold, cover and insulate. The heat pad will promote gelling but you need to check it periodically for overheating. I would just leave it long enough to heat it all up then turn off the heat pad, that is when I gelled soap. Another way is to put your mold in a crate, the smallest that will hold your mold, put the lid on and insulate the crate with a blanket or two, depending the temp in your room. I personally detest using the cpop process. The other trick is to heat the oven to 170º F, turn it off and leave the soap in until your mold cools back down. Some in here can give details about the cpop process since I do not use it unless trying to fix a batch for one reason or another.

Yikes! If lye will hurt the oven, then we had better use our cheap toaster oven just in case it does volcano! :-|

 

[dixiedragon]

You could also wrap the mold in a towel so if there is a volcano, the towel catches it.

Not helpful right now (Unless you are in the southern hemisphere), but in hot weather you can CPOP in the trunk of your car or in a solar oven. A solar oven is basically a cardboard box with aluminum foil to reflect sunlight. I'm actually going to make one soon so it will be ready to cook with this summer.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Cardboard-Solar-Oven/?ALLSTEPS

 

[McGraysoldtowngifts]

You could also wrap the mold in a towel so if there is a volcano, the towel catches it.

Not helpful right now (Unless you are in the southern hemisphere), but in hot weather you can CPOP in the trunk of your car or in a solar oven. A solar oven is basically a cardboard box with aluminum foil to reflect sunlight. I'm actually going to make one soon so it will be ready to cook with this summer.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Cardboard-Solar-Oven/?ALLSTEPS

I remember using these in the Boy Scouts to bake bread in the middle of the woods one day they do work very well.

Todd

 

[narnia]

You could also wrap the mold in a towel so if there is a volcano, the towel catches it.

Not helpful right now (Unless you are in the southern hemisphere), but in hot weather you can CPOP in the trunk of your car or in a solar oven. A solar oven is basically a cardboard box with aluminum foil to reflect sunlight. I'm actually going to make one soon so it will be ready to cook with this summer.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Cardboard-Solar-Oven/?ALLSTEPS

How creative! Thank you!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I you like CPOP and are afraid of your oven getting damaged, it would not be very hard or expensive to set up a dedicated box to gel your soap.

Something like this controlling a cheap socket with one of these inside a cooler or even a cardboard box should do the trick. I don't know the exact desired temp for gel (although I know that the 170F oven minimum is too high) but this would let you set any temp below 122F and the heater would automatically turn off if the temp rose above the setpoint.

Even cheaper, but slower moving options would be to use a water bath and aquarium heater inside an enclosure.

 

[coffeetime]

On the homemade solar ovens-aren't most of them made with aluminum foil? If that is the design you are looking at, I would stay away from the aluminum. Lye and aluminum react badly. And there is still active lye when you put your mold in, so if it volcanoed, I'm not sure but I would suspect it would react.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

On the homemade solar ovens-aren't most of them made with aluminum foil? If that is the design you are looking at, I would stay away from the aluminum. Lye and aluminum react badly. And there is still active lye when you put your mold in, so if it volcanoed, I'm not sure but I would suspect it would react.

Good point. You could use mylar, I suppose.

 

[houseofwool]

I use a cheap styrofoam cooler for gelling. Mine were free from the local hospital pharmacy. My BIL is a pharmacist and that is what temperature sensitive meds are shipped in.

 

[Susie]

I would use the heating pad under the mold with a small cooler (AKA ice chest) inverted over the top like Carolyn said. It is a cheap oven substitute, and you can use it anywhere you have an outlet. Just be sure to check it to prevent overheating.

I am drooling over the Solavore Sport. I just think this would be great to have!

http://www.solavore.com/

 

[mymy]

hi guys, i made cp of oatmeal, honey and milk soap just now. After i added honey in, the color became light orange, within 1 hour it turn into creamy beige. Is that normal?