Yay for stick blenders!

[juliet]

After the never ending stirring of the olive oil soap last night I went out today and bought a cheapie stick blender, my early birthday present to myself

I tried it out tonight on exactly the same recipe I made last night. Last night it took me an hour to get to light trace with a balloon whisk, during which time I think it cooled down a lot. Anyway, that batch is slowly setting up. Tonight, same recipe, it took me 10 minutes with the stick blender (on off bursts) to get to a pudding consistency. Wow, I can do something else with the rest of my evening! It's all wrapped up snug for the night and I'll see how it looks tomorrow.

 

[IrishLass]

Good for you! I don't know what I'd do without my trusty stickblender. It's just as essential to my soapmaking as is lye.


IrishLass

 

[VanessaP]

Woot! I love my stick blender Especially when I did my pure castile two weeks ago. I could NOT have stood there for hours hand stirring. As it was, it took me 15 minutes to get it to a light trace WITH a 40% lye concentration. I had trace on today's batch (avocado, castor, shortening, olive and coconut) in about 3 minutes Love my SB. I need to pick up another one so I'm not screwed if this one dies.

 

[Lilahblossom]

I'm feeling the same way about my SB.

 

[LadyM]

Will you let us know how your soap turns out in terms of air bubbles? I'm on the hunt for a stick blender that doesn't leave me with bubbles in the bar! I'd love to know if yours might be one to try!

 

[sudbubblez]

My stickblender worked great at first.... now its not even got that many miles on it and started to draw air into the batter. I switched to the squirrel cage mixer drill attachment and now I'm in love with that.

 

[juliet]

Will you let us know how your soap turns out in terms of air bubbles? I'm on the hunt for a stick blender that doesn't leave me with bubbles in the bar! I'd love to know if yours might be one to try!

I'm not sure if you'll get the same brands over there but it's a Salton. I bought a cheapie one because we have a fancy one that my mother in law bought me for making soup and it's way over powered. Given half a chance it shoots hot soup all over the kitchen. So I wanted one that wasn't going to be so enthusiastic and send soap flying all over. This one did the trick. I really just used it in a couple of second bursts and then stirred with it. The soap did get kind of bubbly but I banged the bowl a few times in between mixing. I'll let you know what it looks like when it's cut.

 

[new12soap]

My stickblender worked great at first.... now its not even got that many miles on it and started to draw air into the batter. I switched to the squirrel cage mixer drill attachment and now I'm in love with that.

What is that???

 

[VanessaP]

My stickblender worked great at first.... now its not even got that many miles on it and started to draw air into the batter. I switched to the squirrel cage mixer drill attachment and now I'm in love with that.

What is that???

Squirrel cage

http://squirrelmixer.com/Browse-Product ... ypro-Mixer

Right now, I just don't make big enough batches for it. Once I do, I may check it out.

 

[new12soap]

Wow. Thanks for the link. I think I would need to be making much bigger batches to need that but it's good to know it's out there

 

[sudbubblez]

I posted a link in the shopping recommendations. The 1gallon size mixer actually detaches and then works for 1 quart sized batches.

 

[klarthur]

Cage mixer - THANKS! - one more question

WOW!
I was looking to see if I would have to buy a stick blender just for soap making but I love the idea of the cage mixer and it is only $7 at lowes.

I will have to give it a try

By the way, just in case it is too large for my batches, what do you all do? Do you have a stick blender you use JUST for soap or can you use the same one you use in the kitchen?

Thanks!
Kerri in NC

 

[new12soap]

My stickblender cost $10 and I almost never used it for food to start with, so yeah it is just for soap...

 

[sudbubblez]

If your stick blender is stainless steel, it can be used interchangeably between food and soap. If its plastic, once its used to mix soap, it should only be used for soap. Plastic is porus so the lye and everything else in the soap batter will get into the plastic even if it looks clean. You wouldn't want FO or anything like that leeching from the SB into your whipped cream.

 

[kimnkell]

Just made my first batch the other day and I had ordered a hamilton beach stick blender from ebay....the listing said it had only been used a few times and it looked like new..Half way through my soap it quit working... the very first time I've ever use it... I had bought it sometime before making my soap as I was trying to gather things up to make sure I had everything before I began,,, so it was 1 day too late to return it to the seller... Anyway, I have read of people using their kitchenaid mixers but I really don't wanna use it and then use it for food so I thought on my next batch I could use my hand mixer..have any of you ever used your hand mixer?

 

[klarthur]

Regarding the cage mixer

Ok,
So I have one in my amazon cart, I was wondering, will this work (with the bottom portion removed, for quart size) work with a regular size batch of soap? Like 1-2 lbs?

I am new and don't really know if I will be a soap making diva yet or not so I want to buy only what I NEED to make my first batch to try out.

I figure if I don't get in to soap making I can definitely use the cage mixer to mix my paints!

Thanks for the advice!

Kerri

 

[soapylady]

OMG! I love my stick blender. Can't believe it took me so long to try this.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

The first batch I ever made I tried a regular mixer - thought I must have done something wrong because I didn't think it ever traced - I mixed for 2 hrs. It did trace, just not like it now does with my SB. I have 1 that I use for soap and one in the kitchen, simply because I don't make soap in the kitchen and don't want to run back and forth getting it. Though sometimes I do bring the kitchen one out to the soap lab and use it too - both are SS so no problems. I also have 2 new ones sitting in their boxes because I know I will be in the middle of a big batch some day and will have a burn out. I found some professional ones that were a total of 3 feet long - was trying to imagine how big a pot I would need for that.

 

[Clemmey]

So I have one in my amazon cart, I was wondering, will this work (with the bottom portion removed, for quart size) work with a regular size batch of soap? Like 1-2 lbs?

I invested in a stick blender, and they work well for 1-2 lb. batches. That is the size that I make, what I did find was that blending in short bursts worked better than constant blending... you can control how quickly it comes to trace with bursts.

Costco had a great deal with a coupon recently too... that is what I got, it was under $20! my 2c

You can always use it for other things if soaping isn't your fortay... like pureeing soups in the pot... or mixing with 1 beater. The one from costco comes with a chopper too...

 

[SoapySmurf]

I have a 2 speed Kitchenaid stick blender that I was lucky enough to get on sale at Target for $32. have to be careful with the faster speed on it or it blows right past trace and starts to thicken while mixing (no fo's involved.)

I am still a newbie and have only made about 5 batches with it but it seems to work great on the 3ish pound batches I have been making.

I couldn't imagine stirring by hand for hours to do what this does in 5-10 minutes.