First in an occasional series.In the years p.f. (pre Frankie), I used to mix up soaps; mostly they were cold process. Last night, I resumed my soap-making activity with a small batch of Honey Soap that I got from Diana's Sugar Plum site. I'll post a pic when it finally cures. So far, Frankie and I mixed the following:
vegetable shortening, 340 g
coconut oil (mp 76F), 114 g
beeswax, 28 g
water, 240 g
lye, 56 g
honey, 2 tablespoons measured by two squirts.
All the fats were combined, melted and brought to ca. 120F. The lye solution was mixed and cooled to 110F and combined. Frankie stirred a while and then I charged the honey and sped things up a bit using my (dedicated) immersion blender. We poured it into a plastic wrap-lined mold and placed an additional piece of plastic wrap on top while it did it's initial reaction to prevent carbonate formation on the surface. We'll unmold it in another day and let it cure for a couple weeks before trimming it for gifts and use.
Update (7-Sep-05)
I unmolded the block of soap in two days. It was kind of soft and let it rest on each of the bar's sides. According to the recipe, it should be cured in about 2-3 weeks. Everyday it gets a bit more firm and there's no carbonate on the bars at all. It's got quite a bit of excess fat (superfatted) so that's not too surprising. Keep you posted as it cures.
soap honey soap
Neat, we've got a bunch of soap curing in the garage. Used some this morning in the shower. Not sure what my wife uses in there, sometimes it just too darned girly and I opt for another choice. But usually it's just fine and I don't leave the house smelling like a french whore.
ReplyDeleteBiggles
Hey Dr. B,
ReplyDeleteSmelling like that would definitely be bad. You should smell like something good and smoky, like a pork shoulder.
Hey man,
ReplyDeleteShe tried that. I found her out in my smoker digging out all my ash and leavenings. Smelled pretty cool, but after a few filterings and simmering for hours, it didn't smell like que no more. And the ash never did thicken or do whatever it was it was supposed to do. Sigh.
Biggles