EZsoy troubles -

[Vintagemama]

I'm baffled and need advice.

Yesterday I took a pound of EZSoy (weighed), heated it to 175 in the microwave, added a liquid dye with a little bit of shavings from two different dye chips to obtain a nice chocolatey color, stirred well, added .6 oz. each of peppermint and Hershey's Kiss FO's.

I cooled to 100 degrees f and poured into a couple of average containers (8 oz and 4 oz jelly jars).

As it was cooling, the tops started to look very much like little bubbles were snaking their way to the top. It looked like overcooked fudge. When it was completely cooled, it looked like a bunch of tightly-packed, tiny whitish mushrooms.

Hitting it with the heat gun did nothing to improve the situation.

I remelted and added a tablespoon of hydrogenated vegetable shortening (yes, Crisco). Figured that's what I'd do for almond bark that was acting like this! Also, figured I had nothing to lose, as this wasn't going anywhere but home, and it smelled too great to just toss it.

That somewhat improved the finish - the tarts I poured looked okay - but the candles - yuck.

So... I tried another batch of EZSoy with a different FO and it did the same thing! Not quite as badly, but the tops were definitely not pretty.

Tonight I tried again. I was extremely careful with temperatures and used a double boiler rather than the microwave, checked with two thermometers, and made sure I never went over 170. The candles looked okay, but to get rid of a little rim of wax due to sloppy pouring :-) I hit them with the heat gun again. Bad move - the wax that melted looks pitted, and like it has little bubbles again, and is frosty and - well, it seems that every problem I've read about is showing up in this one poor batch of wax!

What am I doing wrong? Is EZSoy quite temperamental? I am quite new to this and don't have much experience to judge from, but other 100% soy flakes I've used didn't do this.

The wax is fresh - well, freshly purchased anyway, from BC North.

Thanks for any help!

[Sharon in KY]

Some times if I pour too cool when the wax is thick it will look like you are describing. When you melt the tops it will look like bubbles popped/holes. I would melt some wax and top them instead of the heat gun. While the tops are drying you may have some bubbles but the heat guy will work on them. I try to keep the gun handy and keep running it over till the air is out. And don't stir after the initial major stir, seems like that produced a bunch of bubbles when I stirred when it had cooled off. hth

[Beth-VT]

VERY typical (and normal) for EZSOy. Doesn't hurt a thing. If you don't like the look, you can add a touch of paraffin or beeswax and that should the problem.

[islandgirl]

EZ Soy is very unpredictable in my opinion.

Between wicking it and the consistency of the soy, it was a nightmare for me!!

So I switched waxes.

[Marilyn]

I always add beeswax; 1/2 oz to a pound. It helps.

[daniedb]

Yeah, EZ has an amazing throw, hot and cold, but it can be UGLEEEEEE. I add 2.5% beeswax to mine, and it solves the problem. If you press your finger into the top of the candle when it's 100% soy, you can make an indention, because it's that soft - when I add b/w, I get beautiful, smooth tops and a hard, shiny finish. It doesn't help much with frosting, but it does make the tops look much less like cottage cheese.

I've also found some success in reducing frosting by pouring just a tad hotter. If I waited until it was opaque and chunky, I got horrible results - now I wait until it's just clouded over and still liquidy (about 105*).

If the frosting is killing you, then I would highly recommend trying Frostop from Barnloft Candles, it works great on most FOs.