What an experience

[Scented]

OK I totally screwed up, but I have a few questions for those in the know (we're talking CP):

1) When you get a grit like consistency in your batter (lack of a better term) and you've maybe used your stick blender a whopping two pulses ... is this the making of soap on a stick if you don't hand stir as fast as you can to try to tame it down (sounds like the ringmaster and the lion when I say that lol.) Or does this just mean it's a quick mover and you better be too?

2) Does everyone soap at 5% superfat/discount% ? If you vary yours,. why? (Oh please speak about this in English, in other words be very simple.) And if say you increase that number to say oh 7, would you expect your batter/recipe to move quicker? And why does it do this?

3) How the heck do you get smooth tops in a slab mold lol! (Course if I were pouring runny, I could see the answer to that, but that hasn't happened lately).

4) How many of you do batches more than 3 lbs? And what in the world do you mix it in? (Curious, because I think I'm gonna need to attempt a 6 or 7 lb batch and I've no earthly idea what to use. I do know if it's tall I'm gonna need a stepping stool).

Thanks for any help!! Whoever snuck in the little gremlin, it's ready to go home now. I have the Boy King. He's enough to babysit

[friendlyMOM]

How the heck do you get smooth tops in a slab mold lol! (Course if I were pouring runny, I could see the answer to that, but that hasn't happened lately).

This is how I do it, as a newbe that is, I tap the mold on the counter many times to get it smooth after I have taken a rubber spatula to smooth it as much as I can. But most of the time I pour while still in the more runny stage

[Carrie]

For larger batches I use buckets. Ummm, ice cream buckets are good as are the buckets from MMS that coconut oil comes in. I've also used a huge tupperware bowl.

I only get smooth tops when I pour at thin trace or when I use my new soap beveler/shaver.

I have no idea what you're talking about with the grit like consistancy. Are you sure it isn't ricing?

[RobinInOR]

Sounds like the beginning of ricing, yup.

I superfat somewhere around 3-4%, depending on which calculator you're using. If it's soapcalc, it's 3%. If it's MMS, it's 4% (they have different sap values for PKO, and since I use a higher % of that, it makes a diff in the calcs)

I would expect a higher superfat to more slower, actually. Less lye in the mix, more oil. But it's so dependent on temperature, recipe, and fragrance it would probably be hard to tell.

Most of my batches now are 10#s. For those I use a SS pot I bought when I started. For my 4# logs I use gallon plastic buckets that I saved from when I bought my oils in gallons - I must have 20 buckets. Which is great, I don't have to clean them for months lol..

Smooth tops on logs - well, I don't, but you could use the bottom as the top of the bar, and trip the real top flat. Depends on your coloring if that would look OK.

[OutlandishLady]

When I pour at thin trace I can get a pretty smooth top but still need the beveler most of the time.

No help on the rest, sorry

[dee263]

1) I'd agree with Robin - it sounds like ricing although I've been very lucky and it's been a looong time since I had a batch rice (and now the very next batch I make, when my new kitchen is completed, will definitely rice :rolleyes2 )

2) I use the MMS calculator and have always superfatted at between 6 and 7 %, and I, too, would think that the higher the superfat % the slower the batch would move. There will be more fat than the lye can handle; the lye will be more "diluted."

3) My slab mold was made by my FIL and he made 2 lids for it; one fits inside and one lies on top. I smooth the top as much as I can with my spatula, then I use a piece of freezer paper to cover the soap and put the lid that fits inside to gently even out the top. As long as I don't have soap on a stick this usually works pretty well.

4) I make mostly 8 lb batches. I want to get at least one new SS but for now I use a very large enamelware pot that I bought a long time ago (but in this galaxy :tiptoe: )

[Scented]

Thanks!!

OK so it could be ricing. That would make sense, but is this going to be a bad thing? I was able to stir it out from clumping (if that makes sense) and I was able to get it into the mold and smoothe what I could with a spatula, but outside of appearance, how does ricing affect the final soap? Will it be grainy? Fall apart? Goodness don't say rebatch...please!

[Kimberly]

Scented...if you were able to get the batch back to a smooth consistency before pouring you should be ok. I have one of my most popular scents that pices on me every time! I just stick blend the hell out of it and it is fine.

[Scented]

Heck I figured it was the stick blender causing it lol!

[eugenia]

Take the blender and pulse, stir by hand, repeat.

As for the smoothness, you need to pour thinner.

Keep in mind that even if you stop blending to add FO, color, etc the saponification is still going on.

The soap gets thicker by the second with nothing touching it.

What you need to do is stop blending to add the stuff BEFORE it looks perfect. Stop when it looks like thin pancake batter if you want it smooth

e

[Teercreations]

are you using any kind of water discount? I sometimes get ricing or extreme soap on a stick when I discount my water a great deal. I make logs of 40 oz normally which is about 12 bars for me. I rarely do slab anymore because its a B**ch to cut and make all the bars even. I love my cutter because I cant cut straight. I do make 10 pound batches all the time and split it 4 ways and then pour but it depends on which FO's I'm using (some behave and some dont). I normally superfat at 5% because I have always done that (creature of habit here).

Pam

[Scented]

Well using soapcalc9, I did take a water discount from 38 to 33 and I did change the superfat from 5 to 7. I also added sodium lactate to my batch, 1.2 oz to 3 lbs of oil. Now I'm probably looking for a disaster?