Thinking about the Ghee in my pantry

[jonsie]

I've been bitten by the soap-making bug, and I am almost out of my Palm Oil, and I'll have to wait at least two days to get some more. I have a good supply of Coconut Oil (76), and everything else I might need to make more soap.

So I'm guessing I need some additional hard oils to make up for the low Palm Oil, and I remember the pound of Ghee sitting in my pantry. I also see it listed on the SoapCalc as an option.

But I don't see much information about the kind of soap Ghee makes. Does it discolor it? Any help would be appreciated.

I don't mind going ahead and trying it and reporting back what I get. But I don't have an experienced eye to know what to look for yet.

By the way, this is not vegetable Ghee, it is commercially produced butter fat Ghee.

Edited January 16, 2011 by jonsie
clarification

[lsbennis]

I wish I could help but I have no idea what Ghee is!

[LuminousBoutique]

isnt ghee clarified butter?

[Candybee]

You can pick up some palm oil at your local health food store.

[jonsie]

Yup, Ghee is clarified butter, since SoapCalc had it listed as a potential ingredient, I figured it was fair game to give it a try I ended up using it as 12% of my recipe. Although I don't completely understand the numbers at SoapCalc, it helped bump up the INS to the desired 160. I've unmolded it by now and so far so good. I gelled most of it, and set some out to not gel, so I'm curious to see how it all behaves and looks after a good cure.

You can pick up some palm oil at your local health food store.

Doh! I should have thought of that, since I had to buy coconut oil there in a pinch. Stores like that are usually closed on Sundays over here (long story) so I might not have had much luck anyway. I had placed a large order with our local supplier but the earliest I could pick it up is Tuesday.

[Judette]

I have heard that using butter in any way shape or form , will eventually smell like vomit.

[jonsie]

Thanks for the heads-up, Judette. If my soap is gonna smell like vomit, I'm glad it'll be with something intended as a test

I see lots of soaps advertised as made with ghee, so I wonder if there is a difference between the types of ghee used. The ghee I have is commercially produced and shelf-stable, with no need for refrigeration, and I honestly don't know if that is any different from what you can make at home. But I do like the numbers ghee gives on SoapCalc so I'd like to give it a few more tries before giving up on it.

[LuminousBoutique]

Yah since Ghee is clarified.. it might not do what butter would do. It wont spoil the way butter would.. so definately let us know. Its a cool thing to be different, you know? Ghee is not something we see in the US (unless maybe in specialty shops)

[jonsie]

Thanks, Luminous, and I had completely forgotten about how it wasn't easy to find ghee back in the U.S. Back when I lived in Texas I was trying to make some Indian food recipes and I needed to find some ghee. I didn't know I could make my own so I went to Walmart, Krogers, Super Target, etc, and couldn't find it. Finally went to Whole Foods and bought some there, but it was in the refrigerated section. My Indian friends laughed at me! I've since learned the shelf-stable kind can be purchased at places like Indian grocery stores which aren't exactly common throughout the U.S.