3 ms·
Oof, nowadays recipes call for adding the lye to the fat, rather than the fat to the lye. The lye will react with the fat to produce heat, and it’s much better
by kaikai 7y ago
Oof, nowadays recipes call for adding the lye to the fat, rather than the fat to the lye. The lye will react with the fat to produce heat, and it’s much better to ramp up the ratio of lye to fat rather than introducing a small amount of fat to the lye. It doesn’t mention curing the soap, either, which both hardens the soap and allows the reaction to complete. It makes the soap last a lot longer and helps avoid getting burnt by untracked lye. I wonder if the weaker ash-based lye solution is safer overall than commercially available pure lye.
- simcop2387 7y ago> I wonder if the weaker ash-based lye solution is safer overall than commercially available pure lye. My understanding is that yes, it will be safer purely because it's a weaker lye solution. It'll be more likely to completely react, and even if it doesn't it will be more dilute and less likely to cause skin problems or burning. But it'll be slower, and less reliable to get the right concentrations to make the same soap over and over.
- deepspace 7y agoThe fact that the recipe mentions "beating down" the soap leads me to believe that it is describing what people nowadays call the "hot process". You keep cooking the soap until it is fully saponified and it does not require further curing.
- mirimir 7y agoAlso, you can get some pH paper.