Well! Here's one. An attempt at Cold Process soap. "Cold Process" doesn't mean there's no heat involved, it just means you don't add any. Combining the oils with lye water causes a little heat, then an amount of heat that would be alarming had you not already poured it into a mold. Anyway, I have made cold process soap before, from a kit & was not wild about the results. I had followed the instructions to the letter, but ended up with soap without much scent, that never dried out in the middle. Never. It may not have heated thoroughly, meaning never fully saponofied. I was loathe to try this again, but I then I read about Hot Process. Hot Process is where you heat a soap in a pot (crock pot is the popular way) forcing saponification & also causing the soap's ph to be ok for immediate use once it hardens. The Gemini in me loved that. Immediate. Yes, please. I also loved that I could freely add fragrance oil at a later stage of the process, when there was not as much (if any) lye to destroy it. I bought some ingredients, and by providence came across a crock pot of interest in a thrift store. Boolly! I got all the stuff together to give it a go, then noticed that the crock pot had oil or grease burned in a ring all the way around, just below the top. Steel wool didn't get it off. Humph. Back to google, & YouTube. Aha. Another thing- I could to a CPOP process, or Cold Process Oven Prosses. Cold process processing, then place in a toasty oven to ensure that heated all the way through. Ok, so.. Watched a few different videos on the process & sort of coalated them in my mind. This technique tends to work out VERY well when cooking something I have never cooked before, & I didn't anticipate a problem. Ahem. I did NOT follow any directions to the letter. And honestly, there were so many variables, I have no idea why it happened. When I added the fragrance oil it clumped. I don't know if that has something to do with this sticky mess, or if it was the attempt to add the oven process at the end. I don't know if it's because I added (cosmetic grade) clay as a colorant after I became concerned that the food coloring wouldn't do squat. I did attempt another loaf without adding the oven warming at the end, & it looks good so far.
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