Scorched goat milk soap

[wbocrafter]

I made a batch of goat milk soap where I put the goat milk in with the oils & then added the lye solution. I believe My mixture must have been too warm because when I cut my soap into bars it looks slightly brown in the middle. Does this affect the soap?This is my 2nd batch of goat milk soap & I’m trying to get it perfected. I’m learning something new each time.

 

[Yooper]

I made a batch of goat milk soap where I put the goat milk in with the oils & then added the lye solution. I believe My mixture must have been too warm because when I cut my soap into bars it looks slightly brown in the middle. Does this affect the soap?This is my 2nd batch of goat milk soap & I’m trying to get it perfected. I’m learning something new each time.

It won't affect the soap at all, it's just the appearance. The next time you use goat's milk (or any milk), there are other ways to keep this from happening. The way I do it is to freeze the milk first in ice cube trays (but you can use anything not glass of course) then slowly add the lye right into the milk, and in the summer I put that frozen goat's milk bowl into a bowl of ice as well, to keep it from heating up. Others will add the milk at trace, but for me that ends up with too much liquid since you'll have to subtract it from the water upfront (and I masterbatch my lye), so I use goat's milk powder in the soap batter if I'm doing that.

If you want to add the milk at trace, just subtract the amount from the water you mix with lye, but never go less than 1:1 water:lye (preferably more water than that, but that's an absolute minimum).

 

[Yooper]

Here's a good write up I found after I posted that:

How to Add Milk to Soap | BrambleBerry

Learn how to add milk to cold process soap in this article. It gives the bars an irresistible creamy feeling.

www.brambleberry.com

 

[wbocrafter]

Thanks for your response. I do have all of my goat’s milk frozen into ice cubes but I was reading about a method where you put the goat milk into the oils & then add the lye water to the oils that contained the milk. I melted the milk before I put it into the oils because I didn’t think the oils would melt the ice cubes but now that I think about it with the temperature of the oils being at 100+ degrees I should not have melted the ice cubes. I’m still learning but learn something new each time I make a batch. Do you think it is better to put the ice cubes in a bowl & put the ice directly on the ice cubes or isn’t there a preferential method?

 

[Yooper]

I do the double bowl method- the frozen milk cubes inside a larger bowl with ice cubes in it, to keep it cool. Then I add the lye very slowly, a little at a time, stirring and stirring. Then a tiny bit more and stir more, because it heats up FAST if you don't. Then, while it's warmish but not hot, I add that to my oils.

 

[wbocrafter]

Thanks for your help.

 

[wbocrafter]

I made another batch of goat milk soap today. I weighed out my goat milk that I had frozen and added the lye to the goat milk cubes. I forgot about putting it on the ice bath but it actually worked out better. My goat milk/lye mixture was around 102 degrees and my oils were around 108 degrees. I didn’t mix it as long as I had before & everything went smooth. I can’t wait to try it now.

 

[seraphim]

Milk's have a tendency (scorching) to do this because of the proteins in the milk. You most likely had a partial gel going on with your soap. When I make goats milk soap I immediately put it in the freezer for 24 hours then transfer it to the fridge for another 24 hours then let it sit on the counter for up to 24 hours. I then test it for cutting.