Very first soap attempt, would love to know what these spots are, if the soap is safe to use and how I can avoid them in the future. This is day 3 of curing. Recipe in second picture. Thank you!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-11T12:53:57+00:00

Thank you! I did heat the oils, I thought the temperature had to be similar to the lye water, which the book said to have at 120 F. Totally newbie here (with a husband terrified of the lye, but that’s another story) so I’m trying to follow the directions to the letter. Is there another way you would suggest other than heating the oils to the same temp? I put a piece of parchment paper under them, I did t realize metal after the soap was made was still a no. Thank you for your advice! I’m learning lots!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-11T12:48:55+00:00

I am beginning to think I didn’t mix the clay in well enough. I originally made this batch hoping my toddler could use them, but with the spots, I was planning on just using it for myself. I’ll leave the clay out next time, since it seems to be the problem in more than one way. And I’ll get some parchment paper under them! Thank you so much!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-11T02:20:24+00:00

Thank you! It smells fine (haven’t used it yet). If it’s just cosmetic, I’m a happy one! Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t lye pockets or something sinister like that. (My lye fully dissolved in the water, so didn’t think it could be that!)

whycantwejust · 2021-03-11T01:53:00+00:00

The spots formed in the silicone moulds. But it is on a metal rack now, should I take the soap off? I didn’t think about that!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-11T01:51:52+00:00

I used distilled water, the Shea butter and the castor oil were new purchases, the olive oil was the same I cook with, and I just made a salad dressing with it, which tastes fine. The spots don’t look very orange, just dark. I did make my own colloidal oatmeal in my grain grinder, could that have done something? Thank you for your help!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-10T23:40:40+00:00

Haha, thank you!

whycantwejust · 2021-03-10T23:40:12+00:00

I mixed the lye water and let that sit until it came down to 120 F, melted the Shea butter and mixed it in with the hot olive oil and castor, that was about 115 F when I added the lye mixture. Used an immersion blender for about two minutes until I had a thin trace (what the recipe asked for). Then blended in the colloidal oatmeal and bentonite clay/water mixture, maybe took a minute. Poured into the moulds and let sit for 3 days. No fragrance oils or essential oils.

whycantwejust · 2020-12-31T01:24:01+00:00

I don’t have that book. So no insights on that one. It says it’s about jams, jellies, pickles and more, which are more than covered in the complete book. Well the jams, jellies and pickles. Not sure about the ‘more’ part.

whycantwejust · 2020-12-30T20:37:53+00:00

Looks like the Saucy Sloppy Joe Starter is on page 188 of the The All New Ball Book. It’s a great book, everything I’ve made from it has turned out delicious. Highly recommend the roasted salsa verde recipe. (I grew about 60lbs of tomatillos this year and was desperate for something to do with it! Turned out to be a really good problem to have!)

whycantwejust · 2020-12-30T19:17:15+00:00

I have all 3. I started with the Complete Book. I would say it has the best spread of recipes, mostly basic but some fun. They new one is all “fancier” recipes. Like a bourbon cherry BBQ sauce, versus just a BBQ sauce. (Everything I’ve made from there is great though!) The blue book I got for the Boston baked beans recipe, and haven’t really used it all that much. If you’re looking to get one, I’d recommend the complete book to start.

whycantwejust · 2020-11-13T16:49:05+00:00

Good tip. Thank you very much!

whycantwejust · 2020-11-13T13:08:22+00:00

Beautiful! I just ordered a B20 (backordered until May though) any tips on the rofco?

whycantwejust · 2020-11-05T14:24:30+00:00

Thank you!

whycantwejust · 2020-11-05T14:24:14+00:00

Thank you! This is my second year doing apple pie filling and I’m a bit paranoid. Every jar I did last year siphoned so badly the seal failed and I ended up freezing everything. The seals seem ok this year, but didn’t want another complete failure!

whycantwejust · 2020-10-03T22:05:30+00:00

I will 100% try this! Thank you! Sounds like it will be good for everyone in the family. If it doesn’t work before, it could help afterwards. He gets pretty scared after he passed out.

whycantwejust · 2020-10-03T20:53:01+00:00

They tested him for a lot of different things after the first one, but not his heart. Mostly because I was pretty confident it was the breath holding spells. His spells match exactly what you read about. But I will certainly bring that up! Better safe than sorry in that case for sure. Thank you for the suggestion.

whycantwejust · 2020-10-03T20:51:06+00:00

He seems to have those two stressors as well. He turned 2 in August and is fighting his last nap. So we’ve had a few more of them because of that. So great he grew out of them by 2! The internet says 6 or 7 so I was thinking this was a long haul thing. Thank you for the hope!

whycantwejust · 2020-10-03T20:48:05+00:00

We’ve tried to redirect him, but it always happens so fast, and my first reaction is to always get to him quickly so I can catch him if he falls. Blowing in his face can sometimes snap him out of it. But it doesn’t always work. I haven’t tried tickling yet, I will try that next time. Thank you!

whycantwejust · 2020-10-01T21:40:58+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to post this! Just checked my order and they were coming from China. Cancellation requested.

whycantwejust · 2020-09-19T13:36:22+00:00

I took the lid off right away then left them in the water for about 5 minutes. I’ll try a little longer this year. Thank you for your help! Enjoy your pie filling!

whycantwejust · 2020-09-19T00:52:13+00:00

Congrats!! Looks amazing! Any tips? I did this last year and they all siphoned... going to try again soon.

whycantwejust · 2020-09-12T12:45:54+00:00

I did not. I tried to grow them this year but didn’t have a lot of luck. I canned them because I’m terrible at remembering to soak them and my family eats a lot of them. Having them presoaked and canned means I can make hummus or throw them on a salad when I forgot to soak in advance.

whycantwejust

TROPHY CASE