This recipe replaces the water normally used with goat milk, but is otherwise a straightforward Cold Process soap recipe.
In my last attempt at making soap with goat milk I learned a lot – but even so it didn’t go smoothly this time either. The first challenge I had was that I’d frozen the milk in one big block whereas it would have been much better to have the milk ‘just frozen’ or slushy – making mixing much easier. What I ended up with was a slowly melting block of goat milk and the lye mixing with the milk as it melted – so got some colour I didn’t want and signs of some curdling. You can see the milk, still frozen, below the lye mix in the pic below. At least it didn’t overheat 🙂
what you get when you freeze your milk in one solid block then try to add the lye!
Eventually, after putting the mixture into a warm bath I managed to get the oils and the lye mix both to about 90°F (32°C) and blended. I probably should have stopped as soon as I saw light trace, but went on a bit longer. I did remember to mix the French Green Clay with a little water this time, so I got a solid colour instead of flecks in the soap. Not sure which I prefer to be honest.
As soon as I added the clay and the essential oil I got a super fast trace – so fast I had to spoon the soap into the mould, which wasn’t good, I ended up not filling the mould properly and had some uneven bits when I took it out of the mould to cut. Next time I need to catch it sooner and stop blending if I want ‘neat’ bars.
Once in the mould I froze it to stop it going through gel phase and to keep it’s light colour, which again worked a treat. 24 hours in the freezer, then I left it to stand in the mould for 4 days before cuttting. 4 days was way too long, and I had another near disaster trying to cut the thing. I really need to get a proper ‘wire’ soap cutter and stop trying to do it with a knife. Impatience = some good bars and a bag of soap bits 🙁
Finally – the other thing I leaned from the last batch I made. Once I’d cut it I thought it looked terrible, crumbly bits, didn’t smell all that good, but I stuck it away to cure thinking “well I won’t be making any more of that!”. Six weeks later though and it had transformed into one of the best soaps I’ve made – smells amazing – and for sure feedback from friends and family tells me this is going to become a firm favourite, so I better get the blending/freezing/cutting processes sorted out for next time – there for sure will be a next time.
This chart based on the data from the SoapCalc app shows a good balance.
This fills a 1.5ltr mould.
Liquid & Lye Portion:
• 138.16 grams lye (5% superfat)
• 360 grams full fat (whole) Goat Milk
Oil Portion (1000 grams total):
• 350 grams home rendered grass-fed beef tallow (35%)
• 320 grams extra virgin olive oil (32%)
• 180 grams coconut oil (18%)
• 80 grams shea butter (8%)
• 70 grams castor oil (7%)
At light trace, add:
• English Peppermint essential oil (I added 22.5g)
• French Green Clay (illite) (1g)