# Think this will work to melt oils?



## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=2e87c5d7-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

I"ve been contemplating investing in a jacket oil melter but I'm cheap. So I was wondering if I could master batch in 5 gallon buckets and then stick the bucket heater in to melt the oils. I read that the bucket heater could bring water close to a boil after 15 minutes. I don't know if this is true, but if it is, I reckon it could melt the oils. What would the effect of the oil be on the heating element?

http://www.mypopcornmachine.com/gold-medal-excalibur-oil-melter-2018.html

I also found this that is actually made to go into oil but I'm not convinced it will get hot enough.

Anything I'm not thinking of?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

I don't know how it works with oil but it my experience is that it does take nearly frozen water with a bit of ice on top in a 5 gallon bucket to warm to the touch (comfortably drinkable) in 15 or 20 mins. I use this at the barn all winter long. Mine is many years old and still going strong. Love it. I don't know about boiling- maybe from room temp...but I start with water at nearly freezing in the open so it does put out some heat. 
Lee


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

Hmm, I would need the temp of the oils a lot warmer than room temp, but as you say, I would also be starting with a little cooler than room temp oils.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Tiffany- I think this is an excellent idea! I am tempted to try it myself! 

Judy posted awhile back regarding melting/ heating oils. I think Vicki recommended a whelping mat? 

If you do this, please post your results. I would masterbatch buckets and then just heat one up before you soap. This and warm/ hot lye just might work. TFS!


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

I just don't think the welping mat would get the palm oil and pko melty enough. If it doesnt get hot enough I get problems with unmelted styric in the finished product.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Hmmmm, I think I'm going to try one of these. My coconut oil this time of year is HARD. I don't think the oil would hurt the element any more than water. I'm just not sure how I'll get the thing into the oil. But if it doesn't work I think dd could use it in the barn.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

> I'm just not sure how I'll get the thing into the oil.


That could be a problem- it has to have fluid around it or it has an auto shutoff-
If your water level in the bucket does not cover to a certain level it will not come on.

Perhaps you can find one that does not have this safety feature.
Lee


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

It would work good for palm oil as it doesn't get rock hard like coconut oil. The pko I use is in flakes so I can just master batch and have enough liquidy oils for the heater to sink into. Maybe use a welping pad to soften the coconut oil to be able to get the heater inside the coconut oil.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Since I don't use palm...what temp do you have to get it at for it to be completely melted? You can special order your oils all premixed from columbus foods...I just think masterbatching doesn't save you much time. Melting to premeasure then having to melt butters again, why not just ditch the palm since coconut oil will stay above melting with just a heat strip or being on a mat? If you need steric in the batch add it. I know one gal who does make huge batches, predone all in one day and then her and her husband soap for a full 8 hours to fill molds and use up all the buckets they prefill.....but she does not use PKO.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

I think scooping out the co with an ice-cream deal, putting in the masterbatch bucket, then sticking the heating thing into the bucket with the oils and butters might be worth a try. I seriously think I wanna try this.  Like Kathy, the barn will benefit from it if it didn't work...or maybe even if it did.


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

I really like the palm and it doesn't get solid like coconut, just slushy. I'm not sure how hot it needs to get; I just know when it is hot enough. I measure out individual batches now in stainless steel pots; about 6 batches at a time. It really speeds soaping up for me having everything measured out and I can knock of about triple the amount of batches. It takes up a lot of room how I do it now and I would like to condense it down to 5 gallon buckets master batched only needing to be measured out once. Maybe I will eventually ditch the sustainable palm but for now I want to stick with it.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Yeah.....palm is easy to scoop and weigh. CO.....not so much so esp. this time of year. Though today I have my can sitting by the woodstove. But if I'm soaping early in the day it's not going hot enough to have it softened.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Just wanted to clarify that pko and palm oil are different oils (they were being mentioned interchangably above).

CO is rock hard here this time of year, too. I use a butcher knife to "cut" it out of the pail.

I've thought of master-batching, too, on occasion. But then it's like Vicki said, doing some of the work twice. Plus, I don't have enough room here to store and cover prebatched oils. On the other hand, the weighing and measuring of oils takes most of the time. Sometimes just that thought puts me off from soaping.


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

I use both pko and palm oil. My pko comes in flakes so I don't have to worry about it being rock hard to measure but I do like it to be melted before I start soaping. 

Like I said, I do a small scale type of master batching now and absolutely love it and just want to expand on the idea. I'm going to get it and see how it works. I just need to get a list of other supplies I need from Jeffers and order.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

tmfinley said:


> I use both pko and palm oil. My pko comes in flakes so I don't have to worry about it being rock hard to measure but I do like it to be melted before I start soaping.
> 
> Like I said, I do a small scale type of master batching now and absolutely love it and just want to expand on the idea. I'm going to get it and see how it works. I just need to get a list of other supplies I need from Jeffers and order.


Let us know how it works!


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