# brown soap/ burnt milk



## a4patch

I am not sure how to keep the frozen milk from turning light yellow. 
Sometimes I can keep it light but not every time. The last batch was a nice pastel yellow.  Which would have been pretty if I wanted yellow soap. I really would like for it to be as near white as possible. I also have stopped using TD. So, mixing the lye and milk is more important than ever.

This is what I did.

I had one part milk thaw and one part in small chunks. (they had both been frozen in zipper bags) I used the SB to mix the frozen milk and liquid milk as I added the lye. I thought it was a slow add but evidentally it was not slow enough. When I saw it start to change, I quickly made up a sink (DH is still SBing the solution) of ice and water. We stuck the bucket in the water and this did not seem to matter. 


Does it hurt the quality of the soap if I use milk that has slightly burnt? Is it for aesthetics only to keep it white? or is there a reason to keep the milk from burning?

Have you seen the dirty jobs goat milk show? In that show her milk turns dark and they mention the smell of the ammonia/burnt milk.

Thanks in advance.


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## Guest

Peggy, your milk is not burnt if only pale yellow or lemon yellow.. only if it gets orange is it burnt... You almost cannot get a white soap with goat milk... alot of fragrances will also change the color of your soap..
Yes, i did see that on Tv and it was disgusting... Not only did they not clean the does udders before of after.. or wash their hands.. they made some very nasty soap with burnt milk... I am sorry to say that most people would think that most of us are like that.. I hated that
Barb


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## a4patch

If it gets darker than lemon yellow, is it OK to use? 

I have watched it several times (it is on netfix) and actually wrote to the lady to find out where she got that big two handled knife. They are not making soap right now. 

I did feel sorry for the goats because of the condition of the utters. When we were children, my mom had some type of salve that she would have us put on their utters after every milk. I think it was "utter balm" or that is what we called it. our goats utters never looked dry like that. 

Thanks Barb.


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## adillenal

I have made soap with lye mixtures from pale yellow to very dark brown and the soap comes out the same in the finished product. Even the dark brown mixture did not have a smell. I have found that FO makes more of an impact on finished soap color than the color of the milk/lye mixture.


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## NubianSoaps.com

You will get the ammonia smell if you use milk. I had to quit all the frozen milk and adding the lye slowly because I could never get anything but tan soaps. It is so much faster and you get better results that you can duplicate time and time again, by simply mixing your lye with water, once it cools then add this to your butters and oils, then adding your warmed milk at emulsion. With the girls in milk right now, it's simply the morning milk sitting in a container on the counter, it isn't even warmed.

I do have customers who only want white soap so the 'sludge' left behind in soap dishes isn't ugly tan/brown/beige...we all have names for this, but it ain't white if you are soaping frozen milk.

But yes if you are soaping scents that go dark, it makes no difference if you then use frozen milk or how slowly you add the lye to that frozen milk. Vicki


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## a4patch

Thanks, this is how I started, but I was trying to get more GM in the soap. I will go back to this 1/2 water 1/2 GM method. It is much easier. This all GM method is too stressful for us. 

Thanks for all the help.


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## adillenal

By the way I only make 100% GM soaps. I read all the time about the bad smell but either I can't smell it or I am desensitized or something. I just have never smelled anything bad when GM making soap. Course, I can't smell vainlla either.
My unscented GM soaps are very pale off white and the same formula is all kinds of shades of tan to dark brown depending on the FO. Makes likfe interesting.


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## Sondra

I use all GM and usually have very pale soap but I am anal abt keeping my pot in ice water from the start and I freeze my milk in a zip lock bag then smash the frozen bag into chunks this goes in the pot and I stir with a spoon as I am adding the lye very very slowly.


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## Anita Martin

I have only smelled the ammonia smell when the milk starts to burn...or when I have left a few drops of water in the container I am mixing lye and milk in...I've learned it has to be completely dry, no water at all. If you haven't already, you can look at me mixing milk cubes and water on my blog at the following link.

http://shantara.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/how-to-make-soap-sort-of/

I don't used a SB to mix because it might throw lye all over the place, and it will also not mix lye and ice very well until the milk has melted and then it's too late to save it from burning. I never use a sink of ice water as I'm afraid of dumping the container over into the water...that worries me. A bucket of ice under the mixing pot does sound like a great idea though. (I'm a chicken I guess).

You also have to use a rubber spatula to mix the lye and milk cubes. A spoon or other utensil won't work very well. You need to be able to scrape the sides and bottom to avoid lye crystals not being dissolved. It's okay to pour when you still have a couple of milk cubes intact, just not too many as the lye likely won't be dissolved.

The soap will still not be white, but it won't smell bad and it will be very light. My peppermint/eucalyptus soap and a couple others are nearly white, and added flaked peppermint makes it look even whiter.


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## Huminbird

I have a recipe now that uses all goat's milk for the liquid. It calls for 3 lbs. I use a frozen solid 2 lb block and also 1 lb of refrigerated milk. Sometimes if I am in more of a hurry the milk will turn golden on my but I haven't burnt any for a long time now. I am able to make some very white soap, it just depends on the scent. I think having at least 2/3 of the milk frozen solid, from my chest freezer, makes the difference.

If I do turn some milk to dark for my tastes I just use a scent that I know will turn dark anyways, like dragons blood, pink sugar or oatmeal milk and honey. Also, if things seem to be heating up to fast I run some cold water into the sink. Since I mix my lye and milk in the sink anyways this works great for me. I don't need to use ice, just the cold water makes a big difference. I keep the sink plugged and waiting just in case.

I second the idea not to use a stick blender to mix the lye, a rubber spatula works great and keeps any crystal chunks that may have snuck by me from burning the milk or making it into the oil mix.


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## a4patch

We will try the rubber spatula. thanks so much.


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