# Master batching oils



## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Since I'm still soaping in my kitchen I'm looking for ways to streamline & make things easier. The one thing I loathe doing is hauling 4 of those 35 lb boxes of oils into the kitchen every time. They take up a lot of counter space! I have half a dozen empty oil jugs from Columbus...they hold 7+ pounds each. I'm thinking of combining my liquid oils in the right proportion to fill the jugs so then I would only have to bring one or two jugs into the kitchen instead. At my current production rate I'd only have to refill the jugs once a week. I could do it on a non-soaping day when I refill my solid oil buckets (oh, to have a dedicated space!). The only thing I'm worried about though is that the heavier oil would settle on the bottom and simply shaking the jug around might not be enough to get it mixed well. What do you think?


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

It is going to be the next step in streamlining that I am going to do, I am going to have premixed oils and butters done by columbus foods in bulk. Right now I use 3.5 gallon buckets from Home Depot and take them out to the shop and using a scale fill up each bucket out of the larger containers with all of the oils. I do four soaps that contain different oils and butters and use stickies so I don't confuse them when I bring them back to the soaphouse. I am using my sons 4 wheeler right now with a garden cart on the back  But I am only premixing as far as, I did 5 batches tonight, so premixed 5 buckets this afternoon when I had time, and they were sitting and waiting for me to soap this evening. Same with the milk, I knew before tonights milking that I needed enough milk for 5 batches and am already using premixed lye and water. And I don't care if anything settles I just stick blend the oils and butters together anyway.

The one thing is remembering, when you take out steps at first it is very disconcerting that you are forgetting things. This weekend a dry erase board is going up in the soap house to hold all my information so I can look at it as I go, it is getting way to much to store in my head and too much work to flip through my book. 

Share with us what you end up doing! Vicki


----------



## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

I've been master batching in my batch size. I have a ton of free frosting buckets from the bakery section of my grocery store. They are heavy plastic buckets with lids. I just make up a whole bunch of them at a time.


----------



## MiaBella Farm (Jul 22, 2008)

I am not master batching my oils yet, but I DID make up some index cards with soap recipes on them and I keep them in a small recipe box that I purchased at Michael's.

Now I just pull the card I need when I get ready to make soap.

**Sorry this is a bit off topic, but Vicki mentioned looking in her "book", so I thought I'd share what I did with my recipes**


----------



## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Yes....I do that with my recipes too. I need to make new ones and run them through my laminator though....otherwise they need replacing too often as I'm always setting them down in oil. LOL I'd love to put a whiteboard up but not in my kitchen. Seriously thinking of finishing off the garage for soap making. Will see how things go this year.

Vicki....how will you melt your oils? For now, at my rate, I don't mind mixing the solids and melting in the microwave per batch. But when I get to making larger batches I'm wondering if I'll go back to melting on the stove. Right now I jam my container full...anything larger won't fit in my microwave.

I'd just like to get my liquid oils pre-mixed so I only have to weigh one oil during soaping time.


----------



## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Kathy,
that's a good question (about how to melt the oils)...I was especially thinking that about palm, since it's supposed to be melted and mixed completely before you measure it out every time. Do-able in those 7 lb bottles from Columbus Foods, but how on earth do you manage it with a 50 lb pail? (Which is why this time I got the homogenized palm in the 50 lb block when I needed more, but I'd prefer the organic sustainable palm which only comes in the pail.) Or do you (generic you here, not anyone specific) just not worry about the melting and mixing issue?


----------



## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

I think shaking the jug will be just fine. They're oils, they're going to mix easily when you shake them.

We don't master batch oils, we've moved to such a large batch size that it doesn't make any sense to do that. We have dedicated burners and huge pots with spigots. Jim just wired them all so they are controlled with a thermostat and kept at the lowest possible temp to still be melted. So much easier.

When I talked with Mike at Columbus, it became clear we didn't want to deal with 55 gallon drums. So we're still melting with our huge pots and burners instead of moving to drums and drum heaters.

PJ


----------



## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Yeah....I can see with big batches it wouldn't help much. I'm going to give it a try. Esp. once the markets start, anything I can do to speed up my actual soaping time will help. 

So PJ....are the pots kept on all the time or just turned on early enough that it's done melting when you're ready to use them?


----------



## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

They're on a timer. 

PJ


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I am going the way of drums and drum heaters which is nothing more than a heat strip that goes around the drum, several of the ones a the place I visited this morning, who has the lye tank, just used the strips out of old electric blankets she had. Like mine will be, hers are not in her soap room so from this time of year on she doesn't have to even plug them in, it's so hot and the barrels being blue they are always warm in our heat, she does plug them in during the winter. I can't move to a big tippable pot until I get the addition done, then all larger single pours done in loaves and large blocks will be done in them. I am bidding on a 20 gallon stainless tipable bucket that comes with a motor/stirrer/pot scraper from a company going out of business in NY. My husbands niece lives near there and is checking out the consigners this weekend. And sending me more photos and the specks off the motor. I found several on goggle, so with shipping and so many to sell (it's actually a lotion/toiletry company) I am hoping to get it for a song unless someone buys the whole inventory.

If anyone wants to look at what they are auctioning go here...www.gordonbrothersindustrial.com they have millions of dollars in raw products for sale also if anyone buys in bulk or barrels. Vicki


----------



## Jenny M (Nov 21, 2009)

Yep, this is my dream. I need a bigger building to start. I'm hoping to move to a new location closer to a town & find some industrial type building that we can actually live in. I have weird taste in housing anyway. We have a friend that built himself a cool little space inside a quanset hut.

Hubby likes the idea & also the master batches so it may even happen. Just need to find a spot that lets me keep a few goats....and the dogs & the cats.


----------

