Has anyone got a good (very specific ) recipe for goat milk soap? I have made a lot of soap but don't have one for this anywhere. I sat down this evening and went through every 'Countryside' magazine, and found one in vol 76 no. 6, but the recipe calls for 'One box of lye'. I don't know how much ONE BOX contains..can anyone help? Thanks. Sarah Matthess

-- Sarah Matthess (william@matthess.freeserve.co.uk), March 23, 2000

Answers

Red Devil used to be the only lye redily available, it was in 12oz packages. Most recipies are referring to that. It now comes in 18oz. You need to use 12oz or 1 1/4 cups for usual recipies. Including the old countryside one.

Here is what I routinely use... 2C goat milk 3C water 13C lard/ rendered fat 1 1/4C lye

-- Marci (daleb@kent.ent), March 24, 2000.

I found this recipe on line..kind of fancy, but maybe you'll like it.

Goat Milk Soap:

7 12.5 oz olive oil 7 12.5 oz palm oil (or purified beef tallow) 7 10 oz coconut oil 7 5 oz sweet almond oil 7 17.5 oz goatmilk 7 5.5 oz sodium hydroxide (lye) 7 1.5 Tablespoons lavender essential oil Wear goggles and rubber or latex gloves during the entire process to protect yourself from the lye. Small children should be out of the area. Prepare molds. 2 quart milk containers with the tops opened all the way works well for beginner soapers. Put goatmilk in freezer. After it's frozen blend it until it's like ice cream. Very slowly add the lye to the mushy milk stirring constantly. This takes around 15 minutes. Bring to a temp of 92 - 97 degrees F. Note: Starting off with extremely cold milk prevents scalding. Melt the oils together gently, bring temp to 92 - 97 degrees F. (Cool in a pan of cold water). Carefully add the milk/lye solution to the fats. Stir stir stir. Stir until a light trace develops over the surface of the solution. Tracing is when you can see your stir marks on the surface. You can draw lines and see a faint trace of them for a few seconds. This may take up to 2 hours. Or you can buy a stick blender (mine is made by Braun) and blend for one minute. The blending makes the NaOH and fat molecules come into contact with each other much more rapidly than stirring. When tracing has occured, add the lavender e.o. and stir it in. Pour into molds. Insulate the molds in a box with blankets over and around and under the box. Or, use styrofoam peanuts around and under the molds, and bubble plastic on top. Let sit in a warm place over night. After the soap has hardened (between 12 and 48 hours) remove it from the molds and cut the soap into soap size pieces. The soap will be a nice tan color. Note: At this point the soap may have an unpleasant, sharp odor. This will disappear after 1-2 weeks. Let the soap cure for at least 4 weeks before using.

-- Laurie (SUPERGS63@AOL.COM), March 24, 2000.

Way back, at least 5 or 6 years ago, lye came in 16 oz. cans, and most original soap recipes ( including the one that used to be on the can of lye) called for one pound of lye. My original recipe calls for 5# clean grease, melted (I use lard), 16 oz. lye dissolved in 1 quart of COLD water and let cool to 95 degrees. Melt the grease to about 100 degrees, or at least let it cool to that temp before stirring in the lye solution. If you desire, you may add 1/4 cup EACH (or all) of the following: plain ammonia, borax, and sugar. The borax makes the soap whiter and boosts cleaning in hard water, the ammonia also helps boost the cleaning and cuts grease, and the sugar helps the soap lather. If you use the three together, dissolve the sugar and borax in 1/4 cup additional water, then add the ammonia and stir in as the soap traces. I have used this recipe from the Red Devil lye can for 20 years with consistant success.

-- Denyelle Stroup (dedestroup@hotmail.com), March 29, 2000.

Found this in a caprine magazine years ago, only recipe I use now.

6 1/2oz lye 3c goat milk 2tbls borax 1c oatmeal 2oz glycerine (can be found at most drug stores) 1 1/2lb melted lard

SLOWLY pour the lye into the goat milk , use a stainless steel bowl. Mix will heat up. Stir until turns yellow. Let stand until cools to about 85 degrees. Add the glycerine, oatmeal, and borax, stirring after each until well mixed. Add melted lard slowly (to prevent curdling)while stirring constantly. Mix for 15 min, rest for five min., do this until a spoon will stand in the mix.(I use a wooden spoon) Put mixture in molds or wax paper lined cardboard box, let age three to four weeks. Soap is caustic until saponified. Use to add scent and color, but have prefered plain soap for the last 10 years. Makes a fine bath soap.

-- Minnesota Sunset (Herd name) (dmcgonig@smig.net), March 30, 2000.

Whats the lather like, Minnesota? I have had homemade sopa that just didn't lather and dried my skin something fierce. I am very interested in your Goats milk and Oatmeal recipe! Have wanted to try soapmaking for ages and your recipe sounds super! I even understood the whole thing and know where to get the ingredients (unlike those that call for fancy schmancy oils etc). I'd love to hear from you on this! Thanks!

-- Alison in Nova Scotia (aproteau@istar.ca), January 23, 2001.