Saponification Sunday. Cro Bar Returns!

So for those of you who have not yet heard, the offer on our farm ended up being WAY too low and the buyer would not come up and we could go down no further. So end of deal

But not the end of our dream for a simpler life. We'll get back to that next week.

Farm House. And Business. Still For Sale. New Add Coming Soon
This pic taken 0700 on South Pork Ranch this am

 

 

 

TODAY is Sunday and Sunday is a day for cleanliness and the washing away of all sin. Since I am not qualified for that,  (I have enough to handle with my own sin) you will have to settle for the washing away of dirt. And nothing does that better than my own Cro-Bar.

If you do not know the story of my Cro-Bar Soap than you have not been reading my blog long enough. Go back to the begging and get started. Don't worry we'll wait.

There, that didn't take long did it?

Cro-Bar soap is named for my French blog buddy Cro-Magnon.  Creamy pretty on top and somewhat abrasive inside it is how I would decide the perfect Frenchman would be, but what do I know? Never been to France, never dated a Frenchman. And I've never been to England, But I kinda like the Beatles.

Back to soap.

This one is dang fun and a challenge to make. The night before I opened a can of Guinness, poured it down my throat. Later when I felt like it. I opened another can (12 oz) and poured it into a bowl to "decant"

Yup, I am one high class beer drinker I am.

The next am when all bubbles were gone from the booze I added 3 oz of very strong fresh coffee. There would have been more but son Colton was visiting that day and he's a big coffee hound.  Put it in an ice bath to cool. When cold I added my lye. (complete recipe below ) Be sure that beer has no bubbles left or you will have volcano lye mix spilling up and over your pitcher! Set the lye/coffee/beef liquid aside. Set aside a tablespoon of the coffee grounds.

Now mix up your water and lye solution for your top layer of soap. Let it cool and set aside

Mix up a teaspoon of Titanium dioxide with 2 Tablespoons very hot water and mix it well with a mini-frother. You will use this to lighten up your top layer of soap.

 To make it more fun I switched up the basic oil recipe a bit. Not because I am so  creative but more because I was low on base oils and had to mix and match. Having very little coconut oil, I used palm kernel oil as well. Low on Olive oil, I used sunflower oil (from very local sunflowers), and sweet almond oil. Not at all low on castor oil, I used all the recipe called for.

GMO Free Sunflower Oil from
Staff of Life Farm ,Dwight, Illinois

Be sure to have your molds all ready

Using 1/4 of the oil mixture (see exact amt below) add  it to the plain lye water and then mix till it emulsifies. Add the TD water and mix till medium trace. Set aside DO NOT SCENT

Now add your lye/coffee. Guinness mix to the remaining base oils (exact amt below)When you have a light trace add in your coffee grounds and your eo's. Hit it with your hand mixer for just a couple seconds or it will get way to thick, stir with a wide spoon to distribute tour grounds well and when at a medium trace pout it all into your mold.

Let it set a few minutes. Stir your white soap which should still be a nice thin trace. When your bottom layer feels thicker and a little white soap drizzled on top STAYS on top, mix your white soap longer for a medium trace. Then pour it over your first layer using a spatula to keep it from breaking through.

 

 

Wait another couple of minutes then take a small stainless steel whisk and plunge it up and down the soap pushing it through the white layer into the brown layer and back out all the way up and down the length of the soap mold. Don't worry about getting it right or wrong. It will come out looking fun no matter how you do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And besides if it comes out looking just like mine I'll have to sue you for soap idea theft and I can't afford that right now. Our farm did not sell or didn't you hear?

So after 14 hours this batch was plenty hard and ready to cut. Smells very most excellent good and all woodsy man eating a cinnamon coffee cake. Yum. Plus the little bits of coffee grounds are great for removing dirt after a hard day in the garden.

Thanks again Cro-Magnon for lending your name to this mediocre soap crafter.


           Cro-Magnon Soap Recipe; Reinvented

(Remember ALL soap recipes should be run thru the lye calculator of choice. Also this recipe is not for beginners. Be sure you know how to make basic soap before trying this recipe)

Master batch of oils:
     Sweet Almond     6oz
     Castor Oil       6.4 oz
     Coconut Oil       5.2 oz
     Palm Kernal Oil   20 oz
     Sunflower Oil     26 oz

Top layer: Lye 2.25 oz lye and 5 oz Water and 15.9 oz of the base oil mix

Bottom Layer  6.75 oz lye and 12 oz Guinness Beer and 3 oz Strong Coffee and 47.7 oz of the base oil mix

For top layer whitening: 1 teaspoon Titanium Dioxide Powder well dissolved in two tablespoons of hot water

EO's for bottom layer. 2 oz of Cedarwood EO and 1 oz Cinnamon EO
1 teaspoon used coffee grounds