How Do You Make Your Goats Milk Soap?

There are two different types of soap making.   

The most common method of soap makers is the Cold Process and the Hot process.  I will go through quickly the major differences, and then tell you how we make ours and why.

The Hot Process – 

All soaps are made with Lye (Sodium Hydroxide).  You add the lye to the water mixture of the soap not the other way around.  Adding water to the lye would be very dangerous, lye heats up and gets very hot.  You have to add the lye in slowly and in the right conditions to prevent burning your mixture or burning yourself.

After that process is done, you add this mixture to your oil or fats. And blend the two together with a stick blender.  You can add at this point your other elements such as oatmeal, botanicals, etc. Making sure it mixed well. 

It then goes into the oven at 185-190 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. It will start into the gel stage and you keep stirring, during the stage.  But back in for another 20-30 minutes until it starts looking like mashed potatoes and then it is almost ready.

Once it gets into the mash potatoes phase you will need to check it to make sure it is done.  I do a little taste test.  Put the tip of my finger into the soap mixture the touch it to my tongue.  If you get the sting of the lye then it is not Saponified (term used for the chemical change lye goes through with the proteins and fats in oil and milk, making it harmless). If you do not get that sting on the end of your tongue it is done.  If you do, then stick back in oven for a few more minutes.

After it is done you can bring out and add your fragrances, essential oils and your coloring's.  Do not do it before you stick in oven. It just doesn’t work very well in that order.

If you like lots of swirls and fancy designs kind of soap, then the hot process is for you.  It is fun and you can make some very artisan types of products.  It is fun and has its good points.

Cold Process –

This is the process we use here at Silly Goats Soap Company for our goat milk soap.  You start by weighing out your oils.  We use all natural vegetable based oils not tallow (animal fat). We like both type’s oil and fats.  We like to use all parts of the animals, we use and harvest but we just choose to go with the healing and moisturizing properties of the oils. At some point in time I will probably add tallow soaps to our product line.  At this time our soap base is olive oil, coconut and palm oils in our goat’s milk soaps.

I add the measured lye to already weighed out and bagged, fresh, frozen goats milk.  Because the lye heats up when it comes in contact with milk or water I freeze our milk and add the lye in slowly.  I also put the stainless steel bowl in an ice bath in the sink so our milk does not burn or turn colors from the intense heat of the lye addition.

I then add the lye mixture to the oils and mix with a stick blender.  Once the mixture starts to trace (you can see the spoon or mixer leaving a trail in the mixture or looks like thickening pudding). I then add the essential oils, botanicals or any other natural ingredients like honey, oats, or dried flowers. Then I separate some out to add the coloring, if this batch gets it.

I have handmade, adjustable, wooden molds.  I line my molds with plastic trash liners that I have cut down to fit into our molds.  It works better for me then lining with wax paper or some other kind of liner. I then poor soap mixture into the molds.

I cover the tops of my molds with a wooden lid.  I do not wrap in towels as some soap makers suggest.  It gets very hot when it goes through the gel process so I like to keep it cooler.  I have tried covering in the past in it burns the bottom of the soap.  The milk turns orange because it has burned from the saponification process.

In 24 hours the soap has gelled, gone through the saponification process and can actually be used at that time.  I take it out of the mold the next day or a couple days after and cut the bars in my home-made wooden template. I then put them on the shelf in the soap room where they will cure (dry) for 4-6 weeks.  By this time they have evaporated any unwanted moisture, harden so they will last a long period of time, usually 4-6 weeks depending on the usage.

Why do we prefer the Cold Process vs. Hot process?

• It is simpler. More Natural process.
• It is the old-fashioned way of making soap and being self-sufficient.
• The soap is smooth and makes a clean looking bar.
• It is not cooked on /in the stove for 1-3 hours
•  It is not whipped, toyed with and manipulated to make something other than it is, soap.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Bottom line – One is not better than another.  I like to play and have fun with my soap making too.  They are both good and make good quality soaps. It is an artisan’s choice. 

Visit our Awesome Store at www.SillyGoatsSoap.com 

How We Started Being Self-Sufficient On Our Farm

 You Have To Start Some Where.

Silly Goats Farm

2014 was my first year working full time from home and working towards being totally self-sufficient.  Our ultimate goal is to be off of the grid by 2020.  Not paying any electrical bills, growing our own food for the year and that includes meats, eggs, butter, milk, cheese, vegetables, fruits.  That goal also includes Sandy working on the farm full time and having the income to be able to sustain us. We will do this by growing, and selling what we make right here from our own little slice of heaven, the good Lord has given us.

Our goal this summer was just to get started.  We wanted to grow our meat chickens, get 2 beef cows and get them started, raise pigs for the freezer this year, put away veggies and fruit from the fruit trees for this year and we had a pretty good.  We accomplished a lot of what we set out to do.

Sandy is still working her corporate job in Syracuse.  She has a great job and makes good money which we are very grateful for.  If not for her income just starting out, I would not be able to stay home on the farm grow our vegetable garden, raise all our animals and start our new business Silly Goats Soap Company.

First thing we had to do this year was come up with a working budget.  

We had to buy the pigs, cows, meat chickens (we already have laying hens and a nice coop), goats,

Sandy And Blossom

equipment, fencing material, animal feed, vegetable seeds, canning supplies etc.  The list is long.  We started with what we had $3000. In that budget was 3 pigs, 2 steers, 65 meat chickens, 3 Lamancha does, fencing supplies (Pig pen, chicken pen, goat pen, cow pasture), misc. wood, milking supplies (stainless steel bucket, etc).  Just the essentials to get our operations off of the ground.

Of course the feed was not included in this budget.  By the time we had searched and acquired all of our animals we had to still feed all of them.  We of course want to feed them the best possible food we can feed them, without breaking the bank, so we searched around and found a feed mill that has ground pig feed for $20 a 100 lb bag.  We also found out this mash works great for the meat chickens as well so we started using it as our meat chicken, feed.  it was about 14% protein so it worked great for both pigs and meat chickens.

We have 14 acres of land 10 of it is actually pasture or hay fields.  We bartered with our neighbor for the baled hay.  We get from him 400 bales of hay and he gets to keep the rest.  it works out well for both of us.  When we seeded the hay a couple years ago we did a 60-40% split on the seed 60% orchard grass and 40% clover.  This works out well for us because we have 2 horses and can't feed them high protein hay.  We take the first cutting (more grass) and he gets the second/third cuttings which have more of the alfalfa and the higher protein for his dairy cows.  So, if you do not have a hayfield and the equipment to do it yourself, you can always barter, or you will have to figure into your feed budget.  We are going through a bale of hay a day (November).  Hay, depending on where you are, drought or not, or other factors will run you $3.00-$10.  Usually about $3.50-$5.50 for good quality hay.

So we got all of the animals shelters built and purchased all of the animals and then just got down to the everyday chores.  Feeding and milking, 2 times a day.  Working on the new Silly Goats Soap website in the mornings or making goat milk soaps, goat milk lotion and other goat goodies, or researching new products and recipes. and in the afternoon working on the garden or fixing things around the house or the farm.  There is always something to do.

This is the first installment of Silly Goats Farm and what we are doing here.  I do plan on given more detailed information on lessons we have learned about gardening, animal husbandry, easier ways to build shelters, pens and everyday things on the farm.  Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts and ideas.  Sharing is what helps each of us learn as we move to be more self-sufficient.

God Bless,

Chris