Chemistry in the kitchen

Yesterday, as I was brewing up a batch of Goat's Milk & Honey soap, I realized that there is a very fine line between being a scientist and soapmaker. In fact, I would go so far as to compare soapmaking with the lost art of alchemy. 


Alchemy, as you might know, is commonly referred to as the medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold. Upon closer inspection of Webster, the second definition of alchemy is the power or process of transforming something common into something special. This term definitely fits the bill!


I take common oils and cleverly mix it up with a caustic solution of something that could burn through skin, nails, and unfortunately, commonly enough, esophaguses; and end up with something that is gentle enough to use on a baby's bottom.


But yesterday's scientific experiment almost went out of control. As I was pouring the lye solution into the oils, something went "kerplunk" and splashed toward me. Yes, I was wearing my glasses, but I dodged back and the splash hit my shirt. Whew. Only a drop of oil. Lately, I've been using a Hot Process making my soaps, which is kind of tricky when using a recipe that calls for milk. You want to avoid getting it too hot. Even adding the lye to the water/milk solution has to be done carefully and slowly as to not curdle the milk.


Anyway, onward I went, pouring all of the ingredients into my huge crock pot, giving it a good mix, and leaving it to start it's chemical process called "soaponificaiton" (the reaction of the oils and the lye). I peeked under the lid every once in a while to make sure it was coming along nicely and when the allotted time was up, I was disappointed to see that the oils were still separated. 


"Oh well," I thought. "I can whip it all back together with my hand blender", which is what I did. I then turned around to assemble my mold, and when I turned back the mixture looked like a boiling, churning, hot, brown, mass, rapidly expanding and rising up and over the sides of the pot, streaming down and splashing across the counter (and my recipe book). I quickly grabbed my potholders and pulled the crock out of the base to try to start cooling it down. Once cooled, I had to hand stir it until it mixed back together. I quickly poured it into the mold and let it be. 


Aah, alchemy. The perfect combination of temperature, ingredients, timing, and luck (I mean skill). Luckily, unlike making gold, soap is forgiving, and the batch turned out beautifully. I'll be making plenty of notes about this batch attempt as soon as I can pry my recipe book open again.


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