How To Make Goat's Milk Soap
When we started milking our Nubian goat, Louise, this spring, we quickly found ourselves with way too much milk in our refrigerator. We started looking on the internet and in books for things to make with all of the milk, and one of the many ideas we found was goat's milk soap. Most of the recipes that I found were pretty complicated, and many used weight rather than volume to measure the ingredients, which I found to be a nuisance. The instructions about needing to monitor temperatures of the the lye solution and the oil were intimidating! After some trial and error, I think I've mastered a basic goat's milk soap recipe that is very easy and quick (about 30 minutes!), with consistently good results.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups 100% lye crystals
3 cups distilled water
2 cups strained, chilled goat milk
12 cups pure lard
essential oils and/or dyes of your choice
*Vinegar should be on hand to address any spills, as this will counterbalance the lye
Supplies:
1 large stainless steel pot
1 large pot (doesn't have to be stainless steel)
2 large glass measuring cups (4 cup capacity)
1 stainless steel spoon
1 Stick blender (highly recommended)
Soap molds of your choosing
Instructions
Before you begin, please make sure to wear gloves and long sleeves during the entire process, as lye is extremely caustic and can burn your skin. If you spill any, use vinegar to clean it up rather than water, as vinegar will help to neutralize the lye solution.
Step 1: Creating the lye solution
This is the lye container. Lye is hard to find nowadays because apparently it can be used to make methamphetamine. Not cool! We ended up finding it at Ace Hardware, a small hardware store, in the drain cleaner aisle.
These are the lye crystals after I poured them into a glass measuring cup. You will need 1 1/4 of lye crystals.
This is 3 cups of distilled water, poured into a large pyrex glass cup.
Add the lye crystals to the water and stir. Make sure to turn on a fan or open a window so that you do not breathe in the fumes that are produce. You will notice that the mixture is a milky white color and it will get very hot quickly, with steam rising from the solution.
Step 2: Melting the Lard
After you've stirred the lye crystals into the water until they've dissolved, you can let the solution sit for a while so that you can work on melting the lard. I bought a huge container of lard from the Mexican grocery store for about $25.
Lard is not as gross as it sounds--it kind of looks like Crisco, and it doesn't smell at all.
Measure 12 cups of lard and place in a large pot (doesn't have to be stainless steel) on the stove on medium heat. The lard will begin to melt and turn to liquid.
Step 3: Add the goat milk to the lye solution
While you are waiting for the lard to melt, measure 2 cups of chilled goat milk.
Pour the goat milk into a large stainless steel pot. Then carefully pour the lye solution, which should now be almost clear, into the stainless steel pot with the goat milk. As you stir the milk and lye solution, the mixture will turn a yellow-ish color.
Step 4: Set up your molds
You can use whatever you want to use as mold for your soap. Plastic containers work great. I saved a plastic apple container I got from Costco and it works well for me. You can also buy fancy molds at craft stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Joann's.
Step 5: Mix the melted lard into the lye/milk solution
Carefully pour the melted lard into the stainless steel pot containing the lye and milk solution. It is helpful to have another person help you pour so that the mixture can be stirred as you are pouring. Use a stick blender to mix the ingredients rapidly. You can use short pulses and then pause for a few seconds in between the pulses.
Continue pulsing the mixture for 2-5 minutes. After 3-4 minutes, take a short break and let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes.
You are waiting for the mixture to "trace," meaning that it has gotten to the consistency of warm honey. This is subjective, but with the stick blender it usually takes me about 5 minutes to get the mixture to trace. If you are stirring the mixture by hand instead, it may take up to 2 hours to trace--yuck!
Step 6: Add fragrance and/or coloring and pour into mold
Once the mixture has reached the right consistency, you can add essential oils or coloring. Even though the liquid soap looks yellow now, when it dries the color will lighten considerably to a cream color. Just pour in the oil or coloring and stir.
Now you can pour the liquid soap into your molds.
Step 7: Insulate and be patient
Cover or wrap the soap so that it can retain heat as it hardens. The soap should sit at least 12-18 hours undisturbed.
After 12-18 hours, pop the soap out of the molds and set them in a cool, dry place. The soap will need to cure for about 4 weeks, and then it's ready to go!
