Mature Experience Needed ;)

[Violet]

Mother,

The main point is that if you open the jars and they are contaminated you can get sick or die from getting it on yourself when you open it up. Only one pinpoint amount of botulism can wipe out 60,000 people. Drip it on the counter, on a dishcloth, whatever. Then you touch that... It is not safe to handle anything that can potentially harbor botulism. If you have a cut , or it can splash in your eye, etc. Then, you can have a nice trip to the hospital, be put on a ventilator. Possibly have permanent paralysis, or die. So, that is my point. Don't risk handling anything in a jar like that. If anyone tries to can milk in a boiling water bath, then they are risking getting botulism. You cannot kill it in boiling water temps.

I know that seems dramatic, but it is really serious not to risk canning something that can be deadly.

http://www.cert-la.com/education/ENG_Botulism.pdf

[Necie]

I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of the electric fence thang.

 

 

ROFLMAO

 

 

Yup..."pissing on an electric fence" is more of a dude thang. LOL Unless....you're a VEEEERY tall gal...or...it's a VEEEERY short fence.

 

 

OR......(sorry 'dudes') I'm gonna go find an old post in 'Pssst' and bump it up and you'll see. (The post I'm refering to is old enough that it has our alter egos from before the mix-up. So all *my* posts are under the name BrightBlessings.)

[GirlNextDoor]

Why not use frozen milk and pour the lye water on top SLOOOWLY, while stirring the entire time? You will have white, milk based soap, no muss, no fuss.

[Necie]

I use frozen milk and mix the lye in slowly. I don't use a water/lye mix. My soaps are 100% goat milk. They are a cream/off white color. My problem was/is that I'm out of freezer room for more milk.

 

Truthfully (and probably stupidly, too), the botulism thing really wasn't what changed my mind...well...not totally anyhow. I work with lye almost daily. This is what it can do:

 

 

(Taken from Cyndi Muller's site: www.mullerslanefarm.com )

 

So, I *was* thinking that I could use safety precautions. <shrug> Maybe...maybe not. I don't know for CERTAIN if the lye would kill it, so even if I could work safely with it...I am NOT going to take the chance of having it in my product.

 

The thing that ultimately changed my mind, though, was the blowing lids warning. YIKES! I've seen bulging cans...can you imagine that pressure in a home-canned jar? My grandmother had a pressure canner lid blow on her. Thankfully nobody was hurt. I just shudder at the thought of things blowing up.

[GirlNextDoor]

When I was a new soapmaker I used to work without goggles, but, I won't anymore.

[MommaDogs]

Are you just not able to keep up with the soap production? Can you increase your production in another way and make larger batches?

[Necie]

I've been doing 10# batches that use 40oz of milk. I usually do one batch on days that I have to work and 3 on one of the days that I don't. About 10 batches a week. This week sux, cuz I'm waiting on oils that should be here tomarrow (Thur) and Tue/Wed/Thur are my days off. So I'm gonna be playing catch-up. :/ Did get some other stuff done that needed doing...hoof trimming, chicken coop cleaned, helped with some wood cutting, paperwork, etc. I usually have molds full, cutting table full, drying racks full, and also have to keep up with labels/wrapping and delivery/sales. arrrgh The little gals are both over 5 months old now and were just weaned, so now I'm gonna be drowning in milk. I did cut back to once a day milking, so that helped a bit, too, but don't want to dry the does up til 100 days bred...so that'll be early December and then I'll be wishing I had milk til they kid in early February. Been making alot of cheese, too.

[Skagitgal]

Necie,

Have you considered trying condensed or evaporated milk done commercially, {canned] to see if you like the qualitity, [ of canned] in your soap. I understand it's cow vs goat, but maybe you could experiment with a small batch.