Why prevent cp soap from going through to gel?

by Miriam Fields
(Houston, TX)

I keep reading recipes where they tell you to freeze your milk or other liquid to keep the temperature below a certain number. And in other places they don't want their soap to go through to the gel phase. Why? What am I missing here? Is there a benefit in not having your cp soap go through to the gel phase?

Answer:

Couple of reasons.

For the milk, etc...
When the lye is added directly to milk, the milk can overheat and burn. That is why people like to freeze the milk first so this does not happen.

As for not wanting the soap to go through the gel phase...
This is simply a personal preference. The only difference that I am aware of is the appearance.

Cathy