Making Soap from Wood Ash (Potash) and Oils, Part 2

     On the other hand, Mother Earth News has printed an article from 1972 that says this about making wood ash lye at home:

To make lye in the kitchen, boil the ashes from a hardwood fire (soft woods are too resinous to mix with fat) in a little soft water, rain water is best, for about half an hour. Allow the ashes to settle to the bottom of the pan and then skim the liquid lye off the top. You can do this daily and when you've got enough of the weak solution, start the soap making process by boiling the liquid down until it'll float an egg. Now put that meat fat, left-over cooking lard and vegetable oil into a kettle not over half full, and heat the whole mess until all the liquid has been rendered out of the solid scraps. While it's still hot, add this clean grease to the bubbling lye and continue to boil the mixture, stirring all the while, until it reaches the consistency of thick cornmeal mush. 

     The article goes on to say that added salt makes the soap set into bars more easily, and that non-hardwood ashes are too resinous to produce soap. That last statement could use a good skeptical questioning, since pine tar soap is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties against ailments such as psoriasis.

Second Random Personal Update for August

After sitting through a lovely first day of college classes, I decided to go to the financial aid office to see if the money was there to pick up my books and supplies. I have already given up on it being available for the tuition. The financial aid office is extremely slow at every campus at this college. I know this, because I have waited in uncomfortable chairs at each, surrounded by people with all the same questions and concerns.
The really odd thing about this is that it was much simpler to apply for government insurance, food benefits, and WIC than to get government tuition assistance. I filled out one financial form for medicaid and one for tuition, but guess which one took less time and was easier? Heck, I didn't even know  I was applying for food assistance because the phone conversation I had was for the insurance! Yet have had to come in and sit and wait and talk to people several times, adding a form here and there, to no  avail. No waiting until the last minute on my part either.
How can it be easier to open my arms to the public wealth but difficult to arrange the shuttling of those same funds into the higher education system?

Making Soap from Wood Ash (Potash) and Oils, Part 1

     It wasn't all that long ago that housewives and farmwives made a liquid soap at home using wood ashes and animal fats. The recipes and techniques have been somewhat lost through the years, but several websites have been collecting some information about the process. This website has a bit of background information on the subject, saying, "Historically, potash was derived from boiling down liquid lye (leached from hardwood ash) until it was reduced to a white solid composed primarily of Potassium Carbonate (K2CO3). Potassium Carbonate was used in soap making, glass production, and other manufacturing processes. It could be further refined in a kiln to remove impurities. The refined product was called pearl ash. Both potash and pearl ash were used as an early leavening agent in baked goods."

     One book, the Farmer's Magazine (1859), estimates that ten pounds of ash will make about one pound of salts of lye. The leeched ash water is boiled "to the consistency of tar".
     From Frontier Freedom Magazine and other sources, homemade lye from wood ashes produces potassium hydroxide, an alkalotic relative to the commercial sodium hydroxide that handmade soap is made with. Most online sources agree that rainwater or distilled water is the most desirable for making wood ash lye. The technique they recommend to produce lye, which also sounds to be one of the faster and safer techniques out there, requires you to fill a pillowcase with ashes and place over a five gallon bucket. Pour boiling filtered water into the pillowcase bucket, like you are making tea. Agitate for some time (1 1/2 hours?), then take the pillowcase of ashes out of the water and cook the extra moisture out of the ash water. The lye is strong enough when it can dissolve a chicken feather. The process may have to be repeated several times to get the correct strength (approximate pH?). Avoid scorching the lye (?). Liquid lye can be sun-dried/dehydrated into crystals (?).
     The recipe from Frontier Freedom Magazine calls for 18.2 ounces of homemade lye crystals, 2 1/2 pints of water, and 6 pounds of fat, which they say will make 9 pounds of soap. Their single bar recipe calls for 3 heaping tablespoons of homemade lye crystals, 1/2 cup soft water, and 1 cup melted beef tallow. "A combination of half tallow and half lard is usually suggested." This is somewhat frustrating because most of us use metric measurements for everything this exacting. The soap is made via hot process, and can be hardened into bars and molded or left as a liquid for washing clothing.

What is Potassium Hydroxide, really?

     Potassium hydroxide KOH, is commonly called caustic potash. It is famously used to saponify fats into liquid soap, which is then firmed up with the addition of common salt.
     "Historically KOH was made by adding potassium carbonate (potash) to a strong solution of calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), leading to a metathesis reaction which caused calcium carbonate to precipitate, leaving potassium hydroxide in solution" (Wikipedia). Also historically but not mentioned on Wikipedia, potassium hydroxide was leeched from wood ashes using rainwater and a barrel, a long and indeterminate process which I will explain further in another post. The addition of calcium hydroxide (hydrated lime), which came much later, potentially simplifies and streamlines the process even for the farm wives who historically made soap.
     Other than it's famously historical use in home soap making, potassium hydroxide has fallen out of fashion in the chemical world in deference to it's cheaper sister chemical, sodium hydroxide, now also used for soap making. Potassium-based soaps are known to be milder than sodium-based soaps, though properly formulated soaps of either kind are mild enough for children and pets.
     This excerpt is from a chemistry text on soap and candle making, written in 1856. The science discussed herein is still good, though does not make adequate use of one our great modern advances in alkalimetry, known as the pH scale. Potassium hydroxide can have a pH of 12 to 14, depending on its formulation and purity. A pH of 13 is considered the normal for it.

Personal Update August

     After watching the American Heart Association video again, I realized that my very first CPR class was almost ten years ago. So much has changed both with me and with CPR over the years. Mostly with me, CPR hasn't changed that much, other than a few nuances in technique. On the other hand, I have the two kiddos, bought a house, blah blah blah. Personal details that are difficult to nuance into writing. Where's the mandatory class for that?

Not a stroke, just a goofy picture.

How to Bake Bread in the Crock Pot

     People say the internet is more than 95% a waste of resources, because it doesn't offer any new information, just rehashes the same over again. This is true, in a way, except that not everyone knows everything, so sometimes it can be better to follow some blogs and learn as we read along.
     The other day I found a simple technique to bake bread in the crockpot. Having never known about this technique before, it has really made me rethink what kind of appliances I had wanted for my future dream outdoor kitchen. Before Crock Pot Bread, I had wanted a convection oven so I could bake bread without heating the whole kitchen and using all that electricity. Convection ovens are, after all, known to use less electricity than standard ovens. Wood-fired ovens are a lot of work, and propane ovens or grills are just as costly if not more so than standard ovens, plus the hassle of replacing tanks.
     One other great thing about Crock Pot Bread - if you are making standard round (artisan-style) loaves, then as long as you have parchment paper you will not have to scrub any loaf pans or even the inside of the crock.

     Perhaps discovering an appropriately-sized portion of dough for use in the crock is the hardest part. The dough should be about one pound in size, which is about the size of a grapefruit. Ensuring the optimal size helps to make sure the interior of the dough reaches a high enough temperature to baked thoroughly, a temperature of roughly 190-200 degrees F. Pictures is a smaller loaf, so the baking time has been adjusted to match. Most crockpots with loaves of this size need at least a good hour on the High setting to bake all the way through.
     Since the inside of the crockpot remains moist, a heavy/thick crust does not form on the top of the loaf. This may invalidate that lazy baker's tap test to check for done-ness. Some would check the bottom of the loaf. I just like to wing it, myself, and remove from the heat when I think it's probably ready.

Chrissy's Basic Recipe for a 1 Pound Loaf of White Bread
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup milk or water, can be powdered milk.
1/4 cup butter or oil

     This particular recipe needs no additional kneading or rising time, unless that is your preference. The dough will rise as the slow cooker warms up to temperature. This basic recipe can have any number of tasty additives incorporated into the dough before baking, such as blueberries, raspberries, herbs and spices, garlic, onion, etc. Pictured is cheddar cubes and ham slices.

Home-made Ollas

     Ollas (oi-yas) are a traditional Central American method of irrigation. One simply plants the terra cotta vessel in the garden, then plants the most water-needy vegetables near the olla. The more drought-tolerant vegetables are located further from the olla. Then the ollas are topped with water regularly, slowly leaking moisture to the soil nearby. The surface soil and leaves never receive watering with this method, which eliminates water lost through evaporation.
     To make some yourself, you will need terra cotta pots, some stones, super glue, and bathroom caulk. The best place to find terra cotta pots cheap is to look at garage sales and rummage sales, or ask any friends that think they have "black thumbs". I used to have bromeliads in these when I was an apartment dweller, but now that I have a yard, the smaller pots seem like more work than they are worth.
     Glue a stone over the drainage hole on the bottom of the pot. Allow to dry, then caulk around the stone to ensure waterproofing. Super glue the superior pot on the top, allow to dry, then caulk around the edges to waterproof. Bury where you plan on having the veg grow, leave the top exposed for adding water.

Weeds for Farms

     I think anyone into eating natural foods should be a big fan of weeds. They can be an abundant nutrition source, and for whatever reason they haven't lended themselves to commercial agriculture. Most of the time this reason is difficulty to harvest or perhaps very short shelf life.
     This author is the first, perhaps only, weed advocate for the farming community. I wonder what he would think about the current agriculture revolutions, here, the UK, and in Australia?
     One of my favorite points in chapter 6 is how weeds seeds can be used as a cover crop and as a natural, free green manure source. Maybe this could be a good technique for the South?
     Regardless, it's a thought-provoking read.

Weeds: Guardians of the Soil

Mordore - Local Plant Dye

     In an effort to experiment with plant products growing right in my backyard, I harvested some orange honeysuckle flowers. They are the brightest thing around in the wintertime, a beautiful almost fluorescent orange that is rare in nature. The lack of information about Floridian plant dyes online was encouraging, nay, rousing me to try it out.
     Gathered the flowers. It took some time to gather enough flowers for the project, I probably harvested a full pound of blossoms twice. I dried the first batch while locating the rest of the supplies.
     Bought some alum. It is the safest, easiest mordant to use for home dying, as it is a main ingredient in some canning recipes. I think it's also the other chemical found in baking powder. Regardless, it is safe to eat and won't destroy your cooking utensils. It's in the dried herb section of your grocery store.
     Soaked the skirt in alum water in the crock pot on high for a couple of hours, then left to cool overnight.
     Meanwhile on the stove, cooked the blossoms with plain water for several hours - first bringing to a quick boil then left to simmer. Left it overnight. Then strained the flowers out and tossed them on the garden (Waste not, want not. right?)
     The next day, dumped out most of the alum water, then added my cooked blossom dye. Heated the dye with the skirt for maybe six hours in the crock pot on high, while I ran some errands. Came back, stirred the skirt a bit, left it, came back, strained out the dye water.
     Ran the skirt through the rinse and spin cycle in the washer, then into the dryer with the other clothes. And done! Really, it wasn't very much work, all said and done. And the color is very interesting.
     Next on the agenda is cherry laurel leaves. Maybe the fruits too. But will have to be very careful because of the cyanide precursors in that plant. And who knows what the color will be for the next recycled Goodwill white clothing?
    It's not a bad photo, the skirt really is that strange brass color. It's lighter in the sunlight, and I suspect it will fade with washing.   

What is Alum, really?

     Alum is the common name for a salt that is most easily found in the spice sections of some grocery stores. Individuals that are well-versed in home canning principles will recognize the name, since it is a common ingredient in some pickling recipes. It is made by mining bauxite, then refining it into alum.

Baking

     Potassium aluminum sulfate, or potash alum, is also half the base of baking powder, another useful cooking ingredient. Baking powder leavens, or raises, quick breads, muffins, and pancakes, without dramatically changing the pH, and therefore taste, that baking soda would. The alum in baking powder is activated as the dough reaches higher temperatures. The other half of baking powder is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
     Years ago bakers in England used to add it to their breads, not as a leavening agent, but to make the dough seem whiter. A practice we would abhor now, it has been made illegal there. However, it is not illegal here. It kind of makes you wonder how they 'bleach' flour and make white bread so white.

Personal Care

     Along with aluminum chlorohydrate, it is added to some deodorants as a safe astringent, as it kills odor-causing bacteria. Many people are against the use of alum in this way, since it is possible that it gets absorbed into the skin and contaminates the body. Aluminum compounds supposedly neither hurt nor harm cells, but the science is still out on that opinion. It is known that aluminum can be absorbed from deodorants and can cross the blood-brain barrier.

Leather tanning

     Tanning animal skins is a fairly complex skill. The alum comes in at near the end of the process, where it can be mixed with washing soda, the cleaned, dry skin can either be immersed in the mixture or have it painted on as a paste. Alum is used in tanning to remove moisture, prevent rotting, and produce leather.

Dyes

     Alum is known to be one of the least toxic of the metallic fabric mordants. A mordant is a chemical used to help to adhere dye to fabric. It is also considered to be the all-purpose mordant, as hand-dyeing is a largely artistic and experimental endeavor with no two results being alike. Iron impurities in alum can change color outcomes, making for a dull piece. Alum is recommended for all protein fibers, like wool, and most cellulose fibers, like hemp. There doesn't seem to be a recommended mordant for cotton.

Pickling

     Alum is used in pickling recipes to keep the vegetables more crisp. Washington State University says, "Calcium and aluminum salts improve pickle firmness by combining the pectin to make the cucumber more resistant to softening. Alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) has been shown to cause a slight increase in pH and a significant increase in firmness when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint."
     It can be used in wastewater treatment to 'grab' larger particles, making them sink, which makes them easier to filter from the wasted water.
     Given its wide variety of uses, this little chemical makes a very interesting addition to your preps and pantry.