Sea salt, coarse
Salt bars: very hard, dense bars.
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Coarse sea salt is sea salt left in large crystals. By the spoon it weighs less than fine salt: branded labels give 1.25–1.4 g for a quarter teaspoon.
USDA FoodData Central primary source, Cargill primary source
How much
- 50–100 % of the oils for salt bars filled in Lovin Soap supplier or guide
The calculator fills in 50 % of the oils: 500 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Stir it in as it is.
Grosso, DIY Artisanal Soaps primary source
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
USDA FoodData Central primary source
Worth knowing
- Salt bars are usually 80–100 % coconut oil with a 15–20 % superfat. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source, Lovin Soap supplier or guide
- Salt bars set fast: cut them as soon as they are firm, 4 to 8 hours after pouring. Lovin Soap supplier or guide
- Caution: Salt cuts lather markedly. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 5.4 g (5.22–5.84 g)
- 1 tbsp ≈ 16.2 g (15.7–17.5 g)
- 1 cup ≈ 259 g (251–280 g)
USDA FoodData Central primary source, Cargill primary source
INCI name
Maris Sal
Guides that discuss it
Sources
USDA FoodData Central, branded labels: a quarter teaspoon of coarse sea salt weighs 1.4 g (Morton extra coarse, FDC 2561922), 1.25 g (Diamond Crystal, FDC 2588156) and 1.4 g (La Baleine, FDC 2033840). A teaspoon is taken as the mean, 5.4 g.
Alicia Grosso, DIY Artisanal Soaps (2016), p. 57: salt for a salt bar is stirred "into the lightly traced soap batter".
Lovin Soap, formulating salt bars: "50-100% of oil weight in salt"; mostly coconut oil at a 15–20 % superfat; cut when set, "This can be 4 hours after you pour or 8."
Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016): "1 teaspoon of sodium lactate for every 16 ounces (1 pound) of oils or 0.5 percent" (the two disagree: a teaspoon of the 60 % solution a pound is about 1.45 % of the oils, so neither is taken from this book); salt at "½ teaspoon per pound of oil", added to the water before the lye; "Salt decreases lather significantly"; salt bars are 80–100 % coconut oil at a high superfat. Chapter 5: coffee grounds, "For extra scrubbing power, use a coarse grind, while for gentle exfoliation, a super-fine espresso grind is best. Use the grounds to make coffee before adding them, or they might bleed brown halos into the final soap"; "Adding colloidal oatmeal can accelerate trace in your soap recipe; premixing with water can help avoid this"; honey, "start soaping with lye-water and oils both under 100°F (38°C). Add the honey at trace ... Once the soap is finished, place it in the refrigerator or freezer immediately to prevent overheating". Chapter 7: "A half teaspoon of sugar per pound of soap added to your lye-water can help your bar lather up."
Cargill, sea salt product sheets: extra coarse sea salt, bulk density 1060–1185 g/L; fine sea salt 1073–1281 g/L.