Teach Soap

Noob question, because I haven't seen it in any of the online materials I've read so far.

Is it safe to simply clean up the bowls/spoon/thermometer in the sink under water? I feel like this is kind of an obvious answer, but I just wanted to clear that up before I tackle my first batch.

Welcome!
I use lots of hot water and Dollar store liquid soap. For the lye pitcher, you only need lots of water. Don't use any soap in your lye pitcher, as that could give you residue and "floaties" next time you make lye water in it.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

What I have found works best is to wipe everything as clean as possible with paper towels, and then let it sit overnight. The next day, the soap residue will behave more like soap, rather than like oily goop. Then I wash it in the sink in hot water. I don't run them through the dishwasher b/c they leave goop in the dishwasher, and also any plastic in the dishwasher ends up with a weird film on it.

I do the same as Irena..everything goes into hot soapy water as soon as I'm done with it except my lye container{just lots of hot water rinsing for that}..quick rinse and dry with paper towels and all ready for the next adventure. If I don't do it then I won't feel like doing it later lol

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~Jani

I wipe as much soap batter off bowls and utensils as I can with paper towels first. The less that goes down the drain, the better. I always have a sink of smoking hot water ready to go with a scoop of TSP and lots of dish soap ready before I even start measuring out ingredients. TSP = trisodium phosphate. It's a great de-greaser that you can find anywhere paint is sold. I pick up a tub at ACE when I buy my lye. I also use it in my laundry if I have a lot of shop rags to wash and in the dishwasher if I have a large, particularly greasy load. A little bit goes a long way.

As for the stick blender, I wipe off what I can with paper towels, scoop some of the hot TSP-dish water in a bowl and spin the blender in that a few times. As long as the water is super hot, it cleans right up.

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Leave pot a couple days to finish trace so no stingy hands. Then leave pots outside in the sun w/ water from hose for a couple hours. Come by and scrub every couple hours in layers refilling each time w/ water till it comes out easy. Often I will carry hot water outside to pour into the pot for the initial soak to let the heat do most of cleaning for me. Then it won't even kill the grass, or it doesn't mine.