Linda B in TN a écrit :

(...)
In the old days people heated lard and oils then poured lye into the
pot until it seemed to start thickening. This is the reason I get
people at craft shows saying "is that LYE soap" (unaware that ALL soap
is lye soap) "my granny used to make that stuff and it would take the
hide off of 'ya". Yeah, she put in too much lye but today with lye
calculator's and digital scales we can make the perfect bar of soap.
And yes, I stirred soap in one of those big black pots while my
grandmother poured in the lye. We made it in the back yard and it took
the hide off LOL.
(...)

I enjoyed reading your story.
I kind of miss thos family ceremonials. Your soap tradition made me
think of the time I followed my mother when she was harvesting honey
Wich is not more dangerous than making soap, I think. One has to be as
careful and calm to do it
-

Definitely try the baking soda. We used that even with regular
detergents in the summer months in the deep South because it helped
with sweat odors in the old days of no a/c.
-
I will. try it.
But as you pointed out, it's more and more clear that my try outs with
diluted frying-oil-soap were made with a sopa that was not saponified
enough.
I'll try cheseclose too.
-

PS the deep fried green beans actually sound tasty


They are.
This is a totally empirical recipie (basically, it's: toss in hot oil,
wait, drain, salt)

- heat 2 or 3 liters of oil (The taste I prefer is sunflower, but health
wise, it's not so great [lot of omega6 wich we don't care so much about,
and no omega 3 or 9 at all :-/] ) =170°C is enough, 160° is not

- use green string been , still frozen. The more they are defrosted
before the plunge, the more dry they will taste. I don't like it so
much. But they are also less oily. Never tested with fresh ones, though.
Yellow string beans are ok, but have a little acidity to it.

- put about 500g (a pound)in the frying basket and deep fry it,
plungeing it very, very, very slowly (there's gonna be a lot of steam in
the beginning). I'm using an old fashionned deep fryer (wich is
basically an big cooking pot with a frying basket in it
http://static.weezbe.com/cuisinedjp/...104426_200.gif
So I do'nt know about using a regular electrical device. So watch out
for your eyes and your skin. (this is where being used to making soap
helps

- let it fry until the beans start to becomes a bit rigid.

The process is curious: during like 10-15 minutes, the beans will look
like gummi worms in heat. And in 4-5 minutes, they become a bit rigid.
It only takes 1 minute to turn them into bad tasting carbon sticks, so
it has to be watched a lot at the end of the cooking.
I use a fork to "feel" the rigidity of the beans in the oil bath.
They should be a bit rigid, but still a bit heavy. If they feel like
they are suddenly very light, like they weight almost nothing, it means
they were fried too long.

- drain, throw on paper towel and add salt.

I made it for friends, once, and they were amazed that something so
simple coudl be so good.
This is clearly the best substitute for potatoe chips I found (not that
I miss potato in any way).


Huey