Hold temperature and why it matters

A useful thing to control in this craft, and the one most often left to chance.

Two temperatures, not one

The melt temperature, which has to be high enough to destroy all existing crystal structure. The pour temperature, which has to be low enough not to shrink violently or strip flavor and high enough to fill cleanly.

They are different numbers and the gap between them is where the process lives.

The melt temperature

Above the highest melting point in the formula, with margin, held briefly rather than touched.

With carnauba at 82 to 86 C in the mix, that is a genuinely hot melt. With beeswax alone it is much less.

Undershoot and you keep seed crystals, and shea grains a week later in the customer's pocket.

The pour temperature

Well below the melt, above the setting point, and consistent between pours.

Too hot: more shrinkage, deeper dimple, flavor loss, and a risk to a plastic tube.

Too cool: it drags on the way in, traps air, and leaves a rough top.

Find the number for your formula, write it down, and use a thermometer rather than the look of it. "Until it starts to thicken" is not repeatable and is the difference between two batches.

Do not hold it warm

The habit that causes the most trouble: melting early, then leaving the pot warm while you set up tubes and labels.

Time at temperature costs flavor, oxidizes oil and, if the pot is sitting in the crystallization range rather than above it, grows exactly the crystals you melted to destroy.

Set up first, melt last, pour promptly.

References