Lye Baths - Changes over Time

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]I have received quite a few questions on setting up a lye bath, so I am going to share what I've learned, and how the set up (s) have evolved over time.

First step was conquering my terror of lye...  ::) 

So I started small with standard mix solution: 1 lb. to 5 gallons of water.

How I started: [/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]The square container lasted about 3 weeks in the sun.... until a bottom corner split and loss of solution occured .... back to the drawing board...

Replacement Lye bath.... 20 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck[/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]
And then a larger one was needed............  32 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck

And Double Mix solution....[/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]

I did not trust the Rubbermaids to withstand extreme freezing thru the Winter, so I would drain them for the Winter. 

But.... what to do during the long, cold winter?

Aha... a Heated Lye Bath, in the garage, properly insulated with it's own thermal blanket!

PS.... that cord in the bottom right of photo... yes it plugs into the electrical outlet.  :)[/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]And then Spring arrived and I needed multiples all at once![/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]And the next Winter... well... I needed to do some smalls during the Winter, so I devised a compact station in my Kitchen!

<jeez, who'd a thought!> ::)

Saved having to tromp thru the snow to the garage.... ::)

Lye bath, left, Vinegar Bath, right,,,,,

Small Red can... Evaporust.[/size]

[Cheryl Watson]

[size=14]And now I have my HDPE barrels with Locking Lids, which were what I wanted from the beginning!  Hopefully, these are more permanent, and will only be drained when needed... infrequently.

And will hopefully withstand the rigors of Freezing and Thawing cycles throughout the Winter months. 

The two larger Blue containers on the ends, are 30 gallon barrel Lye Baths.

The smaller 15 gallon barrels are Vinegar and Molasses.

Because the barrels have locking lids with rubber sealing gaskets in the rim, I decided it would be prudent to install vents in each lid, as they are placed (deliberately) in direct sunlight.

PS... the screw in vent plug will only be used over the Winter...[/size]

[Mark Zizzi]

Cheryl, do you think those square "tote" type containers can split like that if they aren't outside in the sun? Mine is in my basement, and I sure wouldn't want to have it leak down there.
Nice setup, btw. ;)

[Cheryl Watson]

Mark,
I came to the conclusion that round containers are better as far as load bearing capabilities. 
I also think the direct sunlight hastened the weakness in the sidewall.
All depends on the thickness of the sidewalls of the square container, the size of the square container, and weight of the iron in the soup, etc.

I have heard from others out in Internet land of similar cracks with square containers....

My little square kitchen outfit only held one piece... no problemo...

[Mark Zizzi]

Hmmm..I think I'll look around for one of those 15 gallon lidded barrels.