There are four ways to make hot process soap

in the oven
in a crock pot
in a double boiler
in the microwave

To make hot process soap in the oven, first preheat the oven to 200 degrees and remove all but the lowest rack. Start making soap using the cold process method. After you reach trace, do not add anything like scent or color. Instead, put a lid on the pot and put it into the oven. Stir every fifteen minutes or so. After it has cooked for about an hour, it is done. Add the scent, color, and other goodies (mix them together in a little bit of oil before adding them to the pot), stir, and pour into molds.

To make hot process soap in the crockpot, after reaching trace, instead of cooking your soap in the oven, cook your soap in a crockpot set on low. Cook it for about an hour stirring every fifteen minutes or so. Then, just as in the previous paragraph, add your scent, color and other goodies and pour it into molds.

Make hot process in the double boiler the same way. Put your pot of soap inside a larger pot of boiling water. Cook it for about an hour stirring every fifteen minutes or so. When it is done, add your additives and pour it into molds.

Making hot process soap in the microwave is a little different. First of all, don't use a metal pot. Use something that is microwave- and lye-safe. Cook it on low for about 30 minutes stirring every few minutes. When it is done, add your goodies and pour it into molds.

When the soap is cool, it is ready to remove from the molds and use. Both the saponification process (the chemical reaction where the oils and lye turn into soap) and the curing process (where the water evaporates out of the soap) are complete. You can use hot process soap right away. It's time to do the happy soap dance !!!

A disadvantage of the hot process method is that it makes the soap thick, like applesauce, so it doesn't flow into molds as smoothly as cold process soap. Hot process is not the method to use if you have intricate, detailed molds. The advantage to making hot process soap is that you can use it right away; you don't have to wait for it to cure.