Ooooh, tough call...

I can't say I've ever seen fat congeal in bubbly bits. But gosh, I think declaring the entire pot of broth a loss due to soap has to be a last resort. There *must* be a way to save it.

What KIND of soap was it? What was on his hands that he was washing off?

Anyone know enough science to know if the soap would stay in the fatty layer? It might... soap has a certain fatty element to it. Maybe if you simply skim the broth it'll be salvageable? Perhaps gently warm it first, then cool it in a narrow container (widemouth glass jars??), so the fat layer is thicker and easier to remove?

I can imagine the fat solidifying in rather bubbly patterns if the broth was kind of shaken up and then cooled really, really fast. Any chance that happened?

 

Um- I'd probably skim the top and still use the broth if you truly think it could have been splashed with soap. If there is no soapy taste, then I'd still cook with it. I tend to live on the edge, though...

 

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Originally Posted by Bensmommy Um- I'd probably skim the top and still use the broth if you truly think it could have been splashed with soap. If there is no soapy taste, then I'd still cook with it. I tend to live on the edge, though...

That's exactly what I would do too. I'd HATE to waste the stock.

 

i would go with the skim and taste tip. these kinds of kitchen accidents happen so i wouldn't be too hard on dh, in a state of exahstion one night i dumped a dish of dog water into a collander in the sink i thought was empty and waiting to be washed, it really had our dinner of ravioli draining in it!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Skim off the icky bubbles. I did a google search on "dangers of eating soap" and apparently there aren't many. I think it said it could cause vomiting, but then again that was for people who like to bite off a chunk of bar soap, lol. You'll be fine if you can't even taste it

 

thanks everyone! i just needed some reassurance before i said, "let them eat soap!"

I will certainly try skimming the fat- that is some loss, but not much.

 

I've had less fat than expected when I've made stock too. I've made it a handful of times now... and IIRC, I think I had a time or two where the fat was not even in a full layer b/c there just wasn't enough of it I guess. So it was kind of in little islands floating on top of the stock if YKWIM!

 

In your situation, I'd also use the broth, provided the soup doesn't taste "soapy." Skimming off the fat does sound reasonable to me, although even that might not be necessary. There might have just been less fat than you expected. Some of the fat might have been absorbed by the veggies and didn't stay in the broth. There might not be any soap in there at all. I'd give the fat a "taste test" before dumping it out.

May I suggest that, in the future, you strain it someplace other than the sink? My technique is to put the strainer over the pot on the stove, then ladle it from the crock pot into the soup pot (over the strainer of course!) It's never even occured to me to do this over the sink and tie up the sink when straining soup! Of course, there are some drips and we have to wash the stovetop when we're done, but nobody's ever gotten soap into the soup!

This totally sounds like "the adventeur of Spelling Man" or something similar from a PBS type kids' show. Somebody chanced the U in soup into an A and now the dinner is ruined! Spelling Man has to come in, change the U back into an A and dinner is saved!

 

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Originally Posted by Ruthla This totally sounds like "the adventeur of Spelling Man" or something similar from a PBS type kids' show. Somebody chanced the U in soup into an A and now the dinner is ruined! Spelling Man has to come in, change the U back into an A and dinner is saved!

Spelling Man should live in everyone's kitchen!