Quote Originally Posted by gssixgun View Post
+1 With what Al told you already...

One thing to add on the "Double Boiler" method it should really be called the "Double Heating" method
The water does NOT need to be rapidly boiling, the soaps melt at about 160 degrees, so just a gentle bubble will do it.. Also you don't even have to melt the whole puck, just enough to even out the soap in the bowl/cup...
It does not matter if it is rapidly boiling or just gently bubbling, the temperature of the water bath is the same, the boiling point of water at local conditions (e.g. 212 deg F at sea level). The additional heat input at a vigorous boil (over the gentle simmer) all goes to evaporating water. This latent heat input does not change the temperature of the bath.