# tallow vs. lard



## true blue (Jan 22, 2015)

I read the other post about using these two together, and some were saying that they like lard better than tallow. I personally seem to like tallow better - but maybe it's just because I would rather work with tallow than with lard. 

So - which do you like better ... and more importantly, why?


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## new12soap (Jan 22, 2015)

I love them both, but if pushed I would also give the slight edge to tallow. Tallow is a teensy bit more bubbly and cleansing, lard is more creamy and conditioning. Which is probably why some people love them together, a best of the best of both worlds sort of thing.


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## xraygrl (Jan 22, 2015)

Lard is my favorite. All the conditioning of a luxury oil without the luxury price LOL!


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## biarine (Jan 22, 2015)

I like lard but I never try tallow yet, lard is very creamy and moisturising but the downside I don't like piggy smell. I will give tallow a try.


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## nebetmiw (Jan 22, 2015)

Ok since we have both cows and pigs I can do both. But I prefer lard since it is easier to process.  I.E. I do not have to process it my hubby and BIL do it when they do the butchering.


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## Dahila (Jan 22, 2015)

My hubby processes my tallow :evil: I love the combination of both,  35% tallow 30% lard,  I love that the most.  Bubbly, creamy and incredibly mild on my sensitive (too sensitive) skin


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## true blue (Jan 22, 2015)

OK ... very interesting ... for those of you who use lard, I noticed most of you either render it yourself, or have someone close to you who does it. Does anyone like the results from store purchased lard? 

The weird thing is that the only lard I can find in the store says it's been partially hydrogenated. I just figured lard would be somewhat hard like tallow (I do render that) - why would they want to hydrogenate it?


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## new12soap (Jan 22, 2015)

I have never rendered lard, I use store bought and love it. It is partially hydrogenated because it is somewhat softer than beef tallow and also because it has to be shelf and temperature stable enough to ship across the country, at least that's my guess.


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## newbie (Jan 22, 2015)

I buy lard off the shelf but it isn't as hard as you might think. At room temp, I would not really call it hard but it is firm. It will definitely dent and squash if you drop it out of the box. I prefer tallow because of the price- way cheaper than lard for me and I overheated lard a couple times and the smell put me off. I have combined the two but I guess I am not a discerning washer; it seemed just as nice as my regular all tallow bar.


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## Dahila (Jan 22, 2015)

I buy lard too, only tallow we render, I mean he does )


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## Obsidian (Jan 23, 2015)

I also buy lard and render my own tallow. I prefer lard in bath soap, its creamier and more conditioning. Tallow soap seems to lack body so I pretty much save it for shaving soap.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jan 23, 2015)

I didn't notice a difference between the two in my shaving soap.  While I can buy lard quite easily, tallow is like tryng to find hen's teeth so I much prefer lard - for the performance difference, I don't find it worth the trouble.


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## saurian (Jan 23, 2015)

Coming from a different angle on this: 
Many people associate lard with unhealthy food, and surprisingly few people recognise tallow as being a fat. Instead it's what expensive candles are made from. So tallow has 'label appeal' over lard.

A soap of olive oil, tallow, cocoa butter and essential oils sounds so much more luxury than if you have lard in that list.


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## true blue (Jan 24, 2015)

newbie said:


> ... I am not a discerning washer ...


lol - that's totally me!

Good point, saurian ... I'd have not thought of that.


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## Dahila (Jan 26, 2015)

how the sodium lardate looks on label?
If you choose to use INCI names it sounds very nice Lard-Adeps Suillus
Tallow-Sodium Tallowate  Adeps Bovis


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## coffeetime (Jan 26, 2015)

I render and use lard from a local farmer. I love to use local ingredients so it works for me. I render it over 24 hours on low in my crockpot and it comes out beautiful. The smell while rendering is very much like baking pork chops in the oven. Not offensive at all to me. 

As for label appeal, I think it depends on your locale. I am in Canada in a small town where the vast majority of people either came from a farm originally or live on a farm now. So they appreciate the lard soaps because they remember their grandmas soap (which may or may not have been we-made), so there is a nostalgia point for some people. I think in the last year and a half, I've had 3 people ask for vegetarian recipes.


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## nebetmiw (Feb 2, 2015)

I started with store bought. It works great.  Just a bit of information, store soaps are made with ao.


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## Dorymae (Feb 2, 2015)

I use both and like both. Sometimes together sometimes by themselves. Lard tends to trace slower so I use it a lot for swirling. Tallow traces quicker but gives me a slightly harder and whiter( but not by much) bar. Both of them have a lot to bring to soap and to tell the truth I wouldn't want to give up either of them. 

I render when I can get it and buy off the shelf when I can't.


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## ClaraSuds (Feb 5, 2015)

true blue said:


> So - which do you like better ... and more importantly, why?



When I was into it, I preferred tallow, it was whiter and less stinky to render. I'm not a fan of pork smells. But I eventually switched to castile because it's cheaper for me to make (lard and tallow are surprisingly expensive per kg here) and I prefer the feel of castile.


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## sososo (Feb 5, 2015)

ClaraSuds said:


> I'm not a fan of pork smells.


After 1 month cure, no pork smell even for a 90% lard soap.


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## ClaraSuds (Feb 5, 2015)

sososo said:


> After 1 month cure, no pork smell even for a 90% lard soap.



More about the smell during render. I could not afford to buy rendered lard because it retails for about $14kg. Too expensive for soap when EVOO is just $5kg. ;-) With many people now Paleo, pork fat has become somewhat of a delicatessen item again.


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## Purplerain (Feb 7, 2015)

I get my lard from the farmers market. It's gorgeous and I love that all parts of the animal get used. The pigs had a happy life.


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## cmzaha (Feb 8, 2015)

biarine said:


> I like lard but I never try tallow yet, lard is very creamy and moisturising but the downside I don't like piggy smell. I will give tallow a try.


I only find Farmer John Manteca to have a piggy smell. Forgot that fact and bought a small box of it recently. I usually buy 50# blocks or buy smaller amount at a Hispanic market. They carry beautiful manteca. 
I have started listing lard as Adeps Suillus and see how many ask me what it is. I use lard with acclerating fo's instead of tallow due to the fact it slows trace


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## RhondaJ (Feb 10, 2015)

> I have started listing lard as Adeps Suillus and see how many ask me what it is.



I would think since it's "Pig Tallow" you could also get away with labeling it as simply tallow - I know we call it lard, but in the end it's still a tallow.


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## DeeAnna (Feb 10, 2015)

Noooo, it's ~not~ tallow. It's lard. 

Tallow is the fat that comes from ruminant herbivorous ungulates (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) Strict vegetarians that chew their cud.

Lard is the fat that comes from non-ruminant omnivorous ungulates (pigs). Equal-opportunity eaters that don't chew their cud.

Tallow has significantly more butyric acid, myristic acid, and palmitic acid than lard. Chemical tests can be used to tell whether tallow has been adulterated with lard and by how much. The INCI nomenclature is different for the two.

They ain't the same.


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## RhondaJ (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks for explaining the difference so well DeeAnna. 

Even soapcalc refers to Lard as "Pig Tallow" 



DeeAnna said:


> Noooo, it's ~not~ tallow. It's lard.
> 
> Tallow is the fat that comes from ruminant herbivorous ungulates (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) Strict vegetarians that chew their cud.
> 
> ...


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## OliveOil2 (Feb 10, 2015)

I also noticed the piggy smell of Farmer John's lard, and not from any other store bought brand. Too bad since that little box is a convenient size that would be a good back up. The smell eventually cured out, but I would rather not have the pig smell compete with my FO.


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## DeeAnna (Feb 10, 2015)

While you are correct, Soapcalc is not a definitive authority on this issue.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD


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## DeeAnna (Feb 10, 2015)

Olive, do you have a Walmart nearby? They carry lard in the baking section where you find cooking oils. Also many groceries carry lard in the baking area or in the meat department. I find it in one pound and four pound packages. Maybe that will help you out..

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## LittleCrazyWolf (Feb 11, 2015)

I've been buying my lard (Armour brand) at Walmart in the aisle with the cooking oils and sprays. 

It doesn't smell piggy to me in the container. However, the first time I used too high of a temp to melt it down. The bars were unscented and the smell was very minimal (and went away during the cure). I haven't had any issues since.


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## biarine (Feb 11, 2015)

I like the texture of lard soap just the Peggy smell I don't like but I will give a lard another try this weekend.


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## reinbeau (Feb 11, 2015)

Well, not to argue with an expert, but I've always been told and have read that pig lard really is a form of tallow.  Same as technically azaleas are rhododendrons.  It's such a variation that it has it's own name, but it's animal fat.


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## nebetmiw (Feb 12, 2015)

If you use lard in a 4 base oil bar. You will not smell it. Lard is one of those funny things that you can smell a couple of times then not again. My first soap was 50 percent lard. But I also used soy oil in it. That was the issue. The soy brought out the pigs smell. I have changed my liquid to safflower or almond and have not had any problems since with piggy smell.


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## Susie (Feb 12, 2015)

I can smell 0.5 oz grated bar soap with 55% lard in it in a gallon jug of liquid laundry soap.  Some people's noses are just more sensitive than others' when it comes to certain scents.  I can't smell it in CP once I add the EO, but you let clothes get washed and dried, and I certainly know if I have used the wrong bar soap to kick start the liquid soaps.


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## FlybyStardancer (Feb 13, 2015)

DeeAnna said:


> Also many groceries carry lard in the baking area or in the meat department. I find it in one pound and four pound packages. Maybe that will help you out..



I am quite sad to say that by the time I started playing around with lard in my soaps last year, my local grocery stores had all gotten rid of the brand of lard that was in the baking department (that came in the multi-pound tubs). Now they only have a different brand of single-pound lard in the meat section, and even that's hit or miss!


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