# Is crisco palm oil?



## loveit_latherit (Mar 4, 2010)

Can you use crisco if a recipe calls for palm oil? And is it too measured by weight as the recipie is in 'Ounes of weight' for palm oil?

Hope that questions was clear!  Thanks


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## Jerry S (Mar 4, 2010)

*Crisco instead of palm oil....*

Hey, I think you asked a great question. I'm surprised some of the experienced soapers on the forum haven't responded. I was looking for a substitute for palm oil as well and did some surfing and found out that palm oil is pretty unique oil that only comes from a tree in the tropics.  I think Crisco is pure vegetable oil. I’ll be watching your thread to see if any of the group offers suggestions.
Jerry s


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## Jerry S (Mar 4, 2010)

*Palm oil substitute*

I did a little research and found what might be a substitute for palm oil. I think the substitution pertains to using a replacement for palm oil in cooking. I don’t know about soap making. The substitution is peanut oil. The site that shows substitutions for different kinds of oils is  http://sonic.net/~alden/Oils.html. Give it a look…I may try that myself. I can buy peanut oil at Costco pretty cheap while finding palm oil in stores is next to impossible. Palm oil can be bought online but pricey…
js


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## rubyslippers (Mar 4, 2010)

If I understand your question loveit_latherit, I think you are asking if you can use Crisco in place of palm oil ounce for ounce.   Crisco has a lower sap value than palm oil so you would need to adjust the amount of  lye.  Be sure to run each and every recipe through soapcalc so you don't end up with a lye heavy soap which would result in a ruined batch.  And yes, you should weigh Crisco just as you do all your oils.


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## rubyslippers (Mar 4, 2010)

*Re: Palm oil substitute*



			
				Jerry S said:
			
		

> …I may try that myself. I can buy peanut oil at Costco pretty cheap while finding palm oil in stores is next to impossible. Palm oil can be bought online but pricey…
> js



Jerry S,  I read somewhere and can't credit the source that peanut oil is one of the least desirable oils for soap.  Maybe a more experienced soaper than I can attest to any positive qualities it may lend to soap but I've never used it.  I give a lot of my soaps away and don't want to worry about someone with allergies to peanuts having a severe reaction.


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## loveit_latherit (Mar 4, 2010)

Interesting - thanks so much. I have a few things to go over now


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## Overthemoon (Mar 4, 2010)

I use shortening/ Crisco in a lot of my soap, however it does not contain palm oil in Canada. The shortening I use now is 100% canola oil. I do use palm oil and I don't plan on subsituting it with anything. I like it and it isn't hard for me to get since I live near the supplier.

Anyway, I have heard that peanut oil soap has DOS problems but I have no intention of experimenting. My BIL has a serious nut allergy, including peanuts, and I wouldn't want to accidently give my sister a soap that had come in contact with that oil.


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## jennikate (Mar 4, 2010)

Here in US where i am crisco has some palm oil in it but i wouldnt use it as a sub without running thru a calc numbers wont be same. Mostly soybean oil. HTH


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## carebear (Mar 4, 2010)

Crisco's formulation varies by location, even within the US - so read your label.  In most cases it is primarily soybean oil.

Palm oil is palm oil.  Spectrum brand sells it as solid shortening, but again - read the label.

There are very few direct swaps in terms of soaping qualities - so my best advice is that if you are interested, try it and see (but ALWAYS ALWAYS recalculate the lye required)


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## Jerry S (Mar 4, 2010)

*Palm oil sub...*

Good advise from all the experienced soapers. Yeah, I wanted to use palm oil in some olive oil soap and yogurt soap I was going to make for my wife to use on her face.  Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and see about getting some palm oil..


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## bodybym (Mar 4, 2010)

loveit_latherit said:
			
		

> Can you use crisco if a recipe calls for palm oil? And is it too measured by weight as the recipie is in 'Ounes of weight' for palm oil?
> 
> Hope that questions was clear!  Thanks



When I teach soap making I tell peopel there are 2 rules about following a recipe:

1. Follow it exactaly 
2. Write your own (which means that if you decide to swap 1 oil for another you have to run it through a lye calculator to make sure that you get the correct amount of lye for the fats that you are using).

You would be following rule #2 - and would need to run the new recipe through a lye calculator. Nothing wrong with doing that - I do it all the time.


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## donniej (Mar 4, 2010)

Palm and hydrogenated soy are both high in saturated fatty acids, so both will help you get a solid bar.  Soy does however have a lower sap and will likely yield in lower suds, if you're using it alone.  If you're using some palm kernel or coconut oil then it will have good suds.  I'm sure there are other subtle differences, but I haven't worked with palm much so I can't say for sure...


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## Woodi (Mar 5, 2010)

I like carebear's answer. I once wrote to Crisco Canada to ask, and they reminded me that their recipes are 'trade secrets' and they wouldn't disclose anything.

but most best guesses are a combination of palm, soy and/or cottonseed oils.

I find Crisco makes my soaps too soft, and palm is harder. 

In our SoapMaker program, you can find a table of 70 or more oils, with the four 'qualities' (Hardness, Fluffy Lather, Creamy Lather and Moisturizing or Conditioning factor) .....and if you click on any of the four headers, the list will re-organize from high to low, or low to high for any quality you choose. 

e.g if you want to know which oils give harder soap, click on the Hardness tab, and the list will show you top to bottom the hardest to softest. If you click twice, it reverses: softest to hardest....and likewise for lathers, moisturizing..
It's so handy, I use it all the time for determining a new soap recipe.


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## reallyrita (Mar 5, 2010)

Jerry:  I wanted to answer this question for you about getting some palm oil.  As another soaper has mentioned in this topic, Spectrum brand puts out a palm oil that you can get at most health food type grocery stores.  It is in the baking supply section and comes in a small white tub with a blue label. Read the label and you will see that it is pure palm oil.  Although an expensive way to buy your palm oil, it is still cheaper than buying a big pail of it and having it shipped to you.  It is a good way to try out palm in your soaps to see if you really like it.  It makes a nice hard bar and the Spectrum brand is quite white so that contributes to a lighter or whiter soap.  I used the Spectrum palm oil when I first started soaping and I was only making small batches.  A tub lasted me for several small batches.  Now, I buy it in 50 lb cubes but it is never as white as the Spectrum.  By the way, lard is wonderful in facial soap.  I use it instead of palm for my own use soaps as I find it less drying.


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## loveit_latherit (Mar 5, 2010)

Thanks everyone!!! Thank you thank you thank you!


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## Hazel (Mar 5, 2010)

I just bought some Crisco today. It says it's soybean and palm oil. I noticed that soapcalc.com has Crisco listed and I wanted to try a larger batch without using my expensive butters.

It gives you 2 choices which are the new Crisco with palm and the old Crisco which I think is soybean & cottonseed.


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## Jerry S (Mar 5, 2010)

*palm oil to crisco to peanut and back to palm...*

Thanks for the tip on the Palm Oil ReallyR, I found Palm oil as you mentioned at a health food type grocery in a town not to far from me. $16 bucks for a pound of it but I think I am going to go ahead and get some cuz so many of the soap recipies call for palm oil...My original intent was to make some nice face soap for my wife using 70% Olive O, 15% Coconut oil and 15% Palm...I heard that another name for Olive oil soap was Castile but a lot of people said they didn't care for the pure OO soap because it could get almost slimmy....soooo I decided to mix palm and coconut with it. Palm would help it from being so soft and the Coconut will help the sudsyness....I don't know about superfating it or what percentage..Whats your take on that???


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## Jerry S (Mar 5, 2010)

*palm to Crisco to Peanut and back to Palm...*

Thanks for the tip on the Palm Oil ReallyR, 
I called around and found Palm oil as you mentioned at a health food type grocery in a town not to far from me. $16 bucks for a pound of it but I think I am going to go ahead and get some cuz so many of the soap recipes call for palm oil...My original intent was to make some nice face soap for my wife using 70% Olive O, 15% Coconut oil and 15% Palm...I heard that another name for Olive oil soap was Castile but a lot of people said they didn't care for the pure OO soap because it could get almost slimmy....soooo I decided to mix palm and coconut with it. Palm would help it from being so soft and the Coconut will help the sudsyness....I don't know about super fating it or what percentage. What’s your take on that ?


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## reallyrita (Mar 6, 2010)

Jerry:  I use a mixture of OO, Palm oil and CO for most of my soaps.  I use an equal amount of OO and CO and a lesser amount of Palm oil.  You should play around with your amounts until you get a soap that you like.  I superfat at 6 %.  Sometimes I use lard instead of palm oil but I always run my recipe through soap calc when I do this.  The lye amounts are similar but not exact.  I love lard for my very own soaps. 6% superfat works for me,more than that and I feel the soaps are a bit oily....but that is just me!  I have been soaping only since 2007 so I still have a lot to learn about all of this.  Experimenting is the best way to find out what suits you personally.


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## Nokanda (May 8, 2010)

*Palm Oil*

Let's hope all you palm oil fanciers are checking to see that the palm oil you're buying has been harvested from sustainable forests.  Do you buy dolphin friendly tuna?  GREEN products (cleaners, paper, etc.)?  Palm oil comes with a price - deforestation and loss of life in Indonesia's rain forests.  There ARE alternatives.  

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odI7pQFyjso"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odI7pQFyjso[/ame]


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## LotusFlowerSoap (May 9, 2010)

Adding to Nokanda's comments about palm oil, there are several suppliers who provide sustainably sourced palm.  Soap Making Resource and Mountain Rose Herbs come to mind.  I've also read on a forum somewhere that Soaper's Choice is, but I don't know that from them.

I've spent a bit of time in Indonesia and I have to say it is possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been to (and I've been blessed to have had the opportunity travel extensively, so I don't say that lightly).  It's beauty is truly breathtaking, but you can see the damage that the palm industry doing.  The Balanese people in particular are some of the most welcoming, warm and happy people I've had the privilege to meet.

I use palm oil in my soaps.  I like the qualities it brings to the soap and I like that it's affordable.  There is no reason to give up on it, but there's every reason in the world to make sure that what we use comes from a responsible source.  

Don't mean to sound condescending or as if I'm shaking my finger at anyone.  Just trying to let you know that you can use it AND ensure that the environment and wildlife who depend on it are preserved!


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## Nokanda (May 9, 2010)

Thank you LotusFlowerSoap, that's the only point I was trying to make.  There are palm oil producers who use raw materials from sustainable forests, although I'm told their products cost a bit more.  You are very lucky, indeed, to have had the opportunity to visit, and see the beauty of, Indonesia.


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## Northland Naturals (May 9, 2010)

i don't suppose anyone knows if Crisco uses sustainable palm?  somehow i doubt it?


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## honor435 (May 10, 2010)

yikes dont spend 16 for a lb, you could get a gallon for 13 or 14, plus shipping of course.


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## Hazel (May 10, 2010)

soaperschoice.com has organic sustainable palm oil - $13.65 for 7 lb.

http://www.soaperschoice.com/cgi-soaper ... 0&cart_id=


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## RiverBerries_Soapworks (Aug 2, 2015)

Hi Anna!
 I just made a pretty basic recipe using Crisco in substitution of Palm oil. I ran the same recipe twice using SoapCalc, once with Palm oil and once with Crisco (new formula). The recipe's total weight of oils was 16oz and the difference between the amount of lye for both recipes was of 0.01oz
So my guess is you can pretty much substitute one for the other. I recommend that you always use a lye calculator when you are making changes or doing a new recipe.

Good luck with your soapy adventures!


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## Susie (Aug 2, 2015)

RiverBerries- that thread is over 5 years old.   You probably won't get a reply.


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