# Chicken fat in soap, anyone?



## Egzandra (Jun 21, 2009)

The reason I started wanting to make soap is that when we have a chicken, usually once a week and free range I was wasting the fat that came off it.  So I started to save up the fat in the freezer, with the intention of making soap, after boiling it with water to get rid of any chickeny bits.  I still have all the fat, though, because I have not been brave enough to add it to any of the soaps I have been making.  :cry: 

Does anyone on here use chicken fat, and does it turn out all right?


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## ChrissyB (Jun 21, 2009)

I have read that chicken fat in soap makes it soft.
But it is listed in soapcalc, so maybe select it and see what numbers soapcalc gives you?


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## SimplyE (Jun 21, 2009)

I made "duck" soap with duck fat the same way.  The recipe turned out nice, a little soft, but pretty awesome.  I was worried about the stench from the duck, but it came out okay.  I would certainly try your chicken!  The ultimate in no waste.


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2009)

Very neat idea , I am going to have to start saving it too , and try it ..
Kitn


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## carebear (Jun 22, 2009)

I cannot stomach the idea = no real good reason (I haven't really thought it through cause it makes me go ewww).

Same reason I can't use emu oil - to me, an emu is just a giant chicken...


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## Deda (Jun 22, 2009)

carebear said:
			
		

> I cannot stomach the idea = no real good reason (I haven't really thought it through cause it makes me go ewww).
> 
> Same reason I can't use emu oil - to me, an emu is just a giant chicken...



Amen.  I used to work for a big emu oil company.  Once I saw a huge hunk of unprocessed fat - never again.


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## Egzandra (Jun 22, 2009)

Sorry if I've turned anyone's stomach by starting up this thread.  I suppose I just want to make the best use of the chicken and not waste anything.  And, I do not want to send my husband out smelling like a take-away in a few weeks' time! That's why I was glad of SimplyE's comment about the duck soap not smelling.

Thank you for all the comments, I will use the chicken fat, maybe adding some beef tallow to it to improve the hardness, and I can always use the soap for the laundry.


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## louiet (Dec 22, 2012)

Hi, I found your site when I Googled, "chicken fat to make soap". I can get all I want. Probably free.

Anyway, I'm new here. But, I got interested in this craft in 1978 when I got handed the Foxfire Book. 

Over the last few day's I've scoured the net to see what I could find to actually do something with this interest. I'm pleased. I'm working on it. There's a pot of wood ash, lye water boiling outside. Yep, I even have the egg. Got a Ph meter somewhere.

Too soft? Try salt in the final stage before pouring into molds. I will if nobody else. It's something I read so, you'll have to try this yourself.


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## thefarmerdaughter (Dec 22, 2012)

This sounds very interesting. I would love to read about the results.


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## notapantsday (Nov 15, 2015)

I always have a lot of chicken fat left over from making stock and I end up throwing most of it away.

So... any new experiences?


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## Dharlee (Nov 16, 2015)

What about sodium lactate to make it firmer?


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## Susie (Nov 16, 2015)

This thread is almost 3 years old.  Don't be surprised if you don't get an answer.  It would be better if you started a new thread.  And the original post is from 2009.


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## BrewerGeorge (Nov 16, 2015)

Schmaltz is too valuable _for eating_!   Try it on popcorn - to die for.


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## galaxyMLP (Nov 16, 2015)

I made soap with duck fat one time (quite similar to chicken fat) for a co-worker using some of his leftover fat. I know I used it at a high percentage of the recipe since thats how he wanted it. 

It feels nice when it was finished being made. The only problem is it started getting DOS after about 3 months. My coworker really didnt care though. It was a gift to him and he just wanted the soap. Its a little too high in Linoleic acid to be used as high of a % as I did. I think I used something like 70%. Chicken fat has even more linoleic acid so I would keep that at a much lower percentage too. I wouldnt go over 20% chicken fat. Something like what I have below might be very nice though. I would also use EDTA or sodium citrate in theses recipes to reduce the chances of DOS even more.

1 Chicken Fat	        20%
2 Olive Oil	                20%
3 Castor Oil	                5%
4 Coconut Oil, 76 deg   15%	
5 Lard                        40%

Soap Bar Quality	Range	Your Recipe
Hardness	 39
Cleansing    11
Conditioning 55
Bubbly	 15
Creamy	 33
Iodine	 59
INS      	 146


Lauric	7
Myristic	3
Palmitic	20
Stearic	8
Ricinoleic	5
Oleic	        41
Linoleic	10
Linolenic	0


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## notapantsday (Nov 16, 2015)

BrewerGeorge said:


> Schmaltz is too valuable _for eating_!



Oh, I'm trying to eat all of it but I'm just using too much stock. I go through one container of schmaltz and then I have no more stock so I make a new batch with 3 new containers of schmaltz while I still have the other two from the previous batch. I just can't keep up. 

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll just try it at a low percentage with CO and lard to make a bit of a harder bar.


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## vyadha (Nov 16, 2015)

Im with BG, rendered chicken fat is great for cooking, lovely flavor.

Ive used schmaltz in soap and its quite soft as was mentioned. It seems very similar to lard and rabbit fat to me.

I think itd be great for a liquid soap or 25% max in a bar. 

The best way though is to use it to confit chicken wings.


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