# Tallow recipe needed. Thank you.



## Sapwn (Jun 28, 2013)

Finally I found tallow!








It was not easy to find hear.

I bought 10Kgr that rendered 7.5Kg of oil. I keep it in the freezer at -24oC.


















Since I am new at soap making and have no experience with tallow, I would like to ask senior members that have used tallow to recommend a simple and tested recipe. I need soap for the shower and for the hands. Bubbles are highly appreciated. 

I have coconut oil

Palm oil

Sunflower oil

Olive oil (but I’d rather avoid it)

Castor oil

Almond oil

Some avocado oil left

Shea butter

Cocoa butter

Mango butter

　

　

The bars will not be used soon so I am a bit concerned about rancidity. I have this vitamin E oil that i am thinking to use to avoid rancidity. Will it work or not? At what percentage? Should I add it in the oils or in trace?








　

THANK YOU!


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

Why don't you want to use olive oil?


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

That oil is wheat germ oil, not pure vit e.


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## Sapwn (Jun 29, 2013)

dagmar88 said:


> Why don't you want to use olive oil?


 
If you beleive it will be useful in a particular recipe, I will use it. However, i prefer avoiding it because olive oil produces the worse lather you can get from a soap.





dagmar88 said:


> That oil is wheat germ oil, not pure vit e.


 

Yes i know. Will it make any difference in terms of rancidity risk if i add it in a recipe with tallow?


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

Sapwn said:


> If you beleive it will be useful in a particular recipe, I will use it. However, i prefer avoiding it because olive oil produces the worse lather you can get from a soap.



On it's own, I could see how one might come to that conclusion.
In a well balanced recipe, it'll loose those qualities.





Sapwn said:


> Yes i know. Will it make any difference in terms of rancidity risk if i add it in a recipe with tallow?



Wouldn't bet on it.


You could go for 
25% coconut
20% tallow
50% olive oil
8% castor


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## Sapwn (Jun 29, 2013)

dagmar88 said:


> You could go for
> 25% coconut
> 20% tallow
> 50% olive oil
> 8% castor


 

Thank you dagmar!  I guess you intend 3% superfat here.


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

oops, 22% of coconut :crazy:


I usually superfat between 5 and 8% in standard/basic recipe's like the above.


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## mel z (Jun 30, 2013)

Bookmarked this page. I hope I don't have to replace my computer anytime soon. Very kind posters letting us know all about tallow here, including quite a few recipes:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f11/rendering-tallow-33777/


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## Sapwn (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you mel z! 
That thread is full of recipes! Very useful indeed.


 

Today I made my first, simplest batches with tallow.

The first one is 100% tallow with 0% superfat and then at trace I added 5% unrefined cocoa butter and cutter caramel FO.









I did 0%  superfat initially in order to saponify all the tallow hopping to avoid in this way future rancidity. :roll:  And then at trace I added 5% unrefined cocoa butter because it wins the smell of tallow.

The second batch was 70% tallow and 30% coconut oil. Cocoa butter 5% at trace and milky cream FO.

　

Many more will follow


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## sistrum (Jul 7, 2013)

Just wondering, why do you think using tallow will make your soap go rancid?


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## Sapwn (Jul 7, 2013)

Because I have used dozens of shaving soaps.

I have never had any vegetal shaving soap or cream gone rancid, while I have had a couple of shaving soaps with tallow gone rancid.

Many more wet shavers have noticed that some tallow-based shaving soaps, Cella for example, are prone to rancid degeneration.


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## sistrum (Jul 7, 2013)

Interesting, I wonder what their process is. It's strange how some things work for one person and not another.

Just make sure you render your tallow correctly and use it in place of palm oil in one of your tried and true formulas (if you have one) without using any other oils that tend to go bad and see how it works for you.  I've never had tallow soap go rancid, maybe yours won't eather.  Give it a try.


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## Sapwn (Jul 7, 2013)

The shaving soaps I was refering to were comercial shaving soaps. Not soaps made by me.

Cella for example, an excellent old italian shaving soap has gone rancid many times at many wet shavers around the world.

Other tallow-based shaving soaps, like Mitchel's Wool Fat has never gone rancid in my hands, and i have never heard someone complaining about rancidity in this particular soap.


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## Sapwn (Aug 23, 2013)

Today I tried my 100% tallow soap for the first time.

Actually, it is 100% tallow with 0% superfat plus 5% unrefined cocoa butter at heavy trace.


The soap does not make any bubbles; however, it makes a nice cream that feels very luxury and friendly to the skin.

I don't think I will make again a 100% tallow soap, I just wanted to try it, but i don't mind even to use these 8 bars from the batch.

For sure, I prefer this 100% tallow soap over any 100% olive oil soap.


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## newbie (Aug 24, 2013)

Tallow is not known for its bubbles but rather for its creamy lather so that sounds about right for a tallow with cocoa bar. I have tried an 85% tallow 15% castor recipe that gave nice bubbles and lather. If you want to use a good amount of tallow, then to get bubbles, you almost have to add coconut and/or castor oil. I personally love tallow in soaps.


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## Sapwn (Aug 24, 2013)

Thank you newbie.

The second tallow bar that I did two months ago was 70% tallow, 30% coconut, 5% shea.

I think it will be much better.


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