# Beef/sheep dripping?



## spenny92 (Jul 11, 2015)

I wondered if anyone could help me with how to input this into SoapCalc, or if I should even use it at all. I've run low on soaping supplies and really want to crack on with a beer soap today, so I managed to get some coconut oil and rice bran oil at the supermarket. They were out of lard as it's a Sunday (I'm not sure why that matters), and the only other thing I could find was dripping. I thought it was pure beef dripping, so tallow basically, but upon getting home I've realised it's a mix of beef and mutton dripping. Do you think it's soapable? I notice that beef tallow and sheep tallow have different SAP values, so I can't really lump it in as one or the other on SoapCalc, and the packaging doesn't tell me the percentage of each either.

I really wanted to soap today!


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## snappyllama (Jul 11, 2015)

The sap values are *really* close.  I made a pretend 1lb soap for 100% of each fat:

beef: 64.45 gm lye 
sheep: 59.61 gm lye

So a nickel's difference, I'd put the sheep tallow in soapcalc and just accept the minuscule superfat difference you'd be off on the calculation.

ETA: I have no idea about the soapability (I'm making up that word) of drippings...


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## spenny92 (Jul 11, 2015)

Thank you. According to Google, dripping is similar to tallow. But I'm not sure if "similar" is going to be good enough for soap-making. Hmmm.


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## Dorymae (Jul 12, 2015)

If it is fat it will make soap. I believe drippings are just the fat that cooked off the meat so you should be good.  I would look at it though and make sure it is clean. (no bits mixed in) and if it is a little dirty I'd just render it.  Should be a quick process.


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## spenny92 (Jul 12, 2015)

Dorymae said:


> If it is fat it will make soap. I believe drippings are just the fat that cooked off the meat so you should be good.  I would look at it though and make sure it is clean. (no bits mixed in) and if it is a little dirty I'd just render it.  Should be a quick process.



Thanks Dorymae. It's clean, and I think I might use it instead of lard in one of my normal recipes to see what difference it makes. I'll wait to make the beer soap until I ave more supplies, as I'd like to keep this one vegan. Patience - I'm learning slowly!


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## cmzaha (Jul 12, 2015)

spenny92 said:


> Thanks Dorymae. It's clean, and I think I might use it instead of lard in one of my normal recipes to see what difference it makes. I'll wait to make the beer soap until I ave more supplies, as I'd like to keep this one vegan. Patience - I'm learning slowly!


I you want to make a truly vegan soap you need to research and find a vegan beer. Many beers are not vegan


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## spenny92 (Jul 12, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> I you want to make a truly vegan soap you need to research and find a vegan beer. Many beers are not vegan



Yup, I'm using locally made craft beer from a wee restaurant/brewery that I work at occasionally - all vegan-friendly! 

Quick update - I won't be attempting any soap with dripping! I was going to use it in place of lard to see what the difference was. So I opened the tub last night, and the smell is just overwhelming. It's clean and white, but smells like roast dinner. Not a bad scent cooking-wise, but definitely not for soap!


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## commoncenz (Jul 13, 2015)

Maybe the scent will go away during saponification? You should at least try to make a small test batch to see. It would be a shame to waste that fat.


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## jules92207 (Jul 13, 2015)

I would make a small batch to test it out anyway, even my lard in the tub can get a little "ripe" but it usually fades in the soap especially if I add fragrance.


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## spenny92 (Jul 13, 2015)

commoncenz said:


> Maybe the scent will go away during saponification? You should at least try to make a small test batch to see. It would be a shame to waste that fat.



It's very, very strong. Much stronger than any lard I've come across. It's just a small tub. If we don't use it for cooking, I _might _try it in a small batch.


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## galaxyMLP (Jul 13, 2015)

I would bet it would go away. When I render my own beef/lard sometimes I get a very strong smell. My doggies know when Im rendering! Lol. But its always gone away in soap and is not detectable with fragrance. 

I'm sure your small batch will turn out great! Keep us posted!


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## Seawolfe (Jul 14, 2015)

Theres some posts here about rendering lard with water and baking soda I think? She did it a few times, and if I remember right it helped get rid of the smell.


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