Tallow recipe

LoveOscar · Feb 9, 2016

I found somewhere (can't remember now, it was weeks ago lol) a recipe with 75% tallow, 20% coconut, 5% castor oil. Let's say 5% super fat, maybe some sugar thrown in for lather as I haven't tried it before.

Looking for a great lathering bar. Lots of fluffy bubbles. I've been playing with palm free coconut/olive blends and getting great creamy lathers, but my favorite lather has been from my salt/coconut bar. So trying to find a good blend for good lather without a salt bar.

Thoughts? Expressions?

Thank you's all around.

BrewerGeorge · Feb 9, 2016

Sounds good to me. Add a chelator if you need it, but otherwise looks like a big latherer.

DeeAnna · Feb 9, 2016

I have used the 75% lard recipe and liked it pretty well. My only quibble -- and it's JUST a quibble -- is this recipe seems a bit more drying to my skin than I want, especially in our dry winter weather. Rather than increase the superfat from my usual 3% to compensate, I went instead to a 80% lard, 15% coconut, 5% castor recipe and prefer this version a bit better.

I use 31% to 33% lye concentration and 0.5% tetrasodium EDTA. I also might use sugar or beer, but I don't consider either additive to be absolutely necessary for good lather with either recipe.

Both recipes behave nicely in the soap pot. Easy to unmold 12 to 18 hours after it's poured, assuming the soap gels -- takes 24-36 hours to firm up if it doesn't gel. Color is pale ivory to almost white. Lathers well with a fluff of big bubbles followed by denser whipped cream lather. Bars are firm and long lasting in the shower.

Makes a nice liquid soap for hand washing or bathing if made with KOH rather than NaOH, although the liquid soap version is opaque, rather than transparent.

Arimara · Feb 9, 2016

I will echo DeeAnna a little here- that soap would be a touch drying. Coconut oil aside, tallow (I'm assuming beef but you can correct me if you're not using that) can also be a little drying, though not on the same level as the main cleansing oils. I'd suggest knocking out at least 5% out of the coconut oil and dropping the tallow down to at least 70%, leaving you some wiggle room to add a soft oil that you like.

I'm experimenting with two Lard/ Tallow soaps for the next few weeks so I can determine which range I like better. It may be a while before I can officially recommend that combo specifically. Of course, I got the idea from Susie so a lard/ tallow soap may be a good idea.

DeeAnna · Feb 9, 2016

I ran short on lard awhile back, but had tallow on hand, so I subbed tallow for 30% of the lard -- the recipe was 50% lard, 30% tallow, 15% CO, 5% castor. Otherwise everything else was the same.

The added tallow definitely hardened the bar. That's not a big issue IMO -- the 80% lard recipe is plenty hard enough to suit me. I feel the added tallow reduced the lather somewhat. The soap is more opaque, compared to the slight translucency of the lard-only recipe. I'm not quite sure the 30% added tallow has made the soap more drying to the skin, but I have not used the soap in the shower much, so I don't have a definite opinion yet.

I certainly think the tallow is fine to use, but I am thinking about dropping it to 20% in the future -- 60% lard, 20% tallow, 15% CO, 5% castor.

lenarenee · Feb 9, 2016

Tallow contains lauric and myristic acids in smaller amounts than coconut oil..... that make large happy bubbles, so I actually reduce my Co use by about 2% for drier skin.

Your recipe should have more larger bubbles than creamy, but because tallow makes such a hard bar, it's low solubility is going to make you work harder to get them. I don't know how sugar will affect that.
I would be tempted to use at least 10 to 15 % soft oil in the recipe to increase solubility.

LoveOscar · Feb 9, 2016

Yes, it is beef. I picked up suet from a butcher to render down. I have more than enough to make muliple batches.

So I will aim for [80% tallow, 15% coconut, 5% castor] and [70% tallow, 15% coconut, 5% castor, 10% avocado/sunflower] to try both and see how it goes. I have 2 small loaf molds so I can run both together. I've never tried a tallow or lard soap before.

Thanks for the advice!

lenarenee · Feb 9, 2016

LoveOscar said:
Yes, it is beef. I picked up suet from a butcher to render down. I have more than enough to make muliple batches.

So I will aim for [80% tallow, 15% coconut, 5% castor] and [70% tallow, 15% coconut, 5% castor, 10% avocado/sunflower] to try both and see how it goes. I have 2 small loaf molds so I can run both together. I've never tried a tallow or lard soap before.

Thanks for the advice!

Sounds like a great start

Arimara · Feb 9, 2016

DeeAnna said:
I ran short on lard awhile back, but had tallow on hand, so I subbed tallow for 30% of the lard -- the recipe was 50% lard, 30% tallow, 15% CO, 5% castor. Otherwise everything else was the same.

The added tallow definitely hardened the bar. That's not a big issue IMO -- the 80% lard recipe is plenty hard enough to suit me. I feel the added tallow reduced the lather somewhat. The soap is more opaque, compared to the slight translucency of the lard-only recipe. I'm not quite sure the 30% added tallow has made the soap more drying to the skin, but I have not used the soap in the shower much, so I don't have a definite opinion yet.

I certainly think the tallow is fine to use, but I am thinking about dropping it to 20% in the future -- 60% lard, 20% tallow, 15% CO, 5% castor.

Interestingly enough, My lardy tallow soap with 60/20 lard to tallow does give more bubbly of lather than the 40/40 one. I decided against 50/30 because I wanted it to be an option later. These soaps are a week and a day old so I will have plenty of time to observe the evolution of these soaps.

lenarenee · Feb 9, 2016

Arimara said:
Interestingly enough, My lardy tallow soap with 60/20 lard to tallow does give more bubbly of lather than the 40/40 one. I decided against 50/30 because I wanted it to be an option later. These soaps are a week and a day old so I will have plenty of time to observe the evolution of these soaps.

Interesting. I made a soap with equal lard and tallow, 10 co, 5 castor and hated it. It was such a "nothing" soap. No personality, unresponsive and didn't seem to know how a bar of soap is supposed to act.

DeeAnna · Feb 9, 2016

Lenarenee -- if you think about it, your recipe has more tallow and less coconut oil than my recipe. I would expect your soap to lather less, and I wouldn't care for that any more than you do. Like I said earlier, I'm not entirely satisfied with mine -- I'm thinking about backing off the tallow even more.

lenarenee · Feb 9, 2016

You're right - I hadn't noticed how close the recipes were.

I like tallow - either at about 20% (for extra hardness) with lard and/or other very conditioning oils, or at about 60%, 10% co, 5 castor, shea and some oleic oil. That makes a very interesting lather - a little bubbly but quickly changing to a light cream - almost like deflated homemade whipped cream.

While tallow's virtues are limited, it does well in adding a crisp hardness to a recipe. Too much and it really limits solubility. However, with the right balance it can really show off your soft oils. (except maybe high olive oil...haven't tried that).

Arimara · Feb 10, 2016

I just don't think more than 20% tallow works when it comes to lard. I know my soaps are babies but I can see a clear difference in Soap A (which is looking like a prospective keeper) and Soap B (a soap that manages to be more disappointing than I could imagine thus far). I used equal parts olive oil and mango butters in the 20% remainder of my soap. My question is why is it that tallow (seemingly) flourishes under the less-is-more approach in a lard/tallow tag-team?

LoveOscar, I apologize for the blatant hijacking that just occurred.

LoveOscar · Feb 10, 2016

It's all good, Arimara. I got what I needed, everything else is perspective and great for next time.

Tallow recipe

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