Beef Tallow

[shugohmk]

Do you guys use beef tallow or Lard on your soaps? I use lard because I can just buy them from walmart. But I would much love to try beef tallow.

We tried asking the butcher in the grocery store we go to and they told us that we can't reserve them. I don't know if the butcher understood if he can just give us the fat trimmings to us instead of throwing them away, but was told that they can't be reserved. Hmm!!

How do you obtain you tallow?

 

[newbie]

I order mine with my other oils from Soaper's Choice. It's inexpensive ($0.86/lb or so) in the 50 pound cube and since I can store in the basement where it stays cool, I don't worry about it going rancid before i use it all.

 

[Relle]

Not sure which country you are in, but in Australia the grocery stores will not give trimmings away. They don't get thrown out, they get picked up by a company to be taken away for rendering and the shop gets paid by the kg for this to be done. A direct butcher shop might be your best option to get your tallow. If anyone wanted trimmings we would sell it to them.

 

[Happysoap]

I loooooooooove tallow! I render it myself. I just ask my butcher for the trimmings.

 

[shugohmk]

Not sure which country you are in, but in Australia the grocery stores will not give trimmings away. They don't get thrown out, they get picked up by a company to be taken away for rendering and the shop gets paid by the kg for this to be done. A direct butcher shop might be your best option to get your tallow. If anyone wanted trimmings we would sell it to them.

I live in California. LOL! From what I know after doing enough research. They throw it away. And when we asked, they tell us that they are thrown away.

I loooooooooove tallow! I render it myself. I just ask my butcher for the trimmings.

I don't know anyone that works at a butcher shop or is a butcher so I tried asking at our local grocery store. Time for me to go straight to a regular butcher shop.

 

[Relle]

Support your local butcher and buy their meat and I'm sure they'll give you some.

 

[Obsidian]

My local store sells ground beef fat labeled as suet, its for feeding birds. Tallow is great but I prefer lard.

 

[dixiedragon]

Not sure where you live, but in my area Piggly Wiggly supermarkets are willing to save beef fat. I seemed to have better luck if I asked for "suet", vs beef trimmings. If they offer to grind it for you, say YES! And take a bunch of soap with you as a thank you gift.

But I just got it to experiment with. I much prefer lard.

 

[pattime]

I get mine at Soaper's choice as well. $11.55 for a 7# bottle. I got the smaller amount because I don't have a freezer but I've used so much of it for cooking I really wish I'd gotten the larger size...maybe split it with someone. Good stuff, and already rendered/clean.

 

[TNsoaper]

Tallow is easily acquired form grocery stores, simply by what you did there. I have acquired so much beef fat, that it took me a couple days to get it processed. I even got lucky with one batch and I got a lot of suet thrown in. I was ecstatic. Best of all, it was FREE!

I've heard of some butchers at the grocery store charging, due to management, but it's usually a very nominal fee. The most I've seen it called for was approximately .24-.28 cents (US).

Last week I acquired my fat at a local Kroger and they gave me 15lbs of pure fat and I mean really WHITE pure beef fat so pure it was crumbling in my hands and I didn't need a knife to cut it up at all. But I've also acquired it at Food Lion, and other smaller family owned marts with no problem.

Just go back, tell him you are trying to render down some tallow for cooking or soaping and explain why you need it. He or she will get the picture. But what you ought to do if there is no charge is bring them back a few bars of soap. They need it anyway! And I'm sure they'd love to have a few bars. Even at the cheap rate, if they do charge, it's a deal.

 

[Crombie]

I buy beef tallow from Soaper's Choice and it is now my favorite soaping oil. I use it at least at 40% in my base recipe.

 

[Susie]

Does it have an odor? I love lard, but I am having trouble with the odor in my liquid laundry soap remaining in my casual clothes. Even with EO's added, my T-shirts smell lardy when I get them out of the drawer. If no smell, I will order some tallow.

 

[eyeroll]

I adore tallow, get the trimmings from a real butcher for .99/lb., grind and render it myself. I have never noticed an odor in my regular soaps (I use EOs) but I just made an unscented 50/50 tallow/OO bar which has a slight odor. I don't find it unpleasant but it isn't your normal soapy odor. I just unmolded and cut today, so I expect the smell to cure out completely. I'll follow up.

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

I'm in California also and use both lard and tallow. If you just want to try tallow, go to your local Walmart and pick up a 42 oz container of great value shortening. Make sure it just says shortening NOT all vegetable shortening. The ingredient list on it just says animal fat but if you go to the Walmart site it will show you the ingredient list which is made up mainly of tallow and a bit of Palm. I Love it in soaps. It is super white and has no smell at all, makes beautiful soap.

If you decide that you love tallow and wants lots of it, go to Smart and Final. They sell huge blocks of shortening that are pure tallow.

 

[kyliecoast]

I'm in Australia. I asked my hubby to buy palm oil (yellow package on the left) but he bought tallow by mistake (red package on the right). The tallow made a beautiful white soap without titanium dioxide which was really glossy and firm. One of my favourite batches.

To my nose it does smell a little different to my veggie soaps but certainly not bad or meaty. A fragrance with a strong throw would work well.

 

[Susie]

Have any of you used it in liquid soap? I love lard in my bar soaps and indeed in my liquid hand soap. But I have that odor that lives in my laundry after washing with a liquid soap that only contains 1.5 oz lard in a 16 oz oil recipe, and a double amount of EO. There has to be an alternative. Otherwise I am going to have to just make CO liquid soap.

 

[eyeroll]

I have never noticed an odor in my regular soaps (I use EOs) but I just made an unscented 50/50 tallow/OO bar which has a slight odor. I don't find it unpleasant but it isn't your normal soapy odor. I just unmolded and cut today, so I expect the smell to cure out completely. I'll follow up.

The tallow odor is completely gone at this point.

 

[Moody Glenn]

I buy beef tallow from Soaper's Choice and it is now my favorite soaping oil. I use it at least at 40% in my base recipe.

Hello! I also use tallow and get it from Soaper's Choice. No odor and does not go rancid. I also use lard but get that (and olive oil) from a nearby restaurant supply company (http://www.restaurantdepot.com/ ). Both adds hardness and great qualities to the soap.
PS: To avoid an odor from the lard melt it together with your other oils and fats. Melting alone can cause it to overheat and give that piggy smell. Never had any smell when melting all the oils and fats together.

 

[athallr]

I was just coming here to post a question about tallow and found this thread

Anyway I have not used tallow or lard. I have some tallow I would like to use in some soap. Would you say tallow and lard are interchangeable in recipes?

I normally soap with coconut, olive, palm and canola. Would tallow replace the palm?

Thank you! I've read so many rave reviews of lard soap I have to acquire some of that next to try soon!

Amy

 

[Crombie]

Tallow Replaces Palm

Amy - when a recipe calls for palm, I substitute tallow and then run it through soapcalc.

When I started making soap I had the dilemna of using palm and feeling bad about environmental issues or using tallow and vegans not buying my soap (I have yet to find an all vegetable soap I am happy with).

The environmentals won and I'm so glad. I just LOVE tallow and have now upped to to 60% in most of my soap. I love it for its whiteness and creamy stable lather. I use castor oil at 5% with all my tallow recipes.