My daughter went to a book sale Saturday and came home with a very old cookbook. It had a soap recipe. I love old cookbooks. Mostly for what people write in them. Sometimes there are interesting recipes too. This one had cooking instructions for every part of every animal you could think of and every way possible to save fat.
Cook books and soap recipes
- Thread starter Punkasue
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A great find; but I wouldn't recommend using the recipe. It does not use weights. Years ago, I made a soap recipe off of a lye can and it turned out to be lye heavy. Never did that again.
But the recipe says if you follow the instructions there is no chance of failure. lol I would be afraid to try it.A great find; but I wouldn't recommend using the recipe. It does not use weights. Years ago, I made a soap recipe off of a lye can and it turned out to be lye heavy. Never did that again.
Old cookbooks can be a treasure trove of interesting recipes and culinary history. It is fascinating to see the types of dishes and ingredients that were popular in different eras, as well as the methods and techniques that were used to prepare them.
Including a soap recipe in a cookbook was not uncommon in the past, as soap was often made at home using ingredients like animal fat and lye. Many people also saved and rendered animal fat to use in cooking, as it was a valuable resource that could be used in a variety of dishes.
Including a soap recipe in a cookbook was not uncommon in the past, as soap was often made at home using ingredients like animal fat and lye. Many people also saved and rendered animal fat to use in cooking, as it was a valuable resource that could be used in a variety of dishes.
It is interesting. And I would guess they worked harder to save and use everything they could. There were instructions on how to save oils or fat that were going bad. How to make it usable again. Where we would smell and then throw it out They might not have had that option. And I guess they tried to learn how to do everything because they didn’t have Walmart or Amazon. I’m thankful for the era I’m living in.
I love old cookbooks! What a cool find from 1923 - score! I had my moms wedding gift Betty Crocker cookbook out last week to make Russian Teacakes for Christmas. Thanks for sharing 
BritS
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What a neat find! I, too, collect old books, whether they are cookbooks, novels, sewing manuals, etc. There’s something enchanting about flipping a page and finding a note written by someone who you’ll never meet.
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Why the ammonia?
An accelerant? But why not use alcohol?
Sounds like an excellent soap for washing windows.
Would there be actual ammonia leftover in the soap, or would the ammonia just increase the pH of lye solution, in which case what would be the effect of the newly introduced nitrogen into soap solution?
When grocery stores sell solutions of ammonia, they are labeled “ammonia”; however, when the same solution is purchased from chemical supply stores, they are labeled “ammonium hydroxide" bc when ammonia nh3 is mixed w water it borrows a hydrogen and becomes ammonium hydroxide (nh4), & then this recipe wants us to add, like, MORE hydroxides...
Edit: found this: Ammonium hydroxide | Soapy Stuff
Soap made with ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution is slightly more water soluble than soap made with potassium hydroxide. It is even more soluble compared with soap made with sodium hydroxide.
An accelerant? But why not use alcohol?
Sounds like an excellent soap for washing windows.
Would there be actual ammonia leftover in the soap, or would the ammonia just increase the pH of lye solution, in which case what would be the effect of the newly introduced nitrogen into soap solution?
When grocery stores sell solutions of ammonia, they are labeled “ammonia”; however, when the same solution is purchased from chemical supply stores, they are labeled “ammonium hydroxide" bc when ammonia nh3 is mixed w water it borrows a hydrogen and becomes ammonium hydroxide (nh4), & then this recipe wants us to add, like, MORE hydroxides...
Edit: found this: Ammonium hydroxide | Soapy Stuff
Soap made with ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution is slightly more water soluble than soap made with potassium hydroxide. It is even more soluble compared with soap made with sodium hydroxide.
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I also found this: "Household ammonia solution (5% NH4OH in water) is used in some older soap recipes, especially ones for lard-based household cleaning and laundry soaps. Lard makes a fairly insoluble soap, so adding some ammonia solution will help this type of soap dissolve faster and lather more easily."
https://classicbells.com/soap/ammon...tion (5% NH4OH,faster and lather more easily.
Ladka
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Does it also produce more bubbles?
