Deer Tallow Soap

[mommycarlson]

I have rendered some deer fat, I have over 7 pounds! I have read the forums from a few years back where some people made deer tallow soap and wanted to ask:

One poster used a 7% SF, is there an advantage to upping the SF? Is this specific to deer tallow? I make a 50% lard soap with a 5 % SF, makes a lovely soap.

Of course I will run my recipe through soap calc, but wondered if I should just make my normal recipe and sub out the lard for deer tallow, would this be an okay thing to do?

And last, deer tallow is really hard and I wondered if perhaps that is why one poster said to use the higher SF, does the hardness of the deer tallow carry over into the hardness of the finished soap?

Thank you so much!

 

[CaraBou]

You can use a normal superfat; no need for higher just because it's deer. And you can use the same percentage of your deer tallow as you would lard (50% is fine) - just run it through a soap calc to get the right amount of lye. Deer or venison tallow should be listed as an oil.

I haven't made a deer tallow soap, but I'm pretty confident that you shouldn't have trouble with 50% being too hard of a soap.

 

[mommycarlson]

Thank you CaraBou! That was my plan, I just needed some re-enforcement Appreciate your answer. I am going to Wisconsin for the weekend but will be making the soap when I get home.

 

[toxikon]

Nothing useful to add... but post pics and let us know how they turn out! I'm curious to know how deer tallow compares to lard or beef tallow bars.

 

[mommycarlson]

Will do Toxicon, I'm curious too. I have not used beef tallow but my "go to" recipe is 50% lard and I love the soap, so hopefully I'll love this too! With DH, two sons and a family friend being deer hunters, I will have an abundance of fat to render.

 

[Obsidian]

I made a batch of coffee soap with deer tallow and it was one of my absolute favorites. I just used up the last bar and was hoping for more yallow this season but unfortunately, its been warm and the deer aren't very fat yet.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I haven't made soap with it, but I've butchered a few deer which makes me ask "How's it smell?"

If it's really gamey, I'd expect it to come through to the finished soap the way lard does - especially at 50%.

 

[Obsidian]

The first time I used deer, I made a small batch of 100% to see how it would smell/feel. There was a very faint deer scent, not exactly gamey. I'm sure it would have covered perfectly fine with scent, might have even faded with a long cure but I shredded it after a few weeks and added it to a rebatch.
I don't think I would use it at 50%, it makes a very hard brittle soap. I'd start with 30% and see how that is.

 

[CTAnton]

I wonder if a 5%KOH/95%NaOH might improve solubility.I regularly make close to 80% deer tallow soap. Can't say I find it brittle but it does last FOREVER. I do use sugar and aloe juice to increase bubbles. YMMV.

 

[DirtyKnuckles]

I wonder if a 5%KOH/95%NaOH might improve solubility.I regularly make close to 80% deer tallow soap. Can't say I find it brittle but it does last FOREVER. I do use sugar and aloe juice to increase bubbles. YMMV.

I have made two batches of pure deer tallow soap now and have been VERY pleased with how long a bar lasts, how incredibly well it cleans everything from dirt to blood to motor oil from my dirty knuckles.

But I have noticed that I get very little sudsing from my soap. Can you explain the use of sugar and aloe that you mentioned in your comment? I am interested.

(I harvested a full 6 lbs of fat from ONE young whitetail doe last week. Gonna be the soap king!)

 

[CTAnton]

I have made two batches of pure deer tallow soap now and have been VERY pleased with how long a bar lasts, how incredibly well it cleans everything from dirt to blood to motor oil from my dirty knuckles.

But I have noticed that I get very little sudsing from my soap. Can you explain the use of sugar and aloe that you mentioned in your comment? I am interested.

(I harvested a full 6 lbs of fat from ONE young whitetail doe last week. Gonna be the soap king!)

I use aloe juice as opposed to water in all my batches unless I'm making a beer soap or one using a milk.Cheap enough at Wally World in the pharmacy. I then dissolve a Tablespoon of sugar/ppo of oils in the aloe juice.

 

[mommycarlson]

I haven't made soap with it, but I've butchered a few deer which makes me ask "How's it smell?"

If it's really gamey, I'd expect it to come through to the finished soap the way lard does - especially at 50%.

BG, the rendered tallow is virtually odorless. I am hoping to make a batch today and see how it comes out. I don't have any lard smell with any of my soaps and I soap with lard at 50%. So we'll see how the deer tallow comes out.

I still can't figure out how to multi-quote a message

 

[SaltedFig]

Hi mommycarlson,

I still can't figure out how to multi-quote a message :sad:

To multi-quote:

Step 1:
Click the plus sign, on the bottom right hand side of your page for each one of the posts you would like to include in your multi quote.


Step 2:
When you get to the last post you would like to include, click the quote button instead.


From there, you can add your own text into your post, as per normal.

 

[mommycarlson]

SaltedFig, that helps! I think I can now multi quote a message Thank you!

 

[mommycarlson]

I have unmolded the two deer tallow soaps this morning. I was not going to use any color but since I decided to make one batch with 75% tallow and one with 50%, I put a drop swirl of brown in the 75% and green in the 50% just so it would be easier for me to keep them straight. So here they are. They are going on the curing shelf, there is a long list of volunteer testers waiting for this soap, I may have to make more. I was thinking I'd make a 30% deer tallow soap, any suggestions on a recipe?

 

[bathgeek]

They are very pretty! No suggestion, just here to admire.

 

[Saponificarian]

How about 30% each Deer Tallow, Shea Butter and a liquid oil with 10% Coconut? I love this recipe.. I have been told Shea and lard are similar so maybe Lard instead of Shea? I have heard Shea cuts lather but my lather is great even with 10% Coconut/PKO. Another one I like is 42% Shea, 40% Tallow, 13% Chicken fat and 5% Castor. The ultimate slow tracing recipe.

 

[mommycarlson]

They are very pretty! No suggestion, just here to admire.

Thank you!

How about 30% each Deer Tallow, Shea Butter and a liquid oil with 10% Coconut? I love this recipe.. I have been told Shea and lard are similar so maybe Lard instead of Shea? I have heard Shea cuts lather but my lather is great even with 10% Coconut/PKO. Another one I like is 42% Shea, 40% Tallow, 13% Chicken fat and 5% Castor. The ultimate slow tracing recipe.

I was wondering if lard and tallow could be used together, I don't have any shea butter any more, stopped buying it in favor of lard. The 50 and 75% deer tallows both traced super slow, this morning I made a 30% deer tallow that traced much faster. Thank you for the suggestions. I will give one of them a try today.

ETA: How about this
30% deer tallow
30% lard
25% OO pomace
10% coconut
5% castor

 

[Saponificarian]

Thank you!



I was wondering if lard and tallow could be used together, I don't have any shea butter any more, stopped buying it in favor of lard. The 50 and 75% deer tallows both traced super slow, this morning I made a 30% deer tallow that traced much faster. Thank you for the suggestions. I will give one of them a try today.

ETA: How about this
30% deer tallow
30% lard
25% OO pomace
10% coconut
5% castor

This will be nice. I have a recipe like this except I used the exact percentage for Shea instead of Lard. Can’t use Lard so my go to is Shea for substitution.

 

[mommycarlson]

This will be nice. I have a recipe like this except I used the exact percentage for Shea instead of Lard. Can’t use Lard so my go to is Shea for substitution.

I think this will be my 4th test batch! thank you for your input