Deer Tallow?

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I just rendered about 1 1/2 lbs of deer tallow. Wondering if anyone can tell me about it's qualities in soap? I usually use beef tallow or lard, and see that the numbers aren't too different, so I am assuming that overall my soap "should" be along the same lines. Am I right?

 

[judymoody]

There's a sap value for it on soapcalc.net if you want to use it in a recipe.

In rendered form, deer tallow seems harder and more brittle. However, I don't soap with animal fats except for game meat tallow so I'm not in a position to make an informed comparison with pig lard or beef tallow.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Thanks Judy. I save the fat from the hogs and beef when we butcher and render that down, so thought that I would do the same from deer season. Didn't get very much, but didn't want it to go to waste.

 

[mbaldwin]

the deer tallow I rendered was much harder than the lard I use, but my lard is store bought. My deer tallow soap is curing right now, so I do not have a way of making a comparison in soap quite yet. I made the same recipe, one with lard, and one with deer tallow. I got about 750 g from one deer, and that was not even all the fat in that deer.

Michael

 

[Obsidian]

I have both a 100% lard bars and 100% deer tallow bars so I just did a comparison between them. They have similar creamy, some what slimy lather without much bubbles. The lard had more bubbles and a bit more slip but the deer feels more conditioning. The deer is very hard and brittle and has a slight gamey odor even after 3 months of curing.
I do love lard in soap but I think the deer would be slightly better, especially if you are looking to create a nice gentle bar. I wish I still have some deer left so I could make a facial bar.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Thanks for you assessment Obsidian and mbaldwin. I didn't save all the fat, the cats got some of that mixed the more tissue than I wanted to mess with. I did notice while rendering how brittle the tallow is. There is a gamey scent to it but not too much. Most of the fat came from a very fat doe, the buck didn't have any spare fat on his ribs. The meat is very tender and does not have a gamey flavor, in fact it hardly has a deer flavor at all. Probably due to the fact the deer eat the same feed the cattle eat here. So, based on that, I am crossing my fingers the soap doesn't smell too gamey. I think I ended up with about 1 1/2 lbs total. If I like it I will see about getting more next year. This should be enough to test a small batch or 2.

 

[Obsidian]

I'm hoping I can get more fat next season, it would be great if I could get it from a doe instead of a buck. Your fat sounds wonderful, I bet it will have very little scent.
I've been meaning to rebatch mine to add scent to it but I've actually been slowly adding the bars into other rebatch to improve my mess ups. I only have 3 100% deer bars left and I've decided to use them as is for facial bars. They clean well without making my skin tight and I only notice the scent while washing.
I don't know if your family or friends hunt bear but if you can ever get your hands on bear fat, grab all you can. I was given some VERY old bear tallow and it makes amazing soap. Unfortunately its stale and going rancid so I can't use the soap but at least I got to test a new fat.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Very few bears in Kansas, at least not enough to have a season on them. Won't say none because I believe I have heard there are bears in every state. I will have to try it if I ever get my hands on some.

 

[Obsidian]

I've seen it for sale on the net but I can't remember where. I'm going to hit up the local butchers and see if they will save me some fat next season.
I just checked on my bear bars. I shouldn't have said they are rancid, they do smell unpleasent but its from sitting in the freezer for 25 years. No DOS and the stale, freezer burned smell is starting to fade. I may eventually be able to use them for hand soap in the kitchen. Might even rebatch and add some scent, see if that helps.

They produce the most bubbles of any 100% animal fat I've tried yet. Very hard bars but not brittle at all, more waxy like lard. Seems to be fairly conditioning. I would be happy to use this in place of lard in all my soaps.