Finally get to use deer tallow

[Obsidian]

I was given a whole deer today and he is nice & fatty so I'll get at least a couple pounds of nice rendered tallow, possible more. All the kidney fat is intact too
I'm not sure what to do with it though. Do I make a 100% tallow bar so I can compare it to lard or do I make one of my recipes that has a % of lard in it and replace with tallow?
I only get fresh deer once a year so I need to use it wisely.

 

[savonierre]

Congrats. I would use it place of a % of the lard..

 

[eyeroll]

I agree, I'd use it as a percentage of soap since you'd have more flexibility in your final product. BUT, I have limited experience and have never used a 100% lard soap though I know some people love them.

I'm jealous, I love venison!


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[Stakie]

I would love to know how a 100% comes out.

I am so jealous that you have venison!

 

[Obsidian]

I should get enough to make at least a 1lb 100% batch and to use in a mixed oil batch. If I get time tomorrow, I will render it out then and make my soap on Thursday.
I love my 100% lard soap but I don't care much for the scent, hoping the tallow will make a milder smelling bar.

 

[judymoody]

I have used elk tallow. When you render it, if you use a bit of salt or baking powder or fresh herbs (my garden is covered with mint and rosemary) it will cut the meaty smell. You may have to heat and strain a couple of times. Use low temperatures. It makes beautiful soap. I used it at 50% of my recipe, if I remember correctly.

 

[Obsidian]

I use salt when I render but I wonder about infusing the tallow with lemon thyme for the 100% bar? I have a huge patch of lemon thyme I've been wanting to try in soap but I'm not sure it will behave.

 

[neeners]

I have zero experience with rendering fats, but lemon thyme soap sounds heavenly!

 

[Yooper]

I don't use salt or water when I render, as I have been using the oven. It works great.

I have done lots of different things with deer tallow- from 12% up to 100%. I love it! It makes a nice hard bar that feels creamy and gentle.

I have one 100% deer tallow soap that used only homebrewed stout for the liquid (boiled to de-alcohol it as well as decarbonate it), and it is one of my all time favorite bars!

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I don't use salt or water when I render, as I have been using the oven. It works great.

I have done lots of different things with deer tallow- from 12% up to 100%. I love it! It makes a nice hard bar that feels creamy and gentle.

I have one 100% deer tallow soap that used only homebrewed stout for the liquid (boiled to de-alcohol it as well as decarbonate it), and it is one of my all time favorite bars!

I would like to more about this oven method. :?

 

[Obsidian]

Looks like I might have around 4lbs of tallow. I'll finish rendering today and know for sure. I'm planing a coffee soap for my daughter and a 100% bar for me. Can't wait to see how it is.

 

[Yooper]

For oven rendering, I just chop up the tallow a bit. It melts better if you can grind it, but my meat grinder clogs badly with tallow, so I chop it up into smaller pieces.

I stick it in the oven at 300 and then check on it every once in a while. I use an old fashioned potato masher to smoosh it up more. I pour off the melted fat into heat-proof tupperware, through cheesecloth so it's nice and clean and without chunks.

This works so well that I rarely re-render.

For beer tallow, I fill some old ice cube trays with the melted tallow as we use it for frying/cooking instead of other oils so I take them out of the ice cube trays when hard and stick them in ziploc bags and stick them in the freezer.

For the deer tallow, since I only use it for soap, I freeze it in those long tupperware containers as is.

I really like the oven method instead of doing it on top of the stove.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Thanks Yooper I have not enjoyed rendering tallow but I have deer and elk fat to waste . Maybe I should try again!

 

[Obsidian]

I made a 2lb batch of 100% deer tallow today. I did infuse it with fresh lemon thyme just for fun. It took quite a long time to trace but once it started, it went fairly fast. I also gelled very fast and very hot, it over heated and started to crack within 30 minutes of being covered with a towel. I uncovered it and it cooled down but still gelled all the way through.
It also got hard very fast, I unmolded it within 8 hours, it was still hot to the touch but completely saponified and hard. It was so hard, it almost broke the wire on my cheese cutter.
The lather is quite nice and feels very slick and smooth, better then castile or lard. I superfatted at 8% and even though its only a few hours old, it made my hands soft. I can't wait to try it in 4 weeks.
It does smell like deer but that seems to be fading. The fat came from a young buck so it wasn't gamey, if it would have been from a older deer, it would need to have scent added. I can faintly smell the lemon thyme but that too seems to be fading. The tallow was a very nice white, with the herbs the finished bars are a pale greenish. Wish I had some lemongrass scent, it would have went fabulous with the color.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

I have read this post twice now, and i am very interested in learning to work with wild game tallow. I have used beef tallow before, but it has been so long that i dont think i have a recipe anymore. If my husband and i are blessed enough to get an animal this year, how do we harvest the fat? I mean, we will have the local butcher butcher it, i assume that they can save the fat for me? Once they have done that, how do i render it to use it for soaps? and then do any of you have any suggestions for recipes? thank you so much for your time

 

[Yooper]

I have read this post twice now, and i am very interested in learning to work with wild game tallow. I have used beef tallow before, but it has been so long that i dont think i have a recipe anymore. If my husband and i are blessed enough to get an animal this year, how do we harvest the fat? I mean, we will have the local butcher butcher it, i assume that they can save the fat for me? Once they have done that, how do i render it to use it for soaps? and then do any of you have any suggestions for recipes? thank you so much for your time

I've never used a butcher for deer, but I assume that can easily save the fat for your.

I had one deer last year (a buck) that had very little fat on him, but if you get a nice fat doe you will have some fat to work with.

If it's at the butcher's anyway, have him grind the fat for you. It makes it melt (render) much more easily and uniformly. If not, chop it up and then render it by melting it down. Then once it's melted, strain it through a double layer of cheesecloth to get out the meaty stuff. You can re-render it if you didn't get it really clean the first time.

Some do it in a pan on the stove, and some have found using water works well. I did that, and it's true that the fat did come to the top and float after cooling, but it still was a bit yucky on the bottom. I've found that for me, rendering it in the oven in my turkey roasting pot works best for me. I just put it in there, and wait and mash it up with a potato masher if the bigger pieces don't want to melt. Then, I pour off the fat through the cheesecloth and put it back in the oven if there is more to go. Then I store the tallow in the freezer.

 

[Obsidian]

I put my fat into the food processor, it chops it nice and fine for rendering. I use water and boil the fat then strain through cheese cloth. Once its cooled, I rinse the solid fat under cool water and boil it a second time with fresh water.
I might try the oven method next time, sounds easier.

Ask who ever cleans the deer to save the kidney fat too.

 

[dixiedragon]

So jealous! My mom hunts. We have a freezer chockful of venison but never has my mom taken a fatty deer! Boo.

 

[Robyn08]

My husband is a hunter and I'd love to make him a "hunting soap" or at least a manly scented soap with the fat from this season's deer. Any suggestions essential oils that would smell like the woods or dirt?

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[Obsidian]

You could get a pine or campfire scent but I've read that many hunters soap are scented anise. It supposed to help remove "gamey" smells, something I wish I had when I was cutting the meat.

This deer was taken during archery season, the rut hasn't started yet so he was really fatty without being smelly. I'd really like some doe fat though, it would be even milder.