Haunted by lard/tallow

[dibbles]

@Cjennmom I am afraid I will stand by my statement that using weights rather than volume measurements and a soap calculator is a better choice. I am glad your soap turned out well, and it's cool to read about how soap was made historically, but we've learned a lot since colonial times.

 

[Arimara]

To cmzaha and dibbles: The book is about colonial type stuff and only the single bar recipe has that type of measurements. The basic full size recipe and all others is measured in lbs., oz, and tsp. (tsp. for essential oils). I've made 3 recipes out of this book not counting the single bar experiment. I used lard instead of tallow because it's what I have available here. Two of them are already cured and in use; the third (a lard/olive oil castile soap) is only a week or so away from cured and already looks fantastic. So far everyone who's used them likes them. My mother takes extra bars into her classroom (messy subject) and the home ec teacher there likes it too.

Please believe me when I say the others don't mean you harm; We want you to be safe. I gave you the suggestion as it is the only way to see what kind of superfat you may be getting by using measuring tools instead of using weights. the advantage of knowing the weights of what you are using for your recipe is that you would be better able to make a consistently safe , well superfatted batch of soap.

While you may be able to guarantee the quality of your water or even you lard, you cannot always be so sure with the granules of NaOH you are using as that is the most variable ingredient we use. The danger comes in here when you measure by volume- every heaping tbsp of NaOH is not going to have the same consistent weight. it can take one time for you to make a batch that may be lye-heavy and none of us want that for you or anyone else.

So yeah, we want you to enjoy your soap be we want to caution you to play it safe, get your white lab coat, black gloves and goggles and have fun soaping (you don't need the lab coat).

 

[Relle]

Oh, my, @John Harris -- you have never made friends with a pig. I grew up with purebred Yorkshire hogs and can assure you they would rather bathe in fresh water than lie in mud and they certainly can appreciate the finer things in life. When I was 10, I showed a gilt (young female pig) for my grandpa at the county fair. I had to bathe and groom her and teach her how to stand in the ring for the judge, so she became friendly and tame toward me. For years after that, Rebecca (the pig) would see me in the barnyard and come over to say hi and ask for a tummy scratch.

DeeAnna, while I 've never had the interaction like you with piggies, I've always believed them to be very smart and sensitive.

 

[Gaisy59]

I too believe that the only reason animals like to wallow in dirt is because people corral them in such places. Animals are not as dumb as we make them out to be.

 

[Dahila]

Simply, yes, as far as emu oil is concerned. $95 approx for 500 ml , or $180 a litre. Run awayyyyy.

Kangaroo oil, as far as I know is not accessible, I don't think I'd like to use Skippy anyway. Skippy was a Kangaroo in a kids tv show when we were growing up, everyone watched it. Soon as you said Kangaroo oil, I thought of poor Skippy. I doubt anyone here would use it, if it was available.

so it is as expensive as in Canada

Actually pigs are not dirty animals, they have no choice, and another thing they are more intelligent, than dogs

 

[TheGecko]

I too believe that the only reason animals like to wallow in dirt is because people corral them in such places. Animals are not as dumb as we make them out to be.

Animals wallow in dirt and mud to protect their skin from the sun and insects.

 

[Gaisy59]

Animals wallow in dirt and mud to protect their skin from the sun and insects.

Oh absolutely, but when the dont have much room to move that mud also includes their own feces if the pen is not kept clean.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

It was once suggested in a book I was reading that if I want to know what kind of animal I was in a previous lifetime, to ask the question before going to sleep. I did so. The next morning I awoke to this answer: pig (intelligence), peacock (pride), and elephant (strong memory). True or not, kinda fun to think about.

TIP: Oakmoss neutralizes the odor of lard & tallow in soap.

Short story: My friend, Nancy the nurse, had a mother who was also a nurse... neo-natal as it turns out. Back in the day, she said they cleaned newborns with lard.

 

[Kcryss]

I tried my hand at rendering lard a few days ago and used it today for a batch of soap at 25% lard. When washing up after, all I could smell was a horrible smell from the soap in the crock. Will that go away after curing? I'm really hoping that it does. Please someone lie to me and tell me it will go away ...

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I tried my hand at rendering lard a few days ago and used it today for a batch of soap at 25% lard. When washing up after, all I could smell was a horrible smell from the soap in the crock. Will that go away after curing? I'm really hoping that it does. Please someone lie to me and tell me it will go away ...

I’ve made many batches of soap using lard, but only one unscented batch (80% lard, 20% coconut oil) for a soap comparison. As far as I can tell, the lard smell is getting stronger as it ages.

 

[Kcryss]

I’ve made many batches of soap using lard, but only one unscented batch (80% lard, 20% coconut oil) for a soap comparison. As far as I can tell, the lard smell is getting stronger as it ages.

Oh no! That doesn't sound good!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Oh no! That doesn't sound good!

Maybe others will chime in with more optimistic projections .

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Oh no! That doesn't sound good!

TIP: Oakmoss neutralizes the odor of lard & tallow in soap.
Funny story: When I first made tallow & lard soaps I gave them away to friends. An old high school classmate said she loved the feel of the tallow soap but it smelled like she was showering in hamburger! LOL

ETA: Here's a link for more info:
Use Oakmoss to Offset the Odor of Lard & Tallow

 

[Kcryss]

TIP: Oakmoss neutralizes the odor of lard & tallow in soap.
Funny story: When I first made tallow & lard soaps I gave them away to friends. An old high school classmate said she loved the feel of the tallow soap but it smelled like she was showering in hamburger! LOL

lol, that's hilarious! Sooo ... good to know. Tallow stinks too then huh? Bummer. Will try the Oakmoss though since I have 5lbs of beef fat waiting for me an hour away from here. I really appreciate the tip. My hands still smell like animal ... I can't get the smell to go away. Maybe lemon and salt will work. lol

 

[lenarenee]

I had an old school mate who wanted my soap decline cuz I use lard (I knew she would-she asked to buy some and I knew that is the first thing I needed to tell her). her reason was that all the chemicals etc are stored in fat and she didn't want that on her skin. I don't know if this is a real thing or not but I just told her I respected her point of view.

Wouldn’t she be surprised to know that plants store the pollutants they “clean” from the air in their cells? So eating vegetarian isn’t as clean as people think.

 

[CA.Kim]

Lenarenee, ha, ha, ha! Purists are so legalistic.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I like lard soap but I don't use it regularly because I don't have a good source for it. I don't want factory farmed pork so I try to buy from local farmers who slaughter their own pigs but I don't have a reliable source for it. I usually can get about 30lbs of it in the fall when they butcher but then I'm in a dearth for the rest of the year. I've also found that most consumers are squicky about buying soaps made from animal fats so I tend to just keep the animal fat soap for family, friends, and myself.

 

[Quilter99755]

I used this thread for getting the smell out of my tallow. I had rendered the tallow without water and it really had a "roasty" smell. After cooking it three more times there was absolutely no smell in the tallow at all, and neither batches of soap came out with any tallow smell. One of the batches was made with no FO or EO's

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/rendering-tallow-does-it-smell-bad.52475/

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Quilter99755 Well done! Did you use salt in the water?

 

[Quilter99755]

Salt and some baking soda. There was a reaction but I was prepared for it by lionprincess00 post #17. Also found a YouTube that showed the reaction....can't seem to find that at this moment. It was cool in my garage so just set the pan out there and I rinsed off the debris that was stuck on the bottom side of the tallow. Easy peasy. Am in love with the soap.