Hold my hand as we explore the pigpen...(lard soap)

[Candybee]

I wondered about Manteca when I saw it for sale but it had so many ingredients in it I didn't think it could be used like lard.

How's that soap turning out for you and do you just put lard in the soap calculator?

Manteca lard is pure rendered lard with added BHA and BHT as preservatives. Thats all that is in it. I'm sure that has to do with it being a product expected to have a longer shelf life. I would rather have a store bought lard with preservatives in it knowing it will last longer without going rancid. You want pure lard with no preservatives you would have to render it yourself and use it much quicker.

As I mentioned, the lard soap I make I have been making for years and it is one of my best sellers. If you haven't tried a lard or tallow soap you are missing out. It makes the creamiest soap that feels so good on your skin.

I don't know what the big deal is about a "piggy" smell as most people don't detect any odor. I know because I have been selling it for years. But because there are people who are sensitive to it or just plain don't like it I also offer all veggie and vegan soaps.

All I am saying is try it yourself before you judge it based on others opinions.

 

[DeeAnna]

Some commercial lard is hydrogenated to further increase its shelf life. Yes, use it just like "normal" lard in SoapCalc. Yep, it's no big deal to use; it makes fine soap with no surprises.

 

[MirandaH]

I have a whole thread about a lard soap that I made from a recipe that Hazel gave me. The recipe and Hazel's permission for anyone to use it is in the thread here http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=41495, as is my discussion about how much I love it. I was a little nervous to try it myself, as it was only my second batch of soap that I had made. I don't notice a piggy smell in it (It was unscented) but when I opened the lard to make another batch, and then smelled it again, I could smell it, but it was very light and nothing that turned my stomach. To be honest, the soap smelled like...well, soap! The piggy smell, was not what I would have ever labeled as a piggy smell, until I stuck my nose in the lard bucket and smelled again. However, I am not a vegetarian and I don't know what difference that would make to my sniffer.

Also, I have another thread somewhere on some feared DOS that I found on one of the bars, but it turned out, after further inspection that the DOS was actually just soap abuse and I confiscated the bars that were left at this person's house, lol. It's okay. He wasn't nearly as offended as I was and won't use the soap because it is bar soap. Whatev...

All in all, I LOVE my lard soap and use it now, every day. I love the way it makes my skin feel. I say go for it and keep us posted on what you think.

 

[ca_soap]

I use a lot of lard in my soaps, nearly every recipe I have incorporates lard into it with exception of a few. I am blessed to have a meat processor close to me where I get my lard which has been fresh processed and I get it in quantity cheap. I also do a lot of baking by the way and fresh lard beats store bought lard hands down, I will put my pie crust up against anyone's. Fresh lard has none of the additives/preservatives you find in store bought lards. I do keep it refrigerated as a precaution and it doesn't sit long before being used up. it can be frozen for long term storage as well. I have soaps that are 2-3 years old that were made with fresh lard and they have no signs of rancidity, no orange spots, nothing and they are great soaps to use. We just have to understand, we can have problems with any ingredients, they all have their own characteristics but it seems that anytime a soap that was made with lard or tallow has a problem people instantly point their finger at the lard or tallow and never look any further. I have never had a customer say anything about any off smells, piggy smells or anything of the like. I have one customer said that my unscented bar which is 75% lard and 25% coconut oil and 5% superfat smells like the big pink erasers that kids use in school. I had never put the two together but after he said that I agree with him that any scent at all does favor that. I also make a laundry bar that is 100% lard with 0% superfat, I can't tell where it smells any different than my unscented bar. Go forth boldly, whether you use store bought or fresh, I believe you will be surprised.

 

[lsg]

*gasps*
You use your leaf lard for soaping?

I use whatever lard is handy, it is my belief that since leaf lard does not come from around the intestines, it doesn't carry as much odor.

"Leaf lard is the highest grade of lard (lard is pork fat, the term is usually used to refer to rendered pork fat suitable for cooking). It comes from the visceral - or "soft" - fat from around the kidneys and loin of the pig. It lacks any real pork or meaty flavor, making it an excellent neutral-flavored cooking fat with a high smoking point."

http://localfoods.about.com/od/porkrecipes/qt/What-Is-Leaf-Lard.htm

 

[ilovesoap2]

lsg I'm just jealous
I love it for baking/cooking and cannot find it often enough.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I also made a lard soap, 45% but then I used a mix of EOs that I haven't used before so I can't be 100% sure if it smells a little bit lardy or it's just the EO combination. Either way, it's not a problem at all.

I do think that next time I would use less, I think I'll go for 40% max from now now on.

 

[Happysoap]

I have not used lard yet. Can't seem to cross that bridge. But I have used tallow which I have rendered myself and my final soap has absolutely no animal smell. Just the regular soapy oily smell. Here is my secret, my melting temp for rendering tallow never goes above 60C (it is recommended not to go over 70C, I don't know how many that is in F). It takes a bit longer to render completely. When I melt the tallow for soapmaking I melt it just enough for it to actually melt and I immediately take the oils off the heat and CP the whole thing. Even the 100% tallow soap.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

:grin::grin::grin:I want to use fat from sleigh animals in Lapland, but I don't know how to reindeer it..................

 

[Happysoap]

There are a lot of tutorials online to help you but there is no substitute for experience. Rendering tallow and lard is the same process. Be prepared for a few ruined batches. This is the method I use and works great for me (I hate seeing fat, I hate touching it, but for the love of soap I put up with it). I use my oven for melting. I find that for me it is the best way to control the temp. Cut your fat into small pieces. The smaller the better. Best is if you can get the butcher to put it through the meat grinder. I put the fat into the biggest baking metal pan I have and add some hot water. Enough to almost cover the fat. Also, about 2tbs of salt per kg. Leave the whole thing in the oven at about 50-60C for a looooooooooooong time eg. overnight. Drain and there you have it. Simple, no touching the fat, no smell, no real work either

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Sorry, Happysoap - it was a play on words.......................... but thanks for the info, it is a nice clear method

 

[MzMolly65]

I will put my pie crust up against anyone's.

You'll have to send me a pie sample so I can be the judge of that .. :shifty:

 

[ilovesoap2]

There are a lot of tutorials online to help you but there is no substitute for experience. Rendering tallow and lard is the same process. Be prepared for a few ruined batches. This is the method I use and works great for me (I hate seeing fat, I hate touching it, but for the love of soap I put up with it). I use my oven for melting. I find that for me it is the best way to control the temp. Cut your fat into small pieces. The smaller the better. Best is if you can get the butcher to put it through the meat grinder. I put the fat into the biggest baking metal pan I have and add some hot water. Enough to almost cover the fat. Also, about 2tbs of salt per kg. Leave the whole thing in the oven at about 50-60C for a looooooooooooong time eg. overnight. Drain and there you have it. Simple, no touching the fat, no smell, no real work either

Wow Happysoap!
Thanks for posting this. I had no idea. I use it on my skin also and
although the smell does not linger I always wish there was a way to
take care of it than adding my lavender oil. Can't wait to try it this way.

uugh...looks like the lowest my oven will go is 77C

 

[dixiedragon]

You'll have to send me a pie sample so I can be the judge of that .. :shifty:

My mom recently tried making her chicken and dumplings with lard instead of Crisco and OMG AMAZING. Tons and tons of beautiful, perfect fluffy dumplings.

My soap is about 45% lard and I don't notice a smell, even in my unscented bars. A trick I learned here is not to heat the lard directly. melt your coconut oils, etc, turn off the heat and put in the lard. It stops the oils from smelling bacon-y. I definitely notice a difference in the smell of the soap batter, but I only made unscented lard soap recently. It just smells soapy to me.

 

[newbie]

I agree with Dixie. I have used lard and I could sometimes smell it in the soap but it seemed like it was a heat issue- melting it. If you heat it too much, I swear it smells more in the soap.

Now I use beef tallow instead of lard. I can never smell anything, but I don't have a super sensitive nose.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I use lard at 40-60% of my oils. If my lard gets too warm it does have a pork meat scent, but like DeeAnna, my idea of "piggy" is what a pig or it's home smells like. My soap does not smell like a pig-pen or a pork chop, it smells like soap.

Soap-rat you said you found that the hotel soap had sodium tallowate in it. From what I have seen/read, most commercial soap does contain sodium tallowate.

My DH didn't like the "soap" smell of my soaps until I started using lard and tallow. He calls it the "lye smell" that he noticed with the all veggie soaps. As soon as I started with lard/tallow he started using my soap (peppermint scented). Others have told me that they prefer the soap with an animal fat, even when they didn't realize what was different between the various bars.

I also use lard in my thick salve/lotion that I smear on my dry hands and feet. No more cracked heels.

So try tallow or lard. Not everyone likes it, but I can't imagine doing without it. Good thing I have access to it and can render my own, considering how much I use.

 

[soap_rat]

I really appreciate everyone's input! I read the comments about not letting the lard get too hot and figured I'd soap at room-temp. BUT, no one seems to prevent gel in their lard soaps, so even if I keep the lard cool until saponification, it's going to get hot during gel! I don't understand! (I'll try it though)

I'm off to the meat market tomorrow to get cat food ingredients, and I know they sell the buckets of lard (if they had tallow I think I'd rather try that). They also get their pork from a processing plant about 30 miles away, so if I were hard-core I could see about getting some fresh fat and render it myself!

Oh, and I called Columbus Foods/Soaper's Choice, their lard has BHA, citric acid and TBHQ to prevent rancidity

 

[Happysoap]

Wow Happysoap!
Thanks for posting this. I had no idea. I use it on my skin also and
although the smell does not linger I always wish there was a way to
take care of it than adding my lavender oil. Can't wait to try it this way.

uugh...looks like the lowest my oven will go is 77C

You are welcome, ilovesoap Here is another two cents worth. The lowest setting my oven has is 75C. That is what is written on the turning dial. But I realized that if I turn the dial slowly from off position towards 75C there is a short quiet "click" sound and my over actually turns on right around where 50C would be if it was written on the dial. Its a newer model with a flat top. Maybe yours does the same thing. Try it.

 

[dixiedragon]

I really appreciate everyone's input! I read the comments about not letting the lard get too hot and figured I'd soap at room-temp. BUT, no one seems to prevent gel in their lard soaps, so even if I keep the lard cool until saponification, it's going to get hot during gel! I don't understand! (I'll try it though)

That's a really good question. I myself always try to gel. TBH, I really have no idea of overheating the lard affects the final product at all. That would be an interesting series of experiments!

If you decide to render your own lard or tallow, my suggestion would be to do a small batch the first time. I got a bunch of suet scraps and got overeager and tried to render a whole lot. When you are dealing with raw meat and hot fat and cooking in a crockpot for days at a time, that's just a lot to handle! Next time I plan to try the oven method I've seen described here, but I plan to start with no more than 2 lbs of suet scraps.

I only do the beef tallow b/c ever so often I get a wild hair to soap with tallow, and that's the only way I can get it. Really, I think lard is a better choice for soaping.