Lard and Tallow

[CatahoulaBubble]

So I've been thinking about adding lard and tallow to one of my recipes and seeing how it performs. I found lard for $1/lb at my local grocery so I bought a bunch of it mainly to make pie crusts but since I have plenty left over in my freezer I figured why not use it in soap. I can't seem to find a reasonable source of tallow. The grocery store has it but it's $8 for 8 oz so that's not exactly reasonable to use it in soap. Does anyone have a favorite place they like to purchase lard and tallow from and what's the general price range I should expect to find it for?

 

[cmzaha]

I buy Beef Shortening in 50lb cubes from Smart & Final but I do not know if you have something like a Smart & Final. Soapers Choice sells Tallow. I love Tallow/Lard at 40/27%. It makes a really nice creamy soap using a low superfat.

 

[Catscankim]

So I've been thinking about adding lard and tallow to one of my recipes and seeing how it performs. I found lard for $1/lb at my local grocery so I bought a bunch of it mainly to make pie crusts but since I have plenty left over in my freezer I figured why not use it in soap. I can't seem to find a reasonable source of tallow. The grocery store has it but it's $8 for 8 oz so that's not exactly reasonable to use it in soap. Does anyone have a favorite place they like to purchase lard and tallow from and what's the general price range I should expect to find it for?

I love lard in my soaps. Almost all of my soap are lard bars. I just made a bunch of vegan bars...but my lard bars are the best.

BTW i dont call myself vegetarian anymore, but i used to be 100% for about 20 years, now just fish, maybe some chicken once in a while. So it kinda hurt my soul to use lard in the beginning lol.

Lard rocks in soap lol.

 

[The_Phoenix]

I buy Beef Shortening in 50lb cubes from Smart & Final but I do not know if you have something like a Smart & Final. Soapers Choice sells Tallow. I love Tallow/Lard at 40/27%. It makes a really nice creamy soap using a low superfat.

I bought mine at Smart & Final, too. Fantastic prices!

 

[The_Phoenix]

I love lard in my soaps. Almost all of my soap are lard bars. I just made a bunch of vegan bars...but my lard bars are the best.

BTW i dont call myself vegetarian anymore, but i used to be 100% for about 20 years, now just fish, maybe some chicken once in a while. So it kinda hurt my soul to use lard in the beginning lol.

Lard rocks in soap lol.

Lard is my favorite soap fat. The creaminess it adds to soap is lovely.

 

[cmzaha]

I just cannot use over 27% lard or I end up with dos issues which is how I came up with my 40/27% split with 16-18% CO/PKO split.

 

[bookreader451]

I love lard in soap and if you want a lard - tallow mix that makes a great soap try Walmart great value shortening with tallow and lard. It does have a small amount of soy but I haven't had any issues with it at all. Makes a very nice bar of soap. I was pretty shocked by just how good.

 

[Virgogoddess]

So I've been thinking about adding lard and tallow to one of my recipes and seeing how it performs. I found lard for $1/lb at my local grocery so I bought a bunch of it mainly to make pie crusts but since I have plenty left over in my freezer I figured why not use it in soap. I can't seem to find a reasonable source of tallow. The grocery store has it but it's $8 for 8 oz so that's not exactly reasonable to use it in soap. Does anyone have a favorite place they like to purchase lard and tallow from and what's the general price range I should expect to find it for?

Soapers Choice is my favorite!

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I love lard in soap and if you want a lard - tallow mix that makes a great soap try Walmart great value shortening with tallow and lard. It does have a small amount of soy but I haven't had any issues with it at all. Makes a very nice bar of soap. I was pretty shocked by just how good.

I boycott walmart so that won't work for me but I will look around for something similar.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I love lard in soap and if you want a lard - tallow mix that makes a great soap try Walmart great value shortening with tallow and lard. It does have a small amount of soy but I haven't had any issues with it at all. Makes a very nice bar of soap. I was pretty shocked by just how good.

I agree 100% on this shortening making great soap, but I haven’t seen it anywhere except Walmart. When I was first testing recipes with tallow, I ordered it from ED via Amazon. As I recall, it worked out to a reasonable price for a smallish container. I really like a lard/tallow combination soap.

p.s. in case anyone else wants to try the Walmart shortening with tallow, I estimated an FA profile and NaOH sap, here.

 

[Angie Gail]

I use 30% lard in my goat milk soaps and they are so nice and creamy

 

[earlene]

I boycott walmart so that won't work for me but I will look around for something similar.

Walmart does not manufacture the shortening; like many large chain stores, they source it from other manufactures and have their label put on the product. They buy food products from ConAgra Foods (Manteca Lard) as well as other manufacturers (Sarah Lee). Usually the manufacturer's name does not appear on the container, but here is one that does show it:

Which suggests that if you can find the company that manufactures the tallow, lard & soy shortening that Walmart purchases from, then you can find other sources for that product.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Walmart_brands#Great_Valuehttps://www.conagrabrands.com/brands
I do not know if it is ConAgra Foods that makes the GV shortening, but the second link above includes brands under the ConAgra Foods manufacture, so it's a place to start if you want to find that shortening.

But, I think it would be easier to find an online source and have Tallow delivered to you. I like Soapers Choice for my soaping oils, but I live in the same state, so shipping is not bad at all for me. Even so, the price for 7 pounds of tallow there is lower than anywhere else I have seen. You may find that even with shipping factored in, you may find this a good option. Do you use Amazon? Etsy? Ebay? They all have listings for Tallow, some with no added shipping. Or you could look on this link at the Guild for lists of suppliers and you might find one closer to Seattle.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

So another question, is there any combination of other oils that don't work well with the lard or tallow? My preferred soap recipe is a bit complicated. I know I know I should simplify it but when it comes to the properties I wanted I played with recipes for more than 10 years to get just the right combination but I have to admit I didn't use tallow or lard ever in my recipes simply because I didn't have easy access to it. It wasn't even really a consideration at the time. I was thinking of replacing the palm oil with the tallow and lard but also considered replacing the palm kernel flakes as well.

My normal recipe contains the following
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Palm Kernel Flakes
Avocado Oil
Sweet Almond Oil,
Castor Oil
Cocoa Butter
Shea Butter

Of course I will use a soap calculator on the recipe but would any of the listed oils conflict with the Tallow or Lard if replace the palm and palm kernel flakes with the tallow/lard?

 

[dibbles]

I've used all of those fats with lard, and all but shea butter and PKO with a lard/tallow blend. No problems.

 

[Cleanliving]

Soapers Choice is my favorite!

I bake my bacon on wire racks and then save the lard in a jar in the freezer until I have enough to use in soap making. Very old fashioned to be so thrifty, but why throw it away? I also like the creamy white bars of soap that the lard produces. Also Crisco makes a pkged pure lard to make pie crust.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I use lard in my soap as well & i've got a S&F close to me when I run out i'm gonna be picking some up, now do I choose the beef & lard tallow or just lard? decisions decisions' lol i've never used beef tallow? from reading your post may try the combo... I do make a Vegan soap' but its not near as nice as my other soap w/ lard IMHO.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don’t use PKO, but have probably use all of the others together in some recipe at some time. if I’m going to run into challenges, it’s usually with palm. I find lard to be incredibly forgiving and lard/tallow almost as easy.

 

[linne1gi]

So another question, is there any combination of other oils that don't work well with the lard or tallow? My preferred soap recipe is a bit complicated. I know I know I should simplify it but when it comes to the properties I wanted I played with recipes for more than 10 years to get just the right combination but I have to admit I didn't use tallow or lard ever in my recipes simply because I didn't have easy access to it. It wasn't even really a consideration at the time. I was thinking of replacing the palm oil with the tallow and lard but also considered replacing the palm kernel flakes as well.

My normal recipe contains the following
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Palm Kernel Flakes
Sweet Almond Oil,
Castor Oil
Cocoa Butter
Shea Butter

Of course I will use a soap calculator on the recipe but would any of the listed oils conflict with the Tallow or Lard if replace the palm and palm kernel flakes with the tallow/lard?

Palm Kernel Oil Flakes and Coconut Oil have very similar properties - so you could probably use one or the other. Lard is much easier to obtain, IMO, because it's readily available at any grocery store. Tallow is harder, at least for me, to get ahold of. I have to order it online. I would definitely like to simplify that recipe - yes, I have used 8 oils/butters, but only when I want to use stuff up!

 

[earlene]

Although CO & PKO both have similar properties, the PKO is generally more expensive. So sometimes mixing both in a recipe might be a cost savings. But usually, I also prefer to use only one of them in a recipe.

For me, since I don't like (my skin doesn't like) high cleansing values (dries my skin out too much), I don't use as much & it's all for me & my family, so the cost isn't as big a factor. What is the biggest factor when choosing which to use is accessibility - do I have it and how long will it take to get more? CO is easier to come by if I want to make soap this week and don't have either.

As for what not to use with lard or tallow; I have not read anywhere that there are normal soapmaking oils that cannot be used together, so I don't think there are any no-no's when it comes to that. It's not like medications where you can't take this med at the same time you take that med. It's more about what proportions of each works best rather than an either/or situation when it comes to designing a recipe.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Palm Kernel Oil Flakes and Coconut Oil have very similar properties - so you could probably use one or the other. Lard is much easier to obtain, IMO, because it's readily available at any grocery store. Tallow is harder, at least for me, to get ahold of. I have to order it online. I would definitely like to simplify that recipe - yes, I have used 8 oils/butters, but only when I want to use stuff up!

I actually use the PKO to offset the drying nature of the coconut oil. I've tried the recipe without it and I just didn't get the feel I wanted. I know, my recipe is more complicated than most but I've tinkered with it quite a bit to get what I wanted from my soap.