Lard Recipe

[FrayGrants]

I want to make a lard soap as I have used it in the past and I liked the qualities that it gave my soap, other than the smell.

I was thinking of doing a bar with 75% lard, 20 CO, and 5 castor. Does that sound pretty good?

Finally what is the trace time like on a high lard bar as I might throw in some different colors if it isn’t too fast.

Just let me know, Thanks!!!

 

[AliOop]

That's one of my very favorite recipes! Lard is super slow-tracing, so unless you are working at high temps, or using a naughty FO, you should have plenty of time to make any design you'd like. Show us how it turns out, please!

 

[FrayGrants]

I didn’t know that it was a common recipe. I just chucked some values into the old soapcalc. I almost always use 5 castor and I usually don’t go very high on coconut, but I figured that the lard would offset it.

Glad to hear that it is already an established recipe. I will give it a go and I will post some pics, but don’t expect much as my design skills aren’t great.

I often just throw some colors in there and hope for the best, but somehow it always turns out nice because I am not going for any particular design.

I don’t think design will ever be my thing and I am completely okay with that, because they always turn out better than I expected, even if they’re white!!!

 

[AliOop]

I don't know that it is an "established" recipe per se, but it is one I use often. I love lard bars. I'm also not really skilled at designs. I give them a whirl in our monthly SMF challenges, but otherwise, it's mostly drop swirls or ITPS for me.

 

[Ladka]

High lard batter will give you plenty of time for any patterning and will take much of your time to make it come to trace.

 

[Carly B]

Lard soap lover here. But if you don't need the additional time lard gives you,
you might consider tallow or a lard/tallow blend. All three are wonderful.

 

[DeeAnna]

Your recipe is similar to one I like -- I normally use in the realm of 80-85% lard with the rest being coconut oil. I don't use castor, but there's no reason not to -- just my preference nowadays.

Lard tends to slow trace, all other things being equal. WIth the way I make soap, I'd expect a recipe like this to give me 15-20 minutes of working time. That's almost too long if the design I'm doing needs a thicker batter for best appearance. But I won't complain -- too much time is way better than too little!

I've found my 80-85% lard batches need a bit longer cure to really be at their best for lather. But if you have the patience to wait for these bars to "grow up" I think you'll find they're really nice.

 

[AliOop]

Agreed on the longer cure time for high-lard bars. Six weeks is minimum for me, but eight is better.

 

[Quilter99755]

I have lard in almost every soap I make. Love it. At one time I tested a bunch of FO's with a recipe of 80% lard and 20% Coconut Oil. The testing was a total bust, but it turned out the soap is now my grandson's favorite one. So once a year or so I make a whole batch just for him. Last time I sent some home with him he asked if I could cut it a little thicker. "It will fit my hand better, Grandma." So the next batch will be cut in thicker bars!

 

[DeeAnna]

A lot of the soap I make has around 50% lard plus a modest amount of coconut oil and high oleic oils like avocado and/or high oleic sunflower. This blend matures faster than the 80-85% lard recipes, which is why I take this tack. But if I'm in the mood to wait, the 80-85% lard batches are truly nice.

 

[meepocow]

A lot of the soap I make has around 50% lard plus a modest amount of coconut oil and high oleic oils like avocado and/or high oleic sunflower. This blend matures faster than the 80-85% lard recipes, which is why I take this tack. But if I'm in the mood to wait, the 80-85% lard batches are truly nice.

Curious to know some of your favourite lard combinations? And what sort of properties do you find lard gives in a bar, at what percentages for it to be perceivable? I would think 50% and above? I'm fascinated by this as an ingredient, because I sure do love it in baking lol

Lard soap lover here. But if you don't need the additional time lard gives you,
you might consider tallow or a lard/tallow blend. All three are wonderful.

A lot of the soap I make has around 50% lard plus a modest amount of coconut oil and high oleic oils like avocado and/or high oleic sunflower. This blend matures faster than the 80-85% lard recipes, which is why I take this tack. But if I'm in the mood to wait, the 80-85% lard batches are truly nice.

Curious to know some of your favourite lard combinations? And what sort of properties do you find lard gives in a bar, at what percentages for it to be perceivable? I would think 50% and above? I'm fascinated by this as an ingredient, because I sure do love it in baking lol

 

[Carly B]

Curious to know some of your favourite lard combinations? And what sort of properties do you find lard gives in a bar, at what percentages for it to be perceivable? I would think 50% and above? I'm fascinated by this as an ingredient, because I sure do love it in baking lol

I make a masterbatch with equal parts lard, tallow, coconut oil, and olive oil. With 5 - 6% castor oil added on top of that. It's higher coconut than I usually use, but my skin doesn't feel stripped after the shower. It's hubby's 2nd favorite formula (his very favorite is 40% tallow with clay) and it's really nice. Very creamy lather. I also have a lot of time with it, usually.

 

[Quilter99755]

I love the creamy lather of lard soaps. I've gone to lard, rice bran oil, and a butter, except for my grandson who likes 80% lard and 20% CO. To tell the truth, I'm not sure my old skin can tell the difference in any of the combinations that I use...just that it likes the soap. When I play with the numbers, I strive for low cleansing at 4-9, high conditioning at 50 or above and longevity above 30. I really don't pay attention to the rest of the numbers. I use sodium gluconate or sodium citrate as I have hard water and keep the super fat to 1-2% simply because it helps with the soap scum and the old pipes in my old house.

Either I don't pay enough attention or I just cannot tell the differences between my various permutations of what percentages that I use. As long as I don't have to slather on tons of lotion or have itchy skin I'm happy. I've done as low as 30% and as high as 70% for both lard and rice bran oil, usually 10% on the butter. I used to use 5-10% CO but stopped that at some point because I ran out. Sometimes I use castor oil at 5% and sometimes I don't. I'm not sure I'll buy it again when it runs out.

I would probably stick to just one recipe but read about something here and want to try it or experiment. Most of the time I can't tell the difference in the soaps, but some of the family or friends will tell me if they like one over the other. One of my daughters lives in Hawaii and she will tell me if the soaps don't last very long or turn into a puddle with all the humidity. It's just fun to experiment, too. Plus it gives me a lot of soap inventory so I am able to let it cure a long time! LOL This site is a great enabler!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I didn’t know that it was a common recipe.

Oh, there's a whole bunch of "Lardinators" on this Forum. Check out this recipe from one of the best who has been at it a looooooong time.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/uncoloured-lard-soap.87286/#post-952453

 

[mx5inpenn]

I use lard in almost every recipe at 50-60%. It makes a lovely, creamy lather. I make up the balance of my recipe with coconut, olive, avocado, and castor.

 

[Gaisy59]

If i use 50% lard plus almond oil plus a butter (whatever i have on hand) and i hot process in my slow cooker it always seems like I don’t have enough time to do a color/swirl. Am i over cooking?

 

[meepocow]

I use lard in almost every recipe at 50-60%. It makes a lovely, creamy lather. I make up the balance of my recipe with coconut, olive, avocado, and castor.

Since I'm not so patiently waiting for my bars to cure, I would love to know your thoughts on lard bars:

• How long do you cure for? This bar was at 60% lard, so I am thinking it'll be a similar length of time to cure.
• What do you superfat to when using your lard recipe?
• How do you find your skin afterwards? Do you find the bars moisturizing? I don't exactly roll around in the mud lol, so really looking for a bar that will leave my skin soft.
• Do you ever add butters like shea and cocoa?

 

[Quilter99755]

Before I had a sizable inventory of soap, I was lucky to get 3 weeks for a cure. Even with a short cure, any of my soaps were nicer than any of the commercial bars that I was using. Now I'm ahead of the game and the average that I gift or use my soaps are more like 6 months. But I'm pretty sure they are cured enough by 6-8 weeks.

I'd have to play around with my soap recipes again in soap calc, but think that it was the addition of butters that upped the longevity in my soaps. I have used both shea and cocoa butters with my lard recipes, depending on what I have on hand.

I sort of measure the success of my soap by how much I have to use lotion on my skin. And with the lard, RBO combo it isn't very often...mostly my feet or hands after dishes, etc. But before I started making soap it was several times a day to make my hands feel like they wouldn't snag on a dish cloth! Since then I stopped using olive oil as I noticed an itch which was no longer there when I changed to RBO. What works for my skin may not work for yours. Mine is 80 years old and I live in a dry climate. Unless I get a complaint from my kids, I don't feel the need to change my recipes...and they use my soap all the time. Hubby is a different story! LOL

My advice is to make small batches, give them at least 4 weeks cure, unless you are olive oil heavy, to see what your skin likes. This site will give you hundreds of recipes to try...i could probably soap daily for a year and still not do the same recipe! Good luck

 

[cmzaha]

I love 40/20 tallow/lard, 17-18 CO, 3% Castor, and the balance liquid oil other than OO. 2% superfat. I use this mix of tallow and lard because I have DOS issues with high lard although I love it in soap.

 

[AliOop]

I sort of measure the success of my soap by how much I have to use lotion on my skin. And with the lard, RBO combo it isn't very often...mostly my feet or hands after dishes, etc.

I read this and wondered, why does she need lotion on her feet after doing dishes? Then I read it again.

Sheesh. Not enough coffee yet.