LARD- store bought vs home made

[chickenflower]

2 concerns here...
I made soap with store-bought lard and it turned out great. I made the same recipe with lard I rendered myself from our pigs. It turned out hard, dry, and brittle, and very drying. Has anyone had this problem? Is there difference I'm not realising between home made and grocery store lard?
I'm thinking of shredding the brittle soap and using it as laundry soap, BUT does anyone know how it works in a HE machine?http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[shunt2011]

If you post your recipe and process maybe we can help you troubleshoot. It sounds more like a measuring/process issue than a lard problem.

 

[Bigun]

I've always used store bought lard and it turn out great.

 

[dixiedragon]

Can you describe your rendering process? If you used salt and/or baking soda, possibly some was left behind?

 

[Dahila]

definitely store bought, The one rendered in home still contains some water, we do not have the machine to squeeze it out. Strange thing, when I was living in Poland (28 years ago) the lard was different. I always had made my own. I wonder if it had something to do with the way pigs were fed. Mine was hard similar to the one in stores

 

[BrewerGeorge]

definitely store bought, The one rendered in home still contains some water, we do not have the machine to squeeze it out. ...

This was going to be my guess. If there was water remaining, your weight measurement of the solid would give less of the actual fat, which would decrease your real superfat.

 

[DeeAnna]

The proof of Brewer George's guess would be to do a careful, cautious zap test. Hard and crumbly and harsh to the skin may mean this soap is lye heavy.

I don't know that I would use a 100% lard soap for laundry, even with zero superfat (or less.) It is not a strongly cleansing soap, like coconut soap is, so I question how well it will remove greasy ground-in dirt, especially in hard water. A lye heavy soap would be okay for chore clothes, but it might be awfully harsh on delicate fabrics.

Soap is fine in an HE machine.

 

[CaraBou]

HE washing machines don't use much water so you want a soap or detergent that is low sudsing and easily rinsed. As far as I know, that's the main concern with what you use.

 

[Susie]

I am going to second not using a lard soap with an unknown superfat for laundry. I don't care what fragrance, or how much I use, I can still smell lard after the clothes are dried.

 

[DeeAnna]

Even a coconut oil soap does fine in my HE machine. If you're going to get suds at all, you'll get it with a coconut soap, but it's not been a problem for me.

 

[chickenflower]

This was going to be my guess. If there was water remaining, your weight measurement of the solid would give less of the actual fat, which would decrease your real superfat.

That was my guess. more water, less actual fat, which means that the recipe now has too much lye. but why is the resulting soap so dry, like there was barely water in the recipe. it's odd

The proof of Brewer George's guess would be to do a careful, cautious zap test. Hard and crumbly and harsh to the skin may mean this soap is lye heavy.

I don't know that I would use a 100% lard soap for laundry, even with zero superfat (or less.) It is not a strongly cleansing soap, like coconut soap is, so I question how well it will remove greasy ground-in dirt, especially in hard water. A lye heavy soap would be okay for chore clothes, but it might be awfully harsh on delicate fabrics.

Soap is fine in an HE machine.

I use it to get stains out. it works really great for my bf's t-shirt pit stains and other tough stuff.

 

[chickenflower]

Can you describe your rendering process? If you used salt and/or baking soda, possibly some was left behind?

I simply melt it in my crock pot on low with a couple tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pot. I usually use my home made lard for baking but i wanted to try it for soap since that batch was not the nicest fat of my pigs. After this, i will contunue to keep my good homemade lard for cooking and use the more consistent, preservative filled crap from the store for soap.

 

[Dahila]

Most people do it wrong. there is not water required in it, there already is the water in lard. Meat so is lard is pumped with water or saline so it does not dry. I had rendering my lards for many, many years, so did my mother and granny. never additional water. My DH does it for me, (tallow) in huge pot on minimum heat. It takes ours before it become nice smooth tallow. When you start you need to move it around till the time it is enough oil in it, then from time to time. It is usually 1/3 of the pot when done, no water added. Pure tallow. The same process is with lard....