Thanks everybody for your replies. I am glad I asked bout superfat %. I was going to do 5% with lard soap. Seems like everybody is having soap scum with 5%, so I will stick to 2% and will report later.
Lard
- Thread starter Crazy Goat
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So I finally got the lard 2 days ago and did couple batches of soap yesterday. I LOVE it.
I settled on 40% lard, 40% tallow, 15% coconut and 5% castor.
First of all, the trace is very slow. It is perfect to do any swirls I ever wanted.
With the first batch I wanted to do a hanger swirl, so I divided the batch into 2/3 main, and 1/3 was divided in half. The large batch I added couple drops of annatto in olive oil, wanted to make yellow base. And for the smaller 2, I mixed with different amounts indigo in olive oil, the smallest batch got the most of indigo. This batch ended up tracing very fast and it was pretty much clumps when I was trying to pour it in the middle of the mold. The other indigo batch was kind of OK, but still thick. The batch with annatto was so thin, that I had ended up waiting about 10 min after doing the hanger swirl before I could finish the top.
Here is the resulting soap:
I called it cloud soap. As you see, the darker spots got dragged by the hanger, And the annatto ended up being pinkish-purple, nothing yellow or orange about it. So I know never put olive oil into this mix, it will accelerate the batter.
My next batch I wanted to do a ghost soap. Followed the instructions of "Holly's soap making" on youtube, but with my recipe. Here is what came out of it.
The batter behaved very well. the high water part accelerated slightly but with lots of time to work with. In fact, it is the first recipe the I had to stick blend for like 7 min almost continuously before it even came to a thin trace. It was so thin that I was worried that I am getting a false trace.
BTW, I mixed the lye and oils both around 110F because at lower temp the oils were getting cloudy. I normally soap around 80-85 to prevent fast trace.
I am very excited. Thanks every one for all the info about lard. Alone with tallow, the lard became my favorite fat to work with.
I settled on 40% lard, 40% tallow, 15% coconut and 5% castor.
First of all, the trace is very slow. It is perfect to do any swirls I ever wanted.
With the first batch I wanted to do a hanger swirl, so I divided the batch into 2/3 main, and 1/3 was divided in half. The large batch I added couple drops of annatto in olive oil, wanted to make yellow base. And for the smaller 2, I mixed with different amounts indigo in olive oil, the smallest batch got the most of indigo. This batch ended up tracing very fast and it was pretty much clumps when I was trying to pour it in the middle of the mold. The other indigo batch was kind of OK, but still thick. The batch with annatto was so thin, that I had ended up waiting about 10 min after doing the hanger swirl before I could finish the top.
Here is the resulting soap:
I called it cloud soap. As you see, the darker spots got dragged by the hanger, And the annatto ended up being pinkish-purple, nothing yellow or orange about it. So I know never put olive oil into this mix, it will accelerate the batter.
My next batch I wanted to do a ghost soap. Followed the instructions of "Holly's soap making" on youtube, but with my recipe. Here is what came out of it.
The batter behaved very well. the high water part accelerated slightly but with lots of time to work with. In fact, it is the first recipe the I had to stick blend for like 7 min almost continuously before it even came to a thin trace. It was so thin that I was worried that I am getting a false trace.
BTW, I mixed the lye and oils both around 110F because at lower temp the oils were getting cloudy. I normally soap around 80-85 to prevent fast trace.
I am very excited. Thanks every one for all the info about lard. Alone with tallow, the lard became my favorite fat to work with.
Just wait until you use the cured soap, so nice on the skin! Lard is the best!
Interesting ~ hadn't really thought about combining lard and tallow in the same batch
you should, with coconut makes absolutely white soap, almost translucent. And just like I said earlier, tallow speeds the trace a lot, with lard - it is very well behavedInteresting ~ hadn't really thought about combining lard and tallow in the same batch
LizzardBlizzard
Active Member
Did you end up sticking with 2% superfat? The ghost soap looks amazing!!!
yes, I did.
If put against the light source, the middle of the ghost soap it translucent. Again, LOVE lard and tallow. Ordered more in Walmart. Now I have to really figure out what am I going to do with all this soap. It became an addiction and the joke in the family
If put against the light source, the middle of the ghost soap it translucent. Again, LOVE lard and tallow. Ordered more in Walmart. Now I have to really figure out what am I going to do with all this soap. It became an addiction and the joke in the family
akseattle
Well-Known Member
That ghost soap is beautiful. Did you add a fragrance?
I added Levander and Cedar from Brumble Berry
Lyric
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Thanks for this reminder "Soapers". I am here discovering supply houses as well as the op. I am wanting to restart my hobby with lard/tallow soaps.
My dad's a butcher/meat cutter. I wouldn't render my own fats at home. While it smells wonderful to me, you will never get it out of any clothing or items lol. It's in their for good.
Lyric
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, what FOR REAL!! I have only rendered tallow some time ago. I thought it labor or rather time intensive. I would just as soon purchase it due to time constraints. Like now, it is 0500 and I am about to skedaddle out into the darkness to head 2m5 hours away to the city to an emergency dept for work. 
Lives need saving!!
Had I a daddy in the business and with a source, I dunnnoooooo, I might have to be the pork fat smellin' soaper of the neighborhood.
Render on my peeps.
Truth! Plus the smell in the house!
This is why I render mine outside in an electric turkey toaster pan, while wearing clothes that are only used for rendering. 
This is so good to know! I'm trying to get some tallow from a butcher my extended family uses. I'm pretty sure I'll have to render it. Now I know that it's going to be a outdoor activity!Truth! Plus the smell in the house!
Walmart and the grocery stores I go to all sell the same brands -- Armour, Morrell, etc. -- and they all have additives.
Citric acid is insoluble in fat, so it is probably added to acidify any traces of water that might be present to prevent microbial growth. If so, it's only needed in tiny amounts.
I don't worry about it.
edit:
I use 50-60% lard in most of my recipes. If I have tallow, I"ll sub 10-20% tallow for some of the lard. Tallow has some lauric and myristic acids, so it's reasonable to drop the coconut % a bit if using tallow.
I've used up to 40% tallow, but I've found that much tallow makes the soap brittle and hard. I like the feel of a soap with just a bit of tallow and a lot of lard. Lard gives the soap a "waxy hard" feel. More tallow creates a "brittle hardness" in the soap.
I've home rendered tallow and lard over the years. I agree there's a warm fatty-meaty odor to the rendering process that might not be everyone's cuppa tea. I do it in the house but usually at a time of the year when I can have the windows open.
A bit of this odor doesn't bother me, but maybe that's because the smell of rendering lard is one of the least offensive smells from hog production.
I grew up helping my Grandpa raise hogs -- I cleaned hog pens and did other farm chores for him starting in junior high (middle school) through my college years.
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lol, yeah, I love the smell of meat. Comes from growing up with my dad. He always came home smelling that way and the store always smelled wonderful to me. Made me hungry. He makes the best beef jerky in the world. My dad's retired now, but oh I miss his jerky. It's so much better than anything you will ever find bought from any other place. Haven't had any in a long time since I also live in a different country now.
That being said, there's a reason they rendered that stuff in a building outside of town lol. If we lived nearby, I'd just get it all from him and be done with it. I'd probably get it for cost or even free since they did big batches of everything.
I have stories that some people can't handle lol. But you can get used to anything. My first kitty came from the slaughterhouse. Her mum was a mouser for the slaughterhouse. Although my kitty looked like her dad who was another kitty that lived on a nearby farm.
That being said, there's a reason they rendered that stuff in a building outside of town lol. If we lived nearby, I'd just get it all from him and be done with it. I'd probably get it for cost or even free since they did big batches of everything.
I have stories that some people can't handle lol. But you can get used to anything. My first kitty came from the slaughterhouse. Her mum was a mouser for the slaughterhouse. Although my kitty looked like her dad who was another kitty that lived on a nearby farm.
I'm getting Walter White vibes here lolTruth! Plus the smell in the house!
@AliOop when you render do you start with a dry or wet method? Do both create a smell or is one less smelly?
It's getting colder here and I'm worried about running my crockpot outside in 30-40F weather. Do you think the smell would carry to the house if I did it in the garage?
Good news is I should have the tallow sometime in the next week or 2.
I've been preparing by organizing my chest freezer to make space and researching rendering tips and advice.
It's getting colder here and I'm worried about running my crockpot outside in 30-40F weather. Do you think the smell would carry to the house if I did it in the garage?
Good news is I should have the tallow sometime in the next week or 2.
I've been preparing by organizing my chest freezer to make space and researching rendering tips and advice.PaintyLiz
Well-Known Member
This is so weird - I just rendered my first lard yesterday & had some questions - lo & behold what comes up in my daily email!@AliOop when you render do you start with a dry or wet method? Do both create a smell or is one less smelly?
It's getting colder here and I'm worried about running my crockpot outside in 30-40F weather. Do you think the smell would carry to the house if I did it in the garage?
Good news is I should have the tallow sometime in the next week or 2.
Re: smell - I rendered fat that I've saved off pork chops from a heritage hog in our freezer, some of it had been in the frig for awhile. It didin't smell much at all. Not sure if that info's helpful. I live in a TINY house (20' travel trailer) but I did have the windows open part of the time. It was only about a pint of lard, though JM2C
If it starts to smell, you can wrap your crockpot in a bunch of towels/small quilt, etc to insulate it & put it outside. Or in a box, line it with silver insulating stuff if you want. I do most of my cooking outside so I insulate esp when it's windy. YMMV
@PaintyLiz Thanks! I'll have to try using a cardboard box. Luckily Christmas presents have been arriving so we have a lot of boxes on hand right now. 
I'm getting at least 40lbs of tallow so I'm going to be rendering for a few days.
Which is why I worry about the smell. Reading yours and re-reading DeeAnns post I think it might be okay in the garage with a box on top.
Do you wet render or dry render first? I've been reading and trying to decide which is better. I'm leaning towards wet but would like to hear people personal experiences.
I'm getting at least 40lbs of tallow so I'm going to be rendering for a few days.
Which is why I worry about the smell. Reading yours and re-reading DeeAnns post I think it might be okay in the garage with a box on top.Do you wet render or dry render first? I've been reading and trying to decide which is better. I'm leaning towards wet but would like to hear people personal experiences.
