Recipe advice please?

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Heresy, I know, but...



If you are going to try and stick with one recipe then lard may not be a good alternative ingredient to use as there are a few people who object to using it and it may limit your customer base.



Also, some people have had problems with DOS using high percentages of lard in their soap. MInd you, some people can get DOS in soap with no lard too.

Not everyone is in this for selling and if people turn their noses up at being gifted a soap then so be it. Not using lard because of "a few people" if you have only one recipe to use, that would be a shame if it is to please the minority who should be grateful to be given hand-made soaps.

 

[dillsandwitch]

lard here is pretty expensive when I can get it but I must admit after my initial doubts over it ( I swear I can still smell the piggy even after all these months) it is a wonderful feeling soap. Leaves your skin so soft and nice feeling and I used at memory 70 or 75% and no signs of dos at all and its been humid as all hell here over the last couple of months

 

[Susie]

We always have humidity here. Summer, winter, spring, fall. The last couple of days, the humidity has been at least 90-100% continuously, and the temperatures are so mild that I have not had the heater or the AC going, so nothing is removing the humidity from the inside of the house. I have never had DOS in any soap that was made without soybean oil. And I have only had DOS twice.

 

[Todd_in_Minnesota]

Heresy, I know, but...

If you are going to try and stick with one recipe then lard may not be a good alternative ingredient to use as there are a few people who object to using it and it may limit your customer base.

Also, some people have had problems with DOS using high percentages of lard in their soap. MInd you, some people can get DOS in soap with no lard too.

Hey PenelopeJane,
Thanks for the thought. That's a very valid concern, but it's not something I worry too much about yet.
So far I'm not selling anything. All the soap I make, I give away.
(Which means, everybody who visits my house MUST leave with a baggie of soap-of-their-choice from my basement.)

I've had lots of recommendations to sell my soap, but I did a price-per-bar analysis and concluded that going commercial would be lots of non-soap work, and would take all the fun out of it. If/when I incorporate, and buy insurance, and start buying supplies wholesale, and start serious financial and manufacturing record keeping, and industrial process control, and compliant labeling and protective packaging, and attractive marketing - THEN I'll have to think about my market (whew!).
So far I count myself luck to be a not-business.

On to lard!

Todd
Hey all,
Thanks to all for recommendations on where to find lard.
It turns out (as you all mentioned) it's just another baking supply.

I found it in 1lb blocks, and I'm off onto a new adventure! (new recipe).

Todd

 

[dibbles]

Good luck on your lardy adventure. I think you will like it!

 

[Todd_in_Minnesota]

First batch done

So I made one batch of the new and improved lard-including recipe.
I made the simplest possible adjustment to my original recipe; I swapped the 27% Palm Kernel oil to 27% lard. Everything else I left untouched (like I said, I'm not a bold soaper).
Essential oils were 2 parts Palmerosa to 1 part Grapefruit, and a drop of Vetiver.

I cut it yesterday, and posted a pic in the "Photo Gallery" forum at
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=57844

The recipe behaved pretty well, but when I cut it (24 hours after pouring) it was a bit crumbly.
I don't know if that's the recipe, or something in my process.
I'll have to make a couple more batches of this recipe with different essential oils to be sure.
I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks again for all your advice.
I'll try out further adjustments as y'all recommended over time.
Todd

 

[DeeAnna]

Crumbly or brittle soap can be caused by being lye heavy or from a higher % of stearic and palmitic acid.

In your recipe with the lard and shea, I'm betting on the stearic-palmitic thing making the soap harder than ideal for cutting. The soap will be hard to cut and it will start crumbling right at the beginning of the cut. You need to cut a bit earlier while the soap is softer and more waxy. If you miss the sweet spot, you can warm the soap in the oven at 140-170 deg F for an hour or so and try cutting the warmed soap.

I also think not gelling can ~sometimes~ contribute to a soap that is relatively soft and easy to cut, but it crumbles easily especially at the end of the cut and the cut surface has an odd powdery feel. I don't see that very often. The solution is to warm the soap for an hour or two at 140-170 deg F in the oven. Or give it a few more days to firm up.

Another issue can be cutting soap with a thick bladed knife that wedges the soap apart as it cuts. If this is the problem, you'll see the soap cut fine at the beginning, but break and crumble at the bottom. Use a wire cutter or a thin bladed knife.

 

[Todd_in_Minnesota]

Yup - cut the first batch too late

Hey DeeAnna,
You were spot on! (no surprise there)
I just cut a second lard batch, this time after only 12-16 hours in the mold.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=57844

It still feels a bit damp and waxy, but it cut like butter.

(And, even though it's softer than I'm accustomed to, I still managed to get it out of the 3" PVC pipe mold without completely deforming it!)

Thanks again for your help.
Todd

 

[dixiedragon]

It is also available in my Walmart in the "seasonal aisle". Don't ask me why. I just know that here lately they have been pricing Snow Cap lard at half the price of Armour, so I have been buying every bit I can get my hands on.

Tell me more about snow cap lard.

 

[DeeAnna]

Glad things are working better for you, Todd. Good job!

 

[IrishLass]

Tell me more about snow cap lard.

I'm not Susie, but SnowCap lard is all that I use. It's the only one available in the neighborhood markets close to me, unless I want to drive a few extra miles beyond to Smart & Final and buy the Farmer John brand, which I've not ever used since SnowCap has been working fine for me.

About 3 or 4 years ago I used to be able to buy the Armour brand lard at my local Walmart store, but they switched over to SnowCap. I checked at other Walmarts in my area for Armour, and they all had switched over to SnowCap, too. Interestingly, I haven't been able to find Armour anywhere local to me for the past 3 or 4 years now.


IrishLass

 

[Judiraz]

I get Armour at a local Hispanic market. It comes in 2# tubs for a better price than the 1# packages I was buying. My gifted 4# tub is Field brand. My coworker got it at a meat market. Smells a little more "piggy", but only until I added th FO.

 

[BlackDog]

I have used Armour and Snow Cap both with no problems. Snow Cap is more readily available in my home town, and I like the texture of Snow Cap slightly better out of the container but have not noticed a difference in the final soap. Though, the Snow Cap comes in boxes lined with paper which I find annoying, trying to scrape the last bits of of lard off the paper lining. Armour has the convenient plastic tubs. It's a toss-up.

 

[DeeAnna]

You must be getting SnowCap in the 1 pound boxes, Blackdog? It also comes in 4 pound plastic tubs just like Armour.

 

[cmzaha]

Thanks all!
So many good ideas...
I hadn't realized I was using that high a percentage in cleansing oils.
And I never even considered lard, especially not as a predominant percentage.
If I can find lard locally I'll give that a try (just now googling local food stores doesn't look so promising).
Otherwise, I'll shift the Palm Kernel oil into something softer, and see how that works.

Thanks again for your help!
Much appreciated.
Todd

If by some chance you have any Hispanic delis or stores around you will find lard. I know not all states and cities have these type stores. LOL, living in CA we have more Hispanic stores than not

 

[Be Love]

Lard! Lard! Lard! Lard! Lard! LARD!

 

[BlackDog]

You must be getting SnowCap in the 1 pound boxes, Blackdog? It also comes in 4 pound plastic tubs just like Armour.

They come in 2# boxes at our grocery. I have never seen it in the tubs!

 

[Susie]

They had Morrell's Snow Cap in both the boxes and the tubs at Walmart.

I also found Armour lard in HEB in 25 lb buckets. I got lots of strange looks when I gasped and jumped up and down....

 

[Arthur Dent]

The Armour brand lard is very low odor. Field brand lard has a very strong odor, I used it once, never again.

 

[crumberly]

My Walmart, Target and the grocery store doesn't carry lard, bummer. After reading so many posts raving about it, I feel like I'm missing something if I dont give it a try.