Reclaimed lard

[TashaBird]

So, I have this friend... and at the beginning of the pandemic they took a bunch of bacon grease, and triple wet rendered it with salt water. Then they made soap with it. Everyone LOVED it! Well, times have changed a little, and they’ve progressed as a more professional business. But their customers are begging for more “bacon grease” soap!
What are the legalities around that? It’s very clean, and makes great soap!
Below is a photo of the final product. It’s about to be melted again to get the rest of the salt water out.
(The friend is me.)

 

[TheGecko]

What are the legalities around that?

Same as they are for anything else you may add to soap. There are plenty of folks who render their own lard and tallow, folks who add all sorts of pureed fruits and vegetables, folks who add alcohol, who add honey and milks and so on and so forth.

 

[TashaBird]

Same as they are for anything else you may add to soap. There are plenty of folks who render their own lard and tallow, folks who add all sorts of pureed fruits and vegetables, folks who add alcohol, who add honey and milks and so on and so forth.

Very true! Good point. I hadn’t thought of it like that. But, you’re right! That makes me feel more confident thinking about it that way. Thank you! It really is good stuff!

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I'm curious- do you think reclaimed lard performs differently than regular lard? Not that I'm ever going to get to make soap with "Extra" bacon grease. I live in the south (US) and we cook with it. No such thing as extra bacon grease. It's like extra wine... Doesn't exist.

 

[AliOop]

I'm curious- do you think reclaimed lard performs differently than regular lard? Not that I'm ever going to get to make soap with "Extra" bacon grease. I live in the south (US) and we cook with it. No such thing as extra bacon grease. It's like extra wine... Doesn't exist.

Amen! My husband is very supportive of my soaping habit, even to the point of me repurposing some tools from his workbench. But I’m pretty sure it would a hard NO if I laid a finger on that bacon grease.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Isn’t ALL lard, tallow, and other animal fat basically reclaimed fat from a salting out process? I have made my own and bought it, too. I have a small amount of bacon grease in my refrigerator and was thinking of salting it out. There’s too much of it for my husband and I to eat ourselves. Glad you asked the question and that you had such good results!

 

[TashaBird]

We do indeed have extra bacon grease. We eat a lot of bacon. After triple wet rendering it and getting all the water out, I believe I have 5 quarts! I don’t know how it compares to regular lard because I haven’t used regular lard.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Sounds like you have separated clean lard from bacon grease to me. Since you have people who want your bacon soap, I say go for it!

I’m sure some guys would love the soap if you added some bacon scented fragrance oil to it as well.

 

[Susie]

It's your soap. Do what you want. Just be sure that you, personally, use a piece from each batch on yourself before giving to anyone else. That way, if there is a problem, you will know it.

We don't have extra bacon grease, either. We use it to cook everything. If anything, I wish I could buy bacon grease.

 

[Babyshoes]

We don't have extra bacon grease, either. We use it to cook everything. If anything, I wish I could buy bacon grease.

Bacon (unsmoked) is actually quite easy to make; no reason not to source very fatty pork to use so you have extra bacon fat...

 

[Susie]

Bacon (unsmoked) is actually quite easy to make; no reason not to source very fatty pork to use so you have extra bacon fat...

But the lovely smoked bacon flavor is exactly why we use it in other foods.