Shaving soap - tallow or dripping?

[Teapot]

Hello soapers. UK soaper here.

I want to try making some shaving soap, and after reading through this monster thread: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/my-first-shaving-soap-is-a-success.34264/ I'm about ready to try some test batches, and want to try the initial recipe (stearic acid and coconut oil, essentially), but want to also try a tallow recipe as well, for comparison.

I'm struggling to get hold of tallow. I can get beef dripping easily enough (made from the fat that drips out during cooking), but I've seen various sources state that tallow (made from rendered suet fat) is better for soap. No-one says why though.

Lye calculators don't have an option for dripping, will choosing the tallow option give me an accurate result? I can't find a SAP value for dripping.

I'm going to do a test batch with dripping anyway, as that's what I have on hand, but I'd be interested to see if anyone has done a tallow / dripping comparison.

My other option is to source the suet fat and render it myself, but I'd prefer not to, as I think it would be hard to ensure consistency and purity, and therefore could result in varying SAP values. I know some UK assessors don't like home-rendered fats due to these variations.

Thanks in advance for any help, and thank you to all those who contributed to the epic thread I linked to above!

 

[Sally Scheibner]

Try all butcher s, meat packers, grocers cattle ranchers for butcher time. I’ve actually taken my buckets and helped cut off fat. Rendering is a pain but after a few washes you get white hard beautiful tallow. Makes fabulous soap!!

 

[Teapot]

Try all butcher s, meat packers, grocers cattle ranchers for butcher time. I’ve actually taken my buckets and helped cut off fat. Rendering is a pain but after a few washes you get white hard beautiful tallow. Makes fabulous soap!!

Thanks for replying - it's not sourcing the raw fat that's the problem though. I'd really prefer to avoid rendering myself, for the reasons mentioned, but I can do it if I have to. I was really trying to establish whether dripping would be a suitable replacement

 

[DeeAnna]

If I'm following you correctly, then dripping is indeed rendered beef fat -- in other words, it's tallow -- but it's been collected as a byproduct of cooking, not intentionally rendered.

The reason why I suppose people don't like to use it is that fat drippings might be over heated and not as clean compared with tallow that's been rendered intentionally. There could be some carry over of odor or color that might be objectionable.

All that said, there are people who collect fats from deep fat fryers and restaurants for making soap. The fat can be cleaned up by heating it with water and sometimes salt or baking soda to wash out the impurities.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Hi Teapot! You're in luck! This question has been discussed before. Put "dripping" in the SEARCH box at the top right of this page. There are a few threads on the subject that might be helpful to you.

 

[Teapot]

Hi Teapot! You're in luck! This question has been discussed before. Put "dripping" in the SEARCH box at the top right of this page. There are a few threads on the subject that might be helpful to you.

Thanks Zany, I did search, but there were so many threads related to soap dripping various fluids all over the place, it was hard to narrow it down to dripping as a specific type of fat, being used in a shave soap. Perhaps there are additional filters that I'm not aware of, to narrow down search results. It's also a predominantly British-used word, and as most of the soaping information I can find comes from US posters, there wasn't a whole lot. If you have a specific thread in mind though, I'd be delighted to read it, if you could provide a link?

If I'm following you correctly, then dripping is indeed rendered beef fat -- in other words, it's tallow -- but it's been collected as a byproduct of cooking, not intentionally rendered.

Thanks for replying - yes, and no. Dripping is commercially available at the supermarket, and at my local butcher. I have never seen tallow for sale anywhere in the UK. However, according to the great god Google, dripping and tallow are not the same, and that tallow is specifically made from suet fat, some even specify surrounding the kidneys. Multiple sources state that it's this that is used for soap, not the general fat attached to the muscles (although none have stated why, so it could be just a commonly heard and re-quoted myth.) Dripping and suet are sold as separate things here. Maybe the suet that is sold here is what is called tallow in the US, I don't know.

All in all, I guess there probably isn't a huge amount of difference, but the fact that a few people have specified tallow made from suet fat (rather than muscle fat) made me wonder if there might be some difference in fatty acid profile.

An additonal question then, if I may?

If you were to render your own tallow, would you take any and all beef fat, to add to the pot? Or would you separate out the muscle fat from the internal fat surrounding the organs?

If you'd chuck it all in, then the likelihood is that the beef dripping I can buy here is the same as the same as tallow, and it's merely a difference in terminology

 

[DeeAnna]

Here in the midwestern US, "drippings" are fat saved from cooking. Obviously that's not the meaning you meant, and I beg your pardon! Anyways, I also see some people turn their noses up at using subcutaneous fat for making soap, and I can't quite figure that one out either. It doesn't make sense to me.

The only exception is for shave soap if you want to make the soap only using fats (no added stearic acid). In that case, you need fats with a high % of palmitic and stearic acids, and kidney fat might be the better choice, since it's higher in those fatty acids.

 

[Primrose]

I render my own, beef tallow, goat tallow and lard. When I render my own I use every bit of fat I can get, not just the kidney (suet) fat. I have zero issues.

I also use commercial tallow and lard when I don't have enough home rendered. Tallow in Australia is labelled dripping. I have no clue as to what sort of fat is used, it's not specified

Anyway I've never found any difference

 

[lsg]

I think that commercially rendered beef tallow has less odor than my home rendered tallow.

 

[Teapot]

Thanks Deanna - I'll be using stearic as well, I'm looking forward to starting testing (as soon as these kids are back at school - which is tomorrow!)

Thank you also Primsore, and lsg. I'm going to assume that the difference is merely down to UK / US terminology, and use the dripping.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I'm guessing that suet fat is to tallow what leaf lard is to lard. FWIW - I recently noticed that "tallow" is only available here in NZ as "beef dripping" bought nice and clean from the supermarket and cleaner than someone's collected beef dripping from the last roast beef cooked at home ;-)

 

[SeaSuds]

Is this any good?: https://www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk/tallow-best-white-refined-335

 

[Primrose]

I'm guessing that suet fat is to tallow what leaf lard is to lard. FWIW - I recently noticed that "tallow" is only available here in NZ as "beef dripping" bought nice and clean from the supermarket and cleaner than someone's collected beef dripping from the last roast beef cooked at home ;-)

Yes that's right! Leaf lard and suet is from the fat around the kidneys. Honestly when I render my own at home from animals I butcher myself, I use it all otherwise I'd hardly have any fat if I only used the stuff around the kidneys. Interestingly I use the omentum which is a webby type fat around the stomach and intestines and it's fantastic. Easy to remove and heaps of it especially in goats. When I render fresh fat from the abbatoir or butcher, it's mostly subcutaneous trimmings. It all works out fine in my experience although the trimmings do have more bits of.meat that need to render out

 

[gloopygloop]

Aha SeaSuds beat me to it! yes SK sell Tallow.
In my experience here in the UK dripping as in beef dripping is quite soft and usually scoop able, but suet is quite a hard fat, is this because it has a much higher stearic content? I dont know. I think when you are able to buy the real think suet from a butcher it is gradable but dripping is usually in a jar to scoop out.

 

[Teapot]

Thanks for comments, everyone.

I had seen that SK have tallow, but it's more than double the price of dripping bought locally. As my branding relies heavily upon local produce (and the shaving soap will potentially be added to my product line, in due course), I would prefer to use a local source.

If tallow and dripping are essentially the same, then I can buy the dripping that's available locally, that would be the ideal outcome. If I definitely need tallow, I can buy online until such times as I can source some locally.

I've only ever bought suet once, if I remember rightly it was almost granular, so gloorygloop's comment that it is harder makes sense. The last lot of dripping I got was in a block, but easily cut. The latest lot is in a tub.

The more I read, the less I know I guess I'm going to have to soap it up to see!