Tallow Questions

[LBussy]

I'm going to be in search of fat today to make some tallow. I've done a lot of reading and aside from people who have written blogs that explain how good they are, I've not heard anyone say that there is a difference in the source of the fat for soap making. Is there? Do I need to find real suet from around the kidneys or is any fat going to work?

Keep in mind this is for a shaving soap so properties which impact anything being right under my nose are important. :razz:

Second, is there any value in a "cleaning/whitening" effort? For instance I saw some mention in historical books about adding alum to water and setting it to boil for a while. That process is also said to harden it but I think that would be more important for candle making.

 

[kitterz]

I am no expert with tallow, however, I will say, I get body fat from a meat factory and render that into tallow for my soaping. I doubt that it necessarily has to be from around the kidneys etc. I do not add anything to whiten the tallow once it is rendered. It has a really light cream/yellowish color and does not have an awful odor left behind. Once used in soap, I cannot detect any odor left from the tallow in unscented bars.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dorymae]

Hi I render my own tallow so I can answer some of your questions. First if you live where there is a meat factory that will work, however many places in the country no longer have meat factories and large orders are shipped out for butchering. Your best bet for finding fat locally is to ask local farmers who in the area will do butchering. (They are there, for hunters and the small farmers but you usually can not find them in a phone book.)

The best tallow to use is the suet or kidney fat. It is mild with not as much "gamey smell" if it bothers you. However you can use any fat and render out a nice tallow.

Keep in mind when you start to render, chop the fat first. Really this will make your life so much easier because if you think that the fat will just melt right down (like I did) you will be very disappointed. Second don't try to melt the fat without water....it can be done but it will take the same amount of time, will stink, and could burn. Keep in mind that not everything will melt down no matter how long you cook it. There will be slivers of meat in it as well as other material that won't break down. You will strain the bits out after melting down. (I give all this waste to my dog - she loves it) Once you have your melted fat mix it with as much water as you have fat and boil that. Then pour it into a container, refrigerate, and when the fat is solid take it out and rinse the bottom of the fat in cold water. Then remelt it with water and do it all again. The final result is a beautiful white solid fat.

Be sure to do enough that you can make several batches of soap, you don't want to do all that work for only 1 lb of tallow.

 

[LBussy]

Thank you both. I live in the city so it would be a bit of a drive to get to a place where they slaughter animals and butcher them. Not too far but far enough that I won;t get there today (I have a day off and I'm going to try this). If it works well I can always speak to the father in law who still lives in farmland and maybe he can help me score some of the fancy stuff.

I planned to ask the butcher to run it through the grinder for me, not afraid to toss the guy a few buck for it.

Thanks again for the answers, I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Jerry S]

Tallow questions...

I have made a lot of soap using lard...(suet)...You can buy this at any super market and its cheap. This stuff works drop dead easy in making soap..and the bars come out snow white if your not going to color you soap. Rendering your own tallow, suet or any animal fat is an option but that seems like its a lot of work, unless you have a free supply and are going to make a ton of soap...
(just thought I'd add my 2 cents worth)..happy soaping:razz:

 

[Seawolfe]

A quick google search shows beef tallow for sale on ebay, etsy, several grass fed beef farms that deliver, and a baking supply company in my area.
But if I were looking for some to render myself, I would head to the local butcher or grocery store that has a proper butcher in the meat section, and ingratiate myself to him. Bring soap!

 

[Candybee]

Just about anywhere you live will have a local farmers market. Go to the market and ask around for a local farmer that butchers their own meat. They are usually happy to sell you some beef fat and or pig fat. I know you want beef for shaving soap but you should try pig fat or lard sometime in a soap. Makes awfully good soap.

I found several sources for beef fat at my local farmers market and my local meat market. You can also ask you local grocers too.

Personally, I buy my tallow already cleaned, rendered, and packaged from Essential Depot and Columbus Foods. They are a cheap source and the work is all done for you. I just don't have the time or the stomach to do it myself. I use tallow in my shave soap too.

 

[Dorymae]

I agree it is easier to buy it, but make sure your really getting beef fat tallow. Some tallow that is sold in stores isn't and its hydrogenated, or a mix of fats, some pig, sheep, beef. Most suppliers are honest and good but it makes sense to check.

That said I get all the fat I want free. Right now I have about 25lbs of tallow ready and about 75lbs of fat in a chest freezer. (I need to render more...)

 

[dixiedragon]

I just asked my local grocery store to save beef fat for me. I don't think you can specify that you want kidney fat in those situations.

 

[LBussy]

I found a source of grain fed beef suet tallow so I'm going to buy a couple pounds and try that first. I got kinda side-tracked today.

If I like what it does for the soap then I'll see about a local source.

 

[rogue]

I go to the local butcher/ meat market & I'm in a major city. They grind up my beef fat for me too. $1/lb I believe. I render down to about half that & I'm impatient. I triple render. My tallow seems to come out soft but that just may be the breed I'm dealing with ( or weather?). I bring my guy a bar if soap as a gift esp after he makes the poor cleanup guy grind for me even though he just cleaned it once! Too sweet <3

 

[LunaSkye]

Good luck and congratulations if you find the fat to make tallow. I had no such luck finding it in a supermarket, so I'd have to find a butchery somewhere.

I forgot to mention that it sometimes may be more beneficial to buy already rendered tallow than to render it at home, but it depends on the individual. I like to practice making soap so I do not need a lot of it.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

There is such a difference between shop bought stuff and rendered at home. If you can buy fresh fat and render it that would be best.
I rendered some fatty pork belly the other day, and lard that was leftover is amazing. It's so hard, white and lacks that burnt piggy smell that lard from supermarket has. I was originally planning to use it in my facial bars, but it's so nice in cooking I just might eat it all as it is. I took me ages to find some really fatty pork, butchers here in Australia look at you strangely if you say you would like some fatty pork and if they are able to get some for you. I live in the city so that is probably why, everyone is so health conscious. After weeks of searching I've found around 3kg in my local Costco. That amount gave me about 2kg of lard and some fatty crispies which husband demolished within few days.

 

[LBussy]

I'm sure I can find the fat - I wanted to try the leaf fat/suet as well to see if there's an appreciable difference for the purposes of making soap. If there is then I can search around for a butcher who can get that. If there's not I can always find fat I'm sure.

 

[Dorymae]

There is a difference and you will notice it if you make one batch with just the kidney fat and then make another batch rendering all the fat.

Kidney fat will be whiter, harder, and smell less than the other fats but for moisturizing properties in soap I don't think there is a noticeable difference unless your entire batch is purely tallow.

However if you can get kidney fat to render use it in your best (luxury) recipes. All tallow makes beautiful soap but yes there is a difference, even if it might be slight.

 

[LBussy]

There is a difference and you will notice it if you make one batch with just the kidney fat and then make another batch rendering all the fat.

Kidney fat will be whiter, harder, and smell less than the other fats but for moisturizing properties in soap I don't think there is a noticeable difference unless your entire batch is purely tallow.

However if you can get kidney fat to render use it in your best (luxury) recipes. All tallow makes beautiful soap but yes there is a difference, even if it might be slight.

I suspect that might be the case. You see I'd like it better if I were a heathen and could not tell the difference in things like that but sadly I most often can. My grocery bill is high because of it, things were all around cheaper before I learned better.

I mean just look at the difference between "parmesan" and Parmigiano-Reggiano. A small family can go through $5 of cheese for a dinner without batting an eye.

Nope, things were much easier before I knew better. :shock:

 

[Dorymae]

Nope, things were much easier before I knew better. :shock:

True but look at all you were missing!:wink:

 

[Obsidian]

I just picked up 4lbs of kidney fat from the local grocery store. Its a large store chain and they usually keep things like fat and soup bones in the back freezer so I have to ask for it.

 

[cpacamper]

Hi LBussy, cool to see a fellow B and B'er here!

A few weeks ago I walked into a local grocer and walked out with a good amount of trimmings from the meat dept., gratis. You can read/see my tallow rendering adventure here, but suffice it to say the rendered tallow from the trimmings of unknown origin is white, hard, pure, and practically scentless. It made an awesome shaving soap from the get go.

 

[LBussy]

I just picked up 4lbs of kidney fat from the local grocery store. Its a large store chain and they usually keep things like fat and soup bones in the back freezer so I have to ask for it.

It won't hurt to ask - I will do so next time I am there.

Hi LBussy, cool to see a fellow B and B'er here!

A few weeks ago I walked into a local grocer and walked out with a good amount of trimmings from the meat dept., gratis. You can read/see my tallow rendering adventure here, but suffice it to say the rendered tallow from the trimmings of unknown origin is white, hard, pure, and practically scentless. It made an awesome shaving soap from the get go.

Heya cpa! Yeah there's a few of us on here, a couple go by different names so you need to be sneaky to catch them.