More about the smell during render. I could not afford to buy rendered lard because it retails for about $14kg. Too expensive for soap when EVOO is just $5kg. ;-) With many people now Paleo, pork fat has become somewhat of a delicatessen item again.
tallow vs. lard
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More about the smell during render. I could not afford to buy rendered lard because it retails for about $14kg. Too expensive for soap when EVOO is just $5kg. ;-) With many people now Paleo, pork fat has become somewhat of a delicatessen item again.
Purplerain
Well-Known Member
I get my lard from the farmers market. It's gorgeous and I love that all parts of the animal get used. The pigs had a happy life.
I only find Farmer John Manteca to have a piggy smell. Forgot that fact and bought a small box of it recently. I usually buy 50# blocks or buy smaller amount at a Hispanic market. They carry beautiful manteca.
I have started listing lard as Adeps Suillus and see how many ask me what it is. I use lard with acclerating fo's instead of tallow due to the fact it slows trace
I would think since it's "Pig Tallow" you could also get away with labeling it as simply tallow - I know we call it lard, but in the end it's still a tallow.
Noooo, it's ~not~ tallow. It's lard.
Tallow is the fat that comes from ruminant herbivorous ungulates (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) Strict vegetarians that chew their cud.
Lard is the fat that comes from non-ruminant omnivorous ungulates (pigs). Equal-opportunity eaters that don't chew their cud.
Tallow has significantly more butyric acid, myristic acid, and palmitic acid than lard. Chemical tests can be used to tell whether tallow has been adulterated with lard and by how much. The INCI nomenclature is different for the two.
They ain't the same.
Tallow is the fat that comes from ruminant herbivorous ungulates (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) Strict vegetarians that chew their cud.
Lard is the fat that comes from non-ruminant omnivorous ungulates (pigs). Equal-opportunity eaters that don't chew their cud.
Tallow has significantly more butyric acid, myristic acid, and palmitic acid than lard. Chemical tests can be used to tell whether tallow has been adulterated with lard and by how much. The INCI nomenclature is different for the two.
They ain't the same.
Thanks for explaining the difference so well DeeAnna.
Even soapcalc refers to Lard as "Pig Tallow"
Even soapcalc refers to Lard as "Pig Tallow"
I also noticed the piggy smell of Farmer John's lard, and not from any other store bought brand. Too bad since that little box is a convenient size that would be a good back up. The smell eventually cured out, but I would rather not have the pig smell compete with my FO.
While you are correct, Soapcalc is not a definitive authority on this issue.
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Olive, do you have a Walmart nearby? They carry lard in the baking section where you find cooking oils. Also many groceries carry lard in the baking area or in the meat department. I find it in one pound and four pound packages. Maybe that will help you out..
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LittleCrazyWolf
Well-Known Member
I've been buying my lard (Armour brand) at Walmart in the aisle with the cooking oils and sprays.
It doesn't smell piggy to me in the container. However, the first time I used too high of a temp to melt it down. The bars were unscented and the smell was very minimal (and went away during the cure). I haven't had any issues since.
It doesn't smell piggy to me in the container. However, the first time I used too high of a temp to melt it down. The bars were unscented and the smell was very minimal (and went away during the cure). I haven't had any issues since.
Well, not to argue with an expert, but I've always been told and have read that pig lard really is a form of tallow. Same as technically azaleas are rhododendrons. It's such a variation that it has it's own name, but it's animal fat.
If you use lard in a 4 base oil bar. You will not smell it. Lard is one of those funny things that you can smell a couple of times then not again. My first soap was 50 percent lard. But I also used soy oil in it. That was the issue. The soy brought out the pigs smell. I have changed my liquid to safflower or almond and have not had any problems since with piggy smell.
I can smell 0.5 oz grated bar soap with 55% lard in it in a gallon jug of liquid laundry soap. Some people's noses are just more sensitive than others' when it comes to certain scents. I can't smell it in CP once I add the EO, but you let clothes get washed and dried, and I certainly know if I have used the wrong bar soap to kick start the liquid soaps.
FlybyStardancer
Well-Known Member
I am quite sad to say that by the time I started playing around with lard in my soaps last year, my local grocery stores had all gotten rid of the brand of lard that was in the baking department (that came in the multi-pound tubs). Now they only have a different brand of single-pound lard in the meat section, and even that's hit or miss!
