Washing tallow

[VikingChick]

A while back, I bought a jar of wagyu tallow at the grocery store. I decided that I'd like to try using it in a cream or lotion. As an experiment, I took a little out of the jar and put it on my face (which has been super irritated lately)......and it smelled.....beefy. I've seen mentioned on here the concept of "washing" the tallow with water and salt and did a quick Google search. The instructions that I was able to find start out with beef fat trimmings, not already-rendered tallow from a jar, but I figured the concept is the same. I've been simmering the tallow with salt and water, then cooling and refrigerating, then removing the fat disk off the top of the pan and scraping any brown residue off the bottom. I've done this at least four times over the last couple of days but it still smells. For those who have done this, how many times should I expect to have to do it? Should I be doing something differently?

TIA!

 

[AliOop]

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Since the smell is not gone after four washings, it probably is there to stay.

That’s the only drawback I have with using tallow for anything other than soap. In any type of cream, lotion, or body butter, I can always smell the beef, even if ever so slightly, and even if I use an FO or EO. Dogs and cats can smell it, too - ask me how I know.

A former member of this forum used to recommend a drop of oakmoss absolute as the solution to counteract the animal smell in tallow and lard. I’ve not tried that; the safe usage rate is super low, because it can be highly sensitizing. With all the sensitive skin in my family, I haven’t wanted to risk it.

 

[squidstings]

I've been experiencing the same issue. I've seen posts that say "you'll just have to deal with it", and others that say "just gotta keep going" to get "no smell"
Your jar was probably pricey and packaged for flavor, not beauty. Cost me $15CAD for 1lb of GF/F.
Beef broth bones will give you a good chunk of beef fat to reduce for a better price. Convenient if you like bone broth. Good for me

Baking soda works too btw.

 

[bookworm42]

I've used vinegar to help with the smell but I was also doing my own rendering. They don't smell super beefy but now they smell slightly of vinegar. So if you like the smell of vinegar that's an option.
I did a splash of vinegar with my water and salt and did another clean after with just salt and water to try and remove the vinegar smell.

 

[squidstings]

Sorry this didn't occur to me earlier. I did check the tallow I bought for my KOH bar. No smell at all. So it is doable. Just gotta figure out how. Probably keep going?

 

[VikingChick]

Sorry this didn't occur to me earlier. I did check the tallow I bought for my KOH bar. No smell at all. So it is doable. Just gotta figure out how. Probably keep going?

I did it once more yesterday and added vinegar to my water, as suggested by @bookworm42. I haven’t checked on it they, though……

 

[Hope Elisabeth 68]

I did it once more yesterday and added vinegar to my water, as suggested by @bookworm42. I haven’t checked on it they, though……

How did it turn out in the end? I have been trying to figure this out for a while now. I buy tallow already rendered then render it about 3 times more. This reduces the small but as I make a lotion with it I would love to remove the smell altogether!

 

[VikingChick]

The vinegar helped a lot. The beefy smell might not totally be gone - plus there’s a bit of vinegar scent - but honestly I don’t think any of the small would carry through to finished soap. I haven’t tried it yet, though.

 

[MistyRivers]

The vinegar helped a lot. The beefy smell might not totally be gone - plus there’s a bit of vinegar scent - but honestly I don’t think any of the small would carry through to finished soap. I haven’t tried it yet, though.

I've had this same problem with using already rendered tallow from the store. I've re-rendered it over and over using the water bath method and scraping the bottom, even if there's no brown residue. It would always have a slight beefy smell to it. I whipped mine with E.O. for my sensitive skin. Rosemary seems to help hide a bit of the smell. I've grown to get used to it since I know it's healthy for my skin. I feel like if I keep mine in the fridge it tends to not smell as bad when I initially put it on
I've made plenty of soap with the same tallow and the smell goes away, even with a E.O. free batch.
Not sure if this helps.

 

[bookworm42]

The vinegar helped a lot. The beefy smell might not totally be gone - plus there’s a bit of vinegar scent - but honestly I don’t think any of the small would carry through to finished soap. I haven’t tried it yet, though.

Made soap with mine, unscented and none of the slight beef or vinegar smell survived.
It smells to me like all of my other unscented soaps (plant based and store bought lard based).