Teach Soap

Hey Y'all,

I was recently gifted with A LOT of tallow, like 25 quart jars' worth! I've never used tallow in soaping, but I understand it makes a very nice, long-lasting bar. I'm pretty sure this is beef tallow. Do any of you have a good basic tallow soap recipe? I have olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil, and some others. Any general suggestions are most appreciated.

I know there are some tallow recipes on millersoap.com.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

was this tallow canned? as in processed? If it was it should last a very long time.Thats gonna make alot of soap if you also use coconut, caster and olive oils in this recipe.

The tallow is in sealed quart jars. It appears to be a bit "elderly", as in the oldest jar has a date of 1974! Erm...that's before I graduated from high school! It looks like it was poured in hot, then vacuum sealed. As such, even though it's "elderly", it should still be good. But I agree--If I can find a good recipe, I'll be able to make enough soap to keep us all clean for a LOOOONGG time!

It sounds like it was canned. Lots of people canned back in the day, and some of us still do. Canning, as long as the seal stays in tact, will keep food good for a very, very long time. When you open them, the lid should "pop". If the lid doesn't pop, don't use it. If it pops, it is good!
Have fun soaping all your gifted lard! You should be busy for quite a while!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I do home canning for foods we eat (chicken stock, mainly, but also jams and tomatoes). The rule of thumb is, eat within a year. I do not know if canned fat can last for 37 years in a sealed jar. My suspicion is that you will know when you open the jar--it will stink to high heaven if it is rancid.

I have used good quality beef tallow in soap making and it has very little odor until I melt it--then it has a slight beefy odor (beef you would want to eat) that does not stick around through saponification and curing. I can't speak to the quality of the soap yet, as it is not done curing until Saturday. I am hoping, though, that it will have that creamy lather I have read about.

Here is the recipe I used: 40% olive oil, 30% tallow, 15% coconut oil, 5% sunflower oil, 5% caster oil, 5% shea butter. In retrospect, I would up the coconut oil and lose the sunflower oil so that it has more bubbly lather, but we will see--it was an experiment.

Good luck! I hope the tallow is still good!

Soapcreator, those are the same percentages I use for my lard soap, except I use 35% lard and no sunflower oil. It makes a really nice soap. I would think the tallow will be just as nice!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thanks so much for all of your help! I hope to make some soap this weekend--I'll let you know how it turns out!