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New first in the ongoing quest for self sufficiency.

Homemade tallow soap.

Made from our first on farm processed beef.

I used the leaf fat from around the kidneys which is lovely buttery yellow in colour and much less beefy smelling.

If you don't have your own animals you can harvest tallow straight from your cooked meats by saving the juices in the pan after cooking or roasting meat or even making bone broth. Once the juices have cooled collect up the solid fat from the top. Or you could ask your butcher for the leaf fat and you might get lucky.

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Discussion

elsat 10mo ago

Any other ingredients but tallow ?

Jen 10mo ago

It's made with Tallow, water and lye.

I use rainwater because that's all we have. Next batch I'll add a small amount of bees wax as I think it will make the bars a little less soft.

SoapMiner 10mo ago

What water to lye ratio did you use?

Jen 10mo ago

By weight I used 110g lye and 312g water.

I used the cold process so they still have a few weeks to cure.

SoapMiner 10mo ago

That's just a tad more water than I would have personally used, but still perfectly fine. They will harden as they cure. I would definitely give them at least 6 wks. And they need to be in a very low humidity place if possible.

Jen 10mo ago

What ratios do you use?

I had 850g of the tallow for the lye solution to mix into. And do you use pure tallow or an oil blend?

SoapMiner 10mo ago

For the slab mold I currently use, I use 3500 g of Tallow, 712g water, and 474g lye. And, no, just pure Tallow.

Mike Dilger ☑️ 10mo ago

I purchased a small horse breeding property that came with 6 sheep, which turned me into a sheep farmer. When I eventually killed the big ram, he had so much fat on him I went to the Internet to figure out what to do with it. After trying tallow candles (they suck!) I made soap. Ever since that day in 2012 I've only used this soap made from my own organic sheep's tallow and rainwater from the roof. I have 41 sheep today. I actually have far more unused tallow in a bucket in the deep freezer. I purify it by melting it, mixing with water, letting cool, and remove the fat part (scraping off the middle layer of fat+water+gunk. I usually do that twice. I also mix with cheap oil so it's got more lather.

Brisket 10mo ago

The soap hardens up as the water evaporates during curing.

Tallow soap usually gets pretty hard although I've never made it with leaf fat.

There are ways to get the smell out.

Jen 10mo ago

Thanks nostr:npub1jmy8weweqzckna0amz7pn0uhhkxx693l7st23829ewmu43yvjsesfp6xcq we are down to the last bar of your tallow soap so it was time for me to learn.

I'll try wet rendering next time to see if it lessens the smell a bit. nostr:npub1wezprxcca3tttvnhncxsxhnhz25av6wml0jm9305tr94vjhmdj2s2e62hu like the beefy soap but Id like it to be a bit more subtle.

Brisket 10mo ago

Even with wet rendering it has a beefy smell.

I clean the fat by adding it to a pot with water & a little salt. I then simmer for 10-15 mins before returning to the fridge. Discard the salty water & then repeat 2 more times. Finally I evaporate off any water left in the fat before storing or making soap.

I don't mind the smell either but some are turned off by it.

Brisket 10mo ago

Tip: when melting tallow the pot is always left with a layer of fat that you need to wipe out with a paper towel before washing.

I keep those paper towels folded up in a zip lock bag for starting the charcoal grill or the fire in winter.

𝕾𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕𝖞 10mo ago

loook you have a new fren nostr:npub1zzmxvr9sw49lhzfx236aweurt8h5tmzjw7x3gfsazlgd8j64ql0sexw5wy

Jen 10mo ago

Much inspiration gained from nostr:npub1zzmxvr9sw49lhzfx236aweurt8h5tmzjw7x3gfsazlgd8j64ql0sexw5wy

I'm keen to try out a peppermint bar soon too with everyone raving about it.

𝕾𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕𝖞 10mo ago

that’s awesome!!

I wonder if you guys would consider vanilla or orange or both

SoapMiner 10mo ago

I was actually considering a creamsicle Tallow. 😂

𝕾𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕𝖞 10mo ago

SoapMiner 10mo ago

I could do a test batch, and see how everyone likes it.

SoapMiner 10mo ago

I need new friends 😔

Jen 10mo ago

Me too

SoapMiner 10mo ago

Then frens we shall be.

atyh 10mo ago

beautiful 🙂

SoapMiner 10mo ago

Very nice 🫡💪 First batch?

Jen 10mo ago

Thanks. I already have lots of learning points for my next batch but I'm pretty proud of this one.

SoapMiner 10mo ago

You should be. It looks very nice. I'm impressed 💪🫂💜

SoapMiner 10mo ago

If you need any help, I can point you in right direction.

Jen 10mo ago

Thanks I'm a complete novice at the moment but it was a fun process! I loved the element of danger with the lye! So many warnings online about the danger 👩🏼‍🔬

SoapMiner 10mo ago

Yeah, it can be. However with the cp method, it's a lot more toned down. Just have to be careful not to spill, or breathe in the fumes.

FuzzyNibs 10mo ago

Wicked cool my dude. What was the overall yield and how many cows were harvested to get there?

Jen 10mo ago

One steer and I only took the leaf fat from around the kidneys. This has given me 13 soaps.

FuzzyNibs 10mo ago

Good job you! Looking forward to seeing your next projects.

Chef Tommy 10mo ago

Oui Chef!

TBone 10mo ago 💬 1

When you #homestead you get to a point where you no longer need to buy shit like soap, because your wife makes it out of bits of cow.

Then you can spend the money you saved on bitcoin.

nostr:nevent1qqs0r2vy2hrmkqjsr7582hjpd4hju5xqc6eyj3dqzgm4xhxzklsxh0spzdmhxue69uhhwmm59e6hg7r09ehkuef0qgsvpcxyyusnfkfd4pj3v5xppjnp9dcs5ecdtczrfz8j0crn58mr59srqsqqqqqpfsk2h5