Old Fashioned Cold Processed Lard Soap- Like Grandma Use to Make
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This recipe is from a friend of mine, Sam Crandall. Sam and his family are good, salt-of-the-earth people and like to do things the old way.
Sam shares his family recipe of Old Fashioned Cold Processed Lard Soap- Like Grandma Used To Make. No frills- just good soap.
Old Fashioned Cold Processed Lard Soap- Like Grandma Used To Make
Cleaning out one of the freezers in anticipation of butcher season and found a boatload of back fat left over from the last pig we did.
Threw about 10lbs of fat into the slow cooker and rendered it down for lard and soap, have about another 20lbs to go that I’d completely forgot was in the freezer.
This Cold Processed Lard Soap Recipe works really well. Good lather in both hard and soft water. We give quite a bit to my ma and she uses it as a shampoo too.
Cold Processed Lard Soap Safety
First, let me point out, you can not make soap without lye. Period. However, you can make soap without handling lye by using soap bases where the lye process is already done for you.
What is Lye?
Solvation of sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide is highly exothermic, and the resulting heat may cause heat burns or ignite flammables.
Avoid all contact with organic tissue (including human skin, eyes, mouth, and animals or pets). Keep away from clothing. Avoid all contact with aluminum.
Safety Precautions when using Lye for cold processed lard soap
-
- Make soap in a well ventilated area
- Keep children and pets away from the soap-making process
- Wear gloves
- Use protective eye ware
- Wash all equipment thoroughly
Cold Processed Lard Soap
Use a digital scale to measure ingredients, one that has all the measurements is best.
Place your bowl or cup on the scale, tare (bring the scale to zero) the scale, then add your ingredients to weigh.
Ingredients
- 1,200g strained lard
- 456g distilled water
- 160g lye.
If you would like to know How to Render Lard, check out this article by Mommypotamus
Directions
- Using a stainless steel pot, slowly pour the lye into the water (always lye into water! Volcanoes are no fun!).
- Stir constantly until the lye is dissolved
- Let it cool back down to 100-120 degrees.
- While you’re waiting for the lye mix to cool back down I heat up and strain the lard.
- Get both items to as close to the same temp as possible (and keep them both between 100-120 degrees).
- We use a stick blender to combine the two and then switch over to a standard whisk and mix until trace is achieved (about half an hour or so typically for us)
- Then we pour it into the molds, cover with saran wrap and a towel and stick it in the pantry.
- After 24 hours we’ll throw the molds in the freezer for a bit to help prevent the bars from breaking while unmolding.
- Set the bars on a non reactive rack and let them cure in a cool, dark, spot for a minimum of 3 weeks -longer is always better, the bars in the picture are 5 months old and just about perfect.
I am keeping this recipe for the next time I render lye. I’m totally making this soap recipe!
Where do you buy Lye for soap making. My mom used to make it and I want to try .
Mom passed in 1993 ,so am not sure where she bought her Lye.
I get mine on Amazon. I’ve also ordered it from Brambleberry Soap-making supply store.
I buy mine from any hardware store in the plumbing department. 1 pound is about $3.99us
I am in the UK it is hard to get fat to render can I use shop bought lard
Yes, that will work just fine
I’m in the process of making this right now but the mixture is not coming to trace. It’s been 45 mintues… what could I be doing wrong? Can I salvage the recipe?
Hello again 🙂 I was mistaken in my previous comment. I was looking for something like whipped cream peaks. But I figured it out and have trace! Already poured in the mold, now I wait.
thank you for your fast response about lard made the soap just need to run mold it next time I will not make the mistake of getting the lard to HOF and waiting for it to cool to match lye other than that I found instructions so easy to follow thank you sk much x used shop bought lard