Help,Has the Lard from WalMart Changed?

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TheSoapyEwe

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Hi,
I have a basic recipe using lard and one using Crisco.
The last 3 times I've done the lard one it never gels, it just goes through the applesauce stage and then kinda just dries up. I hate having to add water to help it along, I finally do get the zap out but I'm not happy with the finished soap at all.
So, I was wondering does anyone know if they have changed the lard at all, maybe the soapcalc is off if they have, how would we know if the company has changed it?
This is a brand new tub of lard, new coconut and new olive so I know it's not the freshness of the oils.
This is a tried and true recipe, I've made many many batches and until recently have always had great batches.

Totally Bewildered and getting a little pissy :D
 
Hi Soapy,

Just made my first two batches yesterday, using the lard from walmart, the louanna coconut oil (from walfart, too), and some evoo. 1.3# lard; 0.6# CO and EVOO (each).

Mine gelled, and actually has no zap today. I tried it, as I wanted to see what the zap test was all about, and there was nothing. just a yucky mint (rosemary mint) flavor :lol:
 
doh! just saw that you did HP, and remembered you were just telling me about it

sorry
 
Just looked up the distributor and they don't even state that they carry Armour Lard.
Did a search for Armour Lard and couldn't find anything about it changing.

I know I'm grasping at straws here but it just doesn't make any sense that my batches go from great to disasters.
I have checked my scale and it's right on, I measure carefully so that's not it, I'm totally stumped and tired of wasting all of the ingredients on floppy soap.
 
I use the same lard and no problems. Did you recheck the calculations on soapcalc?
 
That's a puzzle.

Did you double check the SoapCalc water amount?
I've used one water ratio and when I go back to SoapCalc, it's
still there, not the default water amount.

Surely one lard can't be THAT different than another lard.
You'll figure it out (and let us know).
 
I've always just left the water at the 38 default %.

I have a show coming up in the middle of September and at this rate I'm never going to be ready.

I just like the numbers and the overall feeling my lard soap leaves my skin,as do my family and most of my customers.
I'm going to try one more time tomorrow and see what happens.
If it's a big flop again I'm gonna have to just use my crisco recipe for the remaining batches I need.
 
Not all Walmarts are created equal. By that I mean I see stuff mentioned all the time by people from different areas, and NEVER find that "stuff" at our local Walmart. It is possible that your Walmart got 14 pallets of lard from a bad or modified batch, and other Walmart's were not affected. However, it does not seem likely.

Our base recipe uses both Walmart lard and a beef tallow along with several oils, and do not have problems. We are primarily CP freaks, but do HP once in awhile.

You could get a small container of lard from elsewhere and try another batch, but there are just so many variables. It's hard to say. Like how old is your lye and is it sealed "real well", with no clumps or lumps from possible moisture. Do any of your oils (olive, caster, FO, whatever) smell a bit odd?

That's a tough problem. Good luck.
 
I was out of supplies and all of my oils and Lard were bought yesterday and my lye was bought today so no chance of old oils or lye.

Did you find info on bad Lard being delivered to WalMart? I did a search and couldn't find anything.

I have wanted to try tallow for some time but have not found a source for it yet, any suggestions?

I really think it's something else though, I've bought the tub and the 1 lb box and both have resulted in the soap never reaching the vaseline stage.

I'm just so baffled, but will try again tomorrow evening after I get back from doing our local farmers market and see what happens.
 
The thing is, just because you bought it the other day doesn't mean you bought fresh stuff. There's no real way of knowing how long that particular batch sat in a warehouse somewhere or in a back room of WM or eve on the shelf. Maybe try a different batch of lard gotten from somewhere else (if you can), that will tell you if it's the WM lard itself or some other problem.
 
We got our beef tallow from Soapers Choice. They sell lard as well. Sometimes you can get good deals at a soapers conference. Bittercreek sponsors a big one not terribly far from you in Bloomington Minnesota. Looks like the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild 2010 conference is in Denver. There are probably some local ones closer to you.
 

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