Basic smoked lard lye soap

[fongdingo]

I'm not an expert soap maker. This is my third making of soap in my life. I happen to have access to alot of smoked not burnt lard. I took that and some lye and water and made a 2 pound batch.
This stuff smells great. Man's soap so to speak. Now I need to know some finer points of soap making to perfect this. I will probably never sell it but it's better then just throwing it out.(. We send all of our spent oil to a biofuel maker) . Please feel free to tell me what I could have done better.

 

[Susie]

You need to stand all those bars on their side to dry, and flip them over again in a week. Other than that, they look awesome! Please let us know how they do after a proper 4-6 week cure?

 

[Obsidian]

Does it still smell smokey? I would love to get my hands on smoked lard, sounds nice. Is there many spices or salt in the lard?

I love lard in soap but I'm not crazy about using it alone, I like a more balanced recipe.
My favorite is 50% lard, 30% olive oil, 15% coconut and 5% castor.

Lard soap is quite slow to trace, it can definitely take longer then 5 minutes. Did you use a stick blender?

 

[Arthur Dent]

Now that's pretty cool right there! I agree with the above though. 100% lard soap is ok, but mixing in a couple of other oils can make it much better.

 

[dixiedragon]

I've been curious about smoked lard soap, but my only access to smoked lard would be through Fannie & Flo on Etsy.

Did you clean the lard? That would remove impurities like salt, seasoning, bits of meat, etc, though I think the lard would still be brown. I cleaned some tallow I burned and it was still grey-brown and burnt smelling. To clean your lard, melt it with approximately an equal amount of water (you can throw a few tablespoons of baking soda in there) and let it slowly cool. The impurities will remain with the water and the lard will float to the top. Once this has reach room temperature, move the pot to a fridge or freezer, and in a few hours you can remove the hardened cake of lard from the top. Do this until the water tastes clean. You may already know all this, just thought I'd throw it out there!

Not sure what your recipe was, but if you'd like to improve it, you could try:

80% lard
20% coconut oil

Or

55% lard
20% coconut oil
20% olive
5% castor (located with the laxatives)

 

[mommycarlson]

I've been curious about smoked lard soap, but my only access to smoked lard would be through Fannie & Flo on Etsy.

Did you clean the lard? That would remove impurities like salt, seasoning, bits of meat, etc, though I think the lard would still be brown. I cleaned some tallow I burned and it was still grey-brown and burnt smelling. To clean your lard, melt it with approximately an equal amount of water (you can throw a few tablespoons of baking soda in there) and let it slowly cool. The impurities will remain with the water and the lard will float to the top. Once this has reach room temperature, move the pot to a fridge or freezer, and in a few hours you can remove the hardened cake of lard from the top. Do this until the water tastes clean. You may already know all this, just thought I'd throw it out there!

Not sure what your recipe was, but if you'd like to improve it, you could try:

80% lard
20% coconut oil

Or

55% lard
20% coconut oil
20% olive
5% castor (located with the laxatives)

Dixiedragon,
Would this same technique work with deer tallow? My husband and sons are deer hunters and I've been wondering if I could use the tallow for soap?

 

[DeeAnna]

Not Dixie, but, yes, you can use deer tallow for your soap. Try to render it as soon as possible after butchering -- fats break down quickly especially in the presence of blood or other tissues.

 

[Seawolfe]

Those look fabu. Did you scent them? Do they smell smokey? If they do Im thinking of scents that would go with smokey - Rosemary and citrus? Fir and cedar?

 

[fongdingo]

yes they smell smokey. The recipe i used was a very basic one 40 oz lard,5.4 oz lye and 13.5 oz water, i did add 20 drops of ceder oil too. the ceder smell is super faint. I filtered the oil like 3 times using filter cones that i use on the deep fryer.,cooled it, separated it and heated and filtered one more time. Would any of yall care for a bar of the basic smoke soap that i made? id be more then happy to send some to you. The next batch im going to add other oils into it. probably going to try the 80 lard and 20 coconut, cause ive got alot of coconut cause thats what i fry in. I will post them results too when im done with it. Also if any of yall would like just some smoked lard we can figure a way to ship it to you.
Again Thanks to you all for taking the time to look a my pics of this basic soap.

 

[cmzaha]

Smoked lard would be good for flavoring

 

[Obsidian]

For 40 oz of lard, you would need significantly more cedar oil for scent. Generally, 1/2 oz scent for each pound of oils used, more or less depending on the scent.

Where are you located? If you are in the states, I would love to try a bar of your soap.

 

[Gerry]

Smoked lard would be good for flavoring

You mean for making a crust for apple pie??? :shock:

 

[Obsidian]

for biscuits mmm

 

[fongdingo]

i live in the states. VA to be exact. feel free to pm me an address and i will put a bar of the soap in the mail for you. Any one Want any of the smoked lard? feel free to pm me amd we can work that out too.

 

[fongdingo]

thanks I have now ordered more cedar oils and the next batch is going to get it.

 

[earlene]

I have no recollection of ever hearing about smoked lard. What an interesting idea. I hate the smell of lard, not every brand, but some just make me want to gag. I haven't cooked with lard in decades so it's not something I generally notice, but even so, since making soap I have yet to see smoked lard in the grocery stores.

In any case, it does sound interesting what you say about the smell. Did you add any extra scent, or is it unscented other than how the soap smells naturally from the oils used? ETA: I just re-read one of your responses and see that you did add some cedar oil.

So another question: How is the lard smoked? Did you smoke it yourself? While rendering it? In a smoke box or some other type of smoking set-up? Back when I was a fisherwoman (I don't fish anymore as I don't eat fish anymore) I used to smoke fish all the time, but I don't have the smoker anymore, either.

I did have a thought that I might explore a bit based on your post. Would adding liquid smoke to plain lard impart the same effect, I wonder? I might try that and see how it turns out in an experiment. I have 'tons' of liquid smoke. We used to own a restaurant, and I kept a gallon bottle of the stuff. Since I'm a vegetarian, I don't actually use it very often.

 

[Gerry]

Would adding liquid smoke to plain lard impart the same effect, I wonder?

Being water based, perhaps liquid smoke could be added to the lye water first and use any oils later that you like. Perhaps make a nice smoky castile soap? haha

I wonder what the INCI name for liquid smoke is....

 

[earlene]

Fongdingo, I just read your other thread where you told about the lard and how it got smoked. I missed that before because it did not show up on the Newest Threads list. So now my questions above are answered.

After being away for awhile, I tend to read the newest posts first, then when I have some extra time, start going back and reading what I missed.