Gosh I feel bad!

[toxikon]

This is a bit funny, bit embarrassing...

I've been gifting my lovely lardy soaps to my mom and her partner for several years for Christmas.

For Thanksgiving last weekend, I was over at her house and we started talking about soap. Her partner chimed in quietly and said "I'd love to try your soap sometime... do you ever make any without lard?"

I was confused for a moment then it dawned on me. The poor man is Jewish and hasn't been able to use my soaps all these years.

Cue facepalm and me beginning my search for a vegetarian recipe for this Christmas!

:silent:

 

[BrewerGeorge]

If it's just kosher, it doesn't necessarily have to be vegetarian. Tallow is fine, but you can't mix milk and beef, so no tallow/milk soaps.

 

[toxikon]

If it's just kosher, it doesn't necessarily have to be vegetarian. Tallow is fine, but you can't mix milk and beef, so no tallow/milk soaps.

Ah, good call! I bought 14lbs of tallow from Soapers Choice recently so I can definitely do a tallow-only batch. That'll be an easy substitution!

 

[dixiedragon]

Someone told me that lard soaps are technically okay for Jewish people to use - the prohibition applies to food. But it's kind of a moot point b/c Jews who keep kosher have such strong negative associations with pork that lard is icky to them.

 

[dixiedragon]

BTW, I made an all veggie soap that was 50% shea butter with a 2% superfat and liked it a lot! I think the rest was 25% coconut and 25% sunflower.

 

[Obsidian]

Does the tallow have to come from a cow that was ritually slaughtered? Might want to check with moms partner before making the soap.

Wouldn't hurt to ask if he would prefer a veggie soap, just in case.

 

[toxikon]

BTW, I made an all veggie soap that was 50% shea butter with a 2% superfat and liked it a lot! I think the rest was 25% coconut and 25% sunflower.

Thanks for the recipe! I do have a bag of shea sitting around. Did you used refined or raw shea? I remember hearing that raw shea has a lot more unsaponifiables than refined. My bag is raw shea, so I wonder if it would cause any trouble when used at a high percentage.

 

[mx5inpenn]

Thanks for the recipe! I do have a bag of shea sitting around. Did you used refined or raw shea? I remember hearing that raw shea has a lot more unsaponifiables than refined. My bag is raw shea, so I wonder if it would cause any trouble when used at a high percentage.

I've used refined and unrefined and didn't notice any difference other than the amount of time I spent cleaning the unrefined.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Someone told me that lard soaps are technically okay for Jewish people to use - the prohibition applies to food. But it's kind of a moot point b/c Jews who keep kosher have such strong negative associations with pork that lard is icky to them.

You're right that kosher is for food. But even many bacon-loving gentiles will hesitate when confronted with "rubbing lard all over them" so it's not surprising that Jews would too.

Does the tallow have to come from a cow that was ritually slaughtered? Might want to check with moms partner before making the soap.

Wouldn't hurt to ask if he would prefer a veggie soap, just in case.

In general kosher meat is not "ritually slaughtered" in the way that - for example - halal meat is. Rabbis oversee slaughterhouses, but do not ritually bless meat.

Of course asking the guy is the best bet by far, especially because religion is such a personal thing. In the case of Judaism, an Orthodox Jew and Reformed Jew might give very different answers.

 

[NsMar42111]

Wait wait, shea butter that high?!?! I have plenty of that! Oooo now i might have a solution for the more crunchy of the crowd......and the kosher folks!:bunny:

 

[KristaY]

I made a palm-free, coconut-free soap a couple of years ago as a special request. The person was allergic to palm & CO, plus had an aversion to lard & tallow. It was gentle and lovely. I think it was 20% butter, 10% castor and the remaining in soft oils such as OO, HO sunflower & avocado. Might be something to consider!

 

[SparksnFlash]

You might want to check with your Mom's partner and ask if he's Kosher or just Observant, before diving into making more soap that the man may not use. Plus, learning the difference is just plain interesting.