Lard, how I love thee

[Obsidian]

I've been wanting to try a zebra swirl but I have a major problem with my soap hitting thick trace way too fast.
Decided to try a high lard recipe (80%) so it would have a nice slow trace. Well, it did. In fact it traced so slow I could have easily played around with layers and swirls for well over 40 minutes.
I now have a mold full of beautiful soap that will be super gentle and creamy. I know people always recommend lard but for anyone who hasn't tried it yet, you really need to.

EDIT: cut pics http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=433943#post433943

 

[jules92207]

I love love love lard and that is some gorgeous soap so far!

 

[kitterz]

Looks really nice and I love the colors!! I must try get my hands on some lard and try it. So many people have said how nice it is in soaps. I currently only use tallow or veg shortening.

 

[lenarenee]

The top swirls are marvelous; like they were painted one at a time with a paintbrush! Can't wait to see what's inside.

 

[Shalisk]

Looks really nice and I love the colors!! I must try get my hands on some lard and try it. So many people have said how nice it is in soaps. I currently only use tallow or veg shortening.

Walmart, costco any big chain stores will have it cheap.

 

[ocean_soul]

Gorgeous colors, Obsidian, can't wait to see it cut! I just made an all lard soap (I read that others found them to be great facial bars)......it took absolutely forever to get it to trace! I actually had to step away from it for 10 minutes or so before stickblending some more.

 

[Rowan]

Beautiful colours and a real work of art on the top. I can't wait to see the cut bars!

 

[heartsong]

Great job! I'm a lard & tallow lover, too...Please don't forget to post cut pics, too!

 

[MooreThanBags]

I too love lard and use at about 35-40% of total oils. At that ratio it traces pretty fast. Your soap is beautiful.

 

[Obsidian]

Thanks I love the colors too and can't wait to cut it. I'm hoping I can cut before bed but I think I'll need to wait until tomorrow.

@MooreThanBags, its weird that your soap traces fast with that much lard. Even when I use 20%, it slows trace considerably. Do you use much other hard oils?

 

[FlybyStardancer]

One of my favorites of the soaps I've made so far is a recipe with 50% lard. It's just too bad I have too many vegetarian friends and can't use it as much as I'd like! (I give away a lot of my soaps.)

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I am so glad my friends actually like lard soap over veggie soap!
My soap traces fast too. I tend not to melt my hard oils first, I use my hot lye water to melt my oils. I think that is why it traces so fast. I use a minimum of 40% lard or tallow, many times quite a bit more, along with no more than 15% coconut, and the rest is olive and some other liquid oil typically.
Did you melt your oils? What temp did you soap at?

 

[IrishLass]

Oooooh! Those colors are gorgeous! I can hardly wait to see it cut! :-o


IrishLass

 

[Obsidian]

I did melt my oils but not all the way. I used only lard and palm kernel flakes, heated it just until the palm flakes were soft enough to beat smooth with the blender. I didn't take the temp but I would guess the oils were well under 80* F and the lye was warm but not hot, maybe around 80-85F.

I went ahead and cut my loaf but it was too soon. It was a bit sticky and now I have drag marks but they will clean up easy enough.

The colors have morphed some which I expected but not in the way the supplier said they would. The bright green should have went more a lime green but now its sort of beige, actually looks good though. The reddish should have went bright orange and it has in spots but mostly its pink. Yellow stayed yellow. I will post pics tomorrow, hoping the colors will straighten out a bit overnight.

All in all, I'm happy with it. No steric crackle and a nice zebra stripe.

 

[scotsman]

I use lard in all my non-vegan soaps. I like the bar of soap it produces. I have used beef tallow as well but I have found that I like lard better. I am always able to find it for cheap in large amounts and since I work as a chef(in a very pork-centric restaurant) there are always pork fat trimmings that I can render into lard for free. Working in the restaurant industry definitely cuts down on the cost of soapmaking. We also often get free samples of various cooking oils from various suppliers looking to gain our business. Since we have set menus those oils typically don't get used for anything and my boss lets me take them home to use in soap...providing I toss him a few bars when it's done curing.

 

[kitterz]

Walmart, costco any big chain stores will have it cheap.

Would be nice, except I live in Zimbabwe and we don't have any of those stores. . .I think I would have to render my own