Let's talk about lard, baby

[Cathie at Tigercreek]

I love using lard. Makes the Best soap. But... All has BHA/ bht im it. Walmart used to sell premium lard. All natural no BHA/ bht. But discontinued
Axon has it but about 3 to 4 times the cost.
Anyone know of source at reasonable price? I've tried local meat shops

 

[KiwiMoose]

Oh god no. I cant stand the smell of carnitas and i will only eat them if I really REALLY have to, but i can be a very happy mexican without eating carnitas ever again.



Forgot: i keep my lard on the refrigerator. Sometimes i freeze it if i wont be using it in a long time.

I very much miss my tacos al pastor from los peguinos under the stadium in Irapuato, GO. The yummiest things I've ever eaten.

 

[GetaGripSoapCo]

I recently bought a 50lb cube of lard. I keep most of it in the deep freezer, and a smaller bucket in the fridge. Same with tallow. I agree with @IrishLass , lard & tallow together make a great hard fat combo.

I have a hypersensitive sense of smell, and I don't detect lard or tallow in unscented soap. I definitely smell it beforehand though. Now I want to sniff some old lard soap to see what @cmzaha was talking about lol I'm going to have to wait a while, my soaps are only a couple months old.

I asked my local quick stop if I can order a 50# cube of odorless lard from their grocery delivery guy when they place their weekly order ( they operate a small pizza deli) so yay! And at wholesale, since I have a resale #. Y'all might think about that..

 

[gacowgirl]

Re: odor in lard and tallow
The odor in these animal fats absolutely depends on what the animal has been eating and, to some degree, the genetics of the animal. Boar pigs, intact males, may have very strong smelling fat, similar to their natural musk. Cows grazing grass, instead of being fed grain, may have more yellow tallow. Older animals of either species may have stronger smelling fat. The leaf fat, found around the kidneys, is the most mellow and pure fat, with little connective tissue or smell/color.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I luv lard! Our favorite liquid soap is "Hog Wash" -- made with 50/50 lard and PKO (Palm Kernal Oil).

I make a 100% lard bar @ 3% SF for a geezer pal who loves it because it smells like the soap he used when he was a kid!

It's also good for acne and other skin problems. It "holds" scent well. I use lard as a sub for shea butter or palm in many recipes. That should give you some ideas to go on.

BTW, my friend, Nancy-the-nurse, said her mother, a neo-natal nurse used to wash newborns with lard (not soap) back in the day. So it must be good for the most sensitive skin.

Lard seems to have a long shelf life. It's not even refrigerated on the grocer shelves here, but it might be a good idea if it's not going to be used up any time soon. I'm not sure about freezing it. I have frozen coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter. They do fine once thawed and added to the batch. I would think lard would be fine if frozen as well.

 

[Meena]

As for your toxin info, I don’t have an opinion yet. I’m not familiar with Ayurvedic medicine or what type of training one needs to claim the distinction, therefore reluctant to take it on face value. (I’m picky about my sources, because I’m smart enough to to be discerning, but not educated enough to make independent proclamations. Aka....many things I repeat from very reliable sources like my friends at NIH.

I linked you both 'alternative' medicine and a study from NIH... saying the same thing, by the way.

 

[Meena]

I love using lard. Makes the Best soap. But... All has BHA/ bht im it. Walmart used to sell premium lard. All natural no BHA/ bht. But discontinued
Axon has it but about 3 to 4 times the cost.
Anyone know of source at reasonable price? I've tried local meat shops

Fannie & Flo 's Etsy shop (via @lenarenee , I believe - ??)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FannieAndFlo?ref=l2-shopheader-name

 

[Zany_in_CO]

HOWEVER i can smell the lard on the cured soaps and i can not deal with lard scent.

I like the feel of lard but just can't deal with the off smell when the soaps are older,

I don't like the smell of it fresh, I don't like the smell of lard soap and I REALLY don't like the smell of old lard soap (I reckon it stinks - there's no hiding that smell! ... neem and lard are my two "never use" fats)

I love the qualities of lard, but I don't like the smell in the soap. I'm one of those who can smell it very strongly.

TIP: Oakmoss Absolute, alone or in blends, is wonderful for hiding the odor of lard/tallow in soap. It's pricey, but once diluted in a carrier oil, the cost goes down and you don't need to use much. (I use 1 teaspoon of the dilution per 60 oz oils batch) Please read:

Use Oakmoss to Offset the Odor of Lard & Tallow in CP

When making lard/tallow soaps I also use full water and temps at 120-135°F (CP) and have no problem with off-smelling bars.

 

[SaltedFig]

TIP: Oakmoss Absolute, alone or in blends, is wonderful for hiding the odor of lard/tallow in soap. It's pricey, but once diluted in a carrier oil, the cost goes down and you don't need to use much. (I use 1 teaspoon of the dilution per 60 oz oils batch) Please read:

Use Oakmoss to Offset the Odor of Lard & Tallow in CP

When making lard/tallow soaps I also use full water and temps at 120-135°F (CP) and have no problem with off-smelling bars.

Hi Zany, it's not an off-smell. It's how Lard and Tallow soaps smell that I don't like.
No amount of perfume or lovely EO's or Absolutes is going to change the fact that I can smell these two (pig and cow) in soap.
If I can pick it in industrial soaps (which I can), I will be wasting my money trying to cover up the smell with Oakmoss Absolute.

A silly aside - when a large commercial manufacturer changed over to palm oil in their soaps, I thought something wrong (I occasionally stop to smell the soaps ) - it was @KiwiMoose's picture of shelves of soaps at her local shops (and the conversation) that led me to notice that the tallow was gone - replaced by palm. That was why I couldn't smell it (through the wrapper) anymore - it wasn't there

 

[MGM]

I am very aurally suggestible. I can get songs or rhymes caught in my head for hours, nay days. So thanks @Dawni, for making me burst into inappropriate song multiple times a day....

 

[Dawni]

I am very aurally suggestible. I can get songs or rhymes caught in my head for hours, nay days. So thanks @Dawni, for making me burst into inappropriate song multiple times a day....

That was my evil plan all along bahahaha!

 

[DWinMadison]

I use it up to about 15% in my recipes. Never noticed a funk from the finished product.

 

[lenarenee]

I linked you both 'alternative' medicine and a study from NIH... saying the same thing, by the way.

Help me out here - was there something specific I needed to answer for you? If so, remind me!

Yes - thanks for checking - I did see both of those links (I'm stilling having trouble with pages loading on SMF, but think I'm getting up t0 date posts). My NIH people are professional researchers who help me read and evaluate scientific studies to point out flaws - such as not being double blind studies, peer reviewed, or objectively funded. It takes time to hear from them - and sometimes they just can't spare the time.

It can take me weeks to research something because I'm too picky; it depends on how important (a safety issue, or something I need to change, or how fascinating I find it.) Sometimes I just give up because it can be more work than its worth to me, or I simply don't understand enough.

 

[lenarenee]

Fannie & Flo 's Etsy shop (via @lenarenee , I believe - ??)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FannieAndFlo?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Fannie and Flo use a professional, stainless steel kitchen. They're in the middle of several organic farms and obtain the fats from these farmers. Their product isn't certified organic because of the cost of certification. They've known how to render fats since they were kids and get a great deal of satisfaction from it.

The prices are more than buying from Wal Mart, I buy enough to make my own personal soap. When I want to buy bigger volumes, I contact them and ask if they have any cheaper fats available - like stuff that's more yellow and not as impressive looking for the person who buy the fats for cooking. The stuff they send is still absolutely gorgeous and can't see why its discounted!

Okay, truth is I'm absolutely giddy when their package arrives - professionally packed blocks of pure white lard and tallow! My personal fave soap is a plain jane made with these fats!

 

[Meena]

Help me out here - was there something specific I needed to answer for you? If so, remind me!

Yes - thanks for checking - I did see both of those links (I'm stilling having trouble with pages loading on SMF, but think I'm getting up t0 date posts). My NIH people are professional researchers who help me read and evaluate scientific studies to point out flaws - such as not being double blind studies, peer reviewed, or objectively funded. It takes time to hear from them - and sometimes they just can't spare the time.

It can take me weeks to research something because I'm too picky; it depends on how important (a safety issue, or something I need to change, or how fascinating I find it.) Sometimes I just give up because it can be more work than its worth to me, or I simply don't understand enough.

No, hon. If I asked a question, I've forgotten about it. I think you just wanted to know how/why bodily fat of animals and humans store toxins.

 

[lenarenee]

No, hon. If I asked a question, I've forgotten about it. I think you just wanted to know how/why bodily fat of animals and humans store toxins.

Whew! Good - thanks! And...still no opinion from my side yet.

 

[Steve85569]

I use lard as a staple oil in my soaps. I do from time to time notice a smell but it's usually when I have overheated the hard oils.
Sometimes though I get a pail that is "off".
I do not soap commercially so I buy in small quantities and store in the fridge.

The reason the OP may have trouble getting lard in her local is, well, the local. A friend of mine comes back to the States every year for Memorial Day and is always cold when he gets here. He's used to 90 F and 80 humidity.