Old walnut oil

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I agree with @Arimara - unless you clean the oil by rendering, your soap will also be rancid. Unfortunately, while lye destroys many things, it won't destroy rancidity.

Depending on how much of this oil you have, it may not be worth the time and effort to clean. For me, anything under a gallon would get thrown out... Sorry!!
 
KimW, I think it would be a different process. Rendering is something different. I render beef fat to tallow.
I have 2 gallons of walnut oil :(
 
2 gallons! Oh boooooo - that stinks (no pun intended). Perhaps I am indeed using the wrong term here!
I am speaking of cleaning the oil with water and salt. For liquid oil I usually add 1:3 hard oils so that the cleaned oil can be skimmed off, as described in this post:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/used-fry-oil-soap.82044/post-872601
I suspect many a folk would discard even that large amount of rancid oil, but I would definitely clean it!
 
Washing rancid fat is a little like rendering if you use a wet rendering method, but I think it's best to just call it "washing" rather than rendering.

Rancid fat can be washed with hot, salty water to remove the smelly ketones and aldehydes. Based on my tests, I cannot promise this washing will remove absolutely every hint of rancid odor, but it is worth a try if you are interested. Here are two methods --

Method 1. "...Wash your oil with a brine made of 1 part salt to 10 parts of 180-degree water. You should have equal parts of water to oil. Stir vigorously until it looks cloudy, then allow it to separate. Pour off the oil with a gravy separator and throw away the brine....." source: Heide Braley. How to use rancid oil for soap. HomeSteady. Version dated 21 July 2017. How to Use Rancid Oil for Soap | Homesteady

Method 2. Make a 10% brine solution (1 part salt to 9 parts water). Mix one part of this brine to about three parts oil. Heat to to 160F / 70C. Stir the mixture at 60 revolutions per minute for 1 hour, let the mixture sit quietly for 6 hours, and then separate the brine from the fat. Source: A. Y. Girgis. Production of high quality castile soap from high rancid olive oil. Grasas y Aceites, 54:3 (2003), pg 226-233.

This washing step can be repeated several times if needed. If the odor is still objectionable after two or three washings, the fat is probably not salvageable.
 
2 gallons! Oh boooooo - that stinks (no pun intended). Perhaps I am indeed using the wrong term here!
I am speaking of cleaning the oil with water and salt. For liquid oil I usually add 1:3 hard oils so that the cleaned oil can be skimmed off, as described in this post:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/used-fry-oil-soap.82044/post-872601
I suspect many a folk would discard even that large amount of rancid oil, but I would definitely clean it!
Kim, Thank you for your help!
I did not understand how to clean my walnut oil.
I take water 1 part and salt 2 parts? Right? And boil it together?
 
Washing rancid fat is a little like rendering if you use a wet rendering method, but I think it's best to just call it "washing" rather than rendering.
Ah - thank you, DeeAnna!

Kim, Thank you for your help!
I did not understand how to clean my walnut oil.
I take water 1 part and salt 2 parts? Right? And boil it together?
:)
Looks like your and DeeAnna's posts crossed in cyber space. See her reply above - Method 1 is what I do (though I confess I never check the water temperature or so carefully measure my brine - but I should...) except since I add hard oils I leave it to cool completely before I skim off the oil, rather than using a gravy separator. In winter I put it outside or in the garage to cool/setup faster. A gravy separator would be a lot faster, I've just never had success using one!
 
What you don't want to do (based on personal experience) is mix the water and oil with a stick blender. A SB does too good a job of mixing -- the oil and water may form a semi-permanent emulsion that does not separate easily.
 
What you don't want to do (based on personal experience) is mix the water and oil with a stick blender. A SB does too good a job of mixing -- the oil and water may form a semi-permanent emulsion that does not separate easily.
Thank you very much, I will clean my walnut oil tomorrow!
Have you made soap with walnut oil? I made a recipe:
60% hard oils - coconut, cocoa, shea, tallow
40% soft oils - olive, walnut, sunflower, castor.
 
No, I haven't tried walnut oil. I stick to fats that are less likely to become rancid quickly, to be honest.
 
Washing rancid fat is a little like rendering if you use a wet rendering method, but I think it's best to just call it "washing" rather than rendering.

Rancid fat can be washed with hot, salty water to remove the smelly ketones and aldehydes. Based on my tests, I cannot promise this washing will remove absolutely every hint of rancid odor, but it is worth a try if you are interested. Here are two methods --

Method 1. "...Wash your oil with a brine made of 1 part salt to 10 parts of 180-degree water. You should have equal parts of water to oil. Stir vigorously until it looks cloudy, then allow it to separate. Pour off the oil with a gravy separator and throw away the brine....." source: Heide Braley. How to use rancid oil for soap. HomeSteady. Version dated 21 July 2017. How to Use Rancid Oil for Soap | Homesteady

Method 2. Make a 10% brine solution (1 part salt to 9 parts water). Mix one part of this brine to about three parts oil. Heat to to 160F / 70C. Stir the mixture at 60 revolutions per minute for 1 hour, let the mixture sit quietly for 6 hours, and then separate the brine from the fat. Source: A. Y. Girgis. Production of high quality castile soap from high rancid olive oil. Grasas y Aceites, 54:3 (2003), pg 226-233.

This washing step can be repeated several times if needed. If the odor is still objectionable after two or three washings, the fat is probably not salvageable.
Oh, I am so glad I saw this before I threw out more of my old oils! Can this be done with old kinds of butter as well! I have lots of #'s of butters that I just unpacked that I have been trying to figure out how to get rid of without tossing them in the garbage. None of the oils have been opened and none of them are discolored, so now have to do the smell test. Sounds like a pain in the fanny to do, but some of the oils are expensive and well worth the extra work and 99% of them are gallon size!
I am now rendering almost 20# of beef fat that my neighborhood organic meat market gave me. I didn't realize they were going to give me so much at a time, so I have one pot going in the garage on my induction burner and the Nesco cooker on the front porch doing the rest. At least we don't have to smell the yuck smell in the house! Now just to find room to put all this rendered tallow in the freezers along with my goat milk. At least I won't have to buy anything for a long time!
Thanks for giving the info about the rancid oils, just hope I can do it with butters! You folks are lifesavers, I can't thank you enough for all the information you have given me over the short time I have been on this forum!
Now to finish the two batches of cookies I have started!
 
Thanks so much KimW, The cookies turned out well, one batch was lemon squares, that recipe is as old as I am, and everyone loves it, super simple and the other is a fresh carrot oatmeal cookie sandwich that is like the one that Trader Joes' sells. The filling is a cream cheese frosting!
 
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