Rendering tallow or lard?

[fuzz-juzz]

How do you do it?

My whole life my family and I have been putting in the pot with a little bit of water to start it off and then let it cook down and melt.
I came across this info in soaping group in my language and can't find any similar info googling it english.

Apparently, how it should be done is to warm up pieces of fat in water mixed with bi-carb, not once but few times. Let to cool, any fat on top should be skimmed away and thrown away, which is how I understood the article although it's not really clear (waste IMO). Process is repeated three times and fat pieces washed, again, in clean distiled water and finally rendered the normal way. Lard and tallow collected at the end of process are kept for soapmaking.

Point is, to remove any "free floating fatty acids" or some sort of salts etc that can cause allergies. So, if you made it to the end of my post... what do you think?
Lots of mumbo jumbo and extra work or is there some truth there?
I also have to say, this method is recommended by people who finished science/chem degrees.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

................any fat on top should be skimmed away and thrown away..............

If you're doing that, give it to me!

The stuff on the top is what we want - that is the actual fat that we use in the soap. I take that layer, melt it again with some more water and then let it cool. The layer that forms this time is the final stuff.

No idea what those instructions were trying to do.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

No such waisting at my place. I'm still doing the old fashioned way.

I'm not really sure what are those and why so complicated. They have a great following though.
I'm pretty sure only last batch of melted lard or tallow is kept since few first are mixed with bicarb and might have already formed few soap particles? Text is a bit vague but that's how I understood it.

I'm just asking if anyone came across something similar since I sure never did.

 

[lionprincess00]

How do you do it?

My whole life my family and I have been putting in the pot with a little bit of water to start it off and then let it cook down and melt.
I came across this info in soaping group in my language and can't find any similar info googling it english.

Apparently, how it should be done is to warm up pieces of fat in water mixed with bi-carb, not once but few times. Let to cool, any fat on top should be skimmed away and thrown away, which is how I understood the article although it's not really clear (waste IMO). Process is repeated three times and fat pieces washed, again, in clean distiled water and finally rendered the normal way. Lard and tallow collected at the end of process are kept for soapmaking.

Point is, to remove any "free floating fatty acids" or some sort of salts etc that can cause allergies. So, if you made it to the end of my post... what do you think?
Lots of mumbo jumbo and extra work or is there some truth there?
I also have to say, this method is recommended by people who finished science/chem degrees.

If you read towards the end of this thread, you'll see how I do it. Reply #36
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49962

I've renders trimmings a number of times. If I don't use baking soda, it stinks like greasy meat by the third cleaning. So I use it. I use salt, because it cleans honestly, and I don't use it my final time. I render once and get this brown horribly smelling sludgy water. There are bits of brown stained fat and little bits left behind on the bottom of the fat disc. It's gross. I don't call it done yet, because it's the grossest thing I've ever smelled (the water that settles beneath the fat). So I do it again and the water still has an odor, and so does the fat disc. So the cleaning and multiple renders and this method works. is it 100% necessary to use baking soda and salt, no. But in my experience I get to my final product faster using this method I wrote in the thread.

Side note, I skim off the leftover fat pieces (what your article was saying I think??) after hours of melting slowly, but by then it looks like a snotty gooey mess. Of course I keep the awesome melted part and let it settle and float in the water and cool to a hard disc. I've saved it, the snotty fat leftovers, and did it again once and got a little more outta it. So you can alter it and save the skimmed fat, and repeat the process the next day with that fat to get another few ounces or whatever.
I also recently rendered a batch I suspect was a tallow lard blend (the meat market LOVED their soaps I gave as gifts for the free fat, so I get 3 massive packages a time now lol! Think they got giddy and gave every piece this time, including pork trimmings). That render wasn't as sludgy and dirty and the meat had been. So I don't know if it's the pork, and I managed to cut the meat pieces off the fat better or what, but as a disclaimer I must say it may not be as brown as I described. That said, I rendered 4-5 previous batches and all stunk horribly and had the brown water after the first rendering.
So you're saying you melt and then what? I was a little confused as to your method. I am going to make a blog post of this and I have pics of the brown funky yucky water, the yucks on the bottom of the fat disc first render, and the next renders to the final one. I just haven't gotton around to it, but you've inspired me to work on it today well, you and Carolyn on the other thread I linked.

 

[Susie]

I also recently rendered a batch I suspect was a tallow lard blend (the meat market LOVED their soaps I gave as gifts for the free fat, so I get 3 massive packages a time now lol! Think they got giddy and gave every piece this time, including pork trimmings).

I love this! It is amazing what giving a few bars of soap to folks will get you. I did this in the thrift store when I needed a spare crock pot and stick blender. Worked a charm.