Stinky Lard

[OliveOil2]

I use lard on a regular basis, and what I purchase is deodorized, and I don't smell anything. I just received some free, very expensive bottled lard, and it has a very strong odor. I plan on using it in a recipe at 30%. The odor is pig, and not rancid.
My question is there anything I could do to neutralize the smell, I still haven't rendered tallow or lard from scratch, and am hoping someone here who has will have some advice.I hate to throw it away, but if the smell comes through I will be wasting other ingredients.

 

[commoncenz]

I use lard in all my soap and have run across the "piggy" smell a few times. The soap itself never retained that smell.

Anyway, I did a quick search of the site for you and the general consensus seems to be that the smell is eliminated during the cure. Still, one way to determine if the smell will go away is to do a small test batch to find out for yourself before throwing away all that potentially wonderful soap.

I've linked the sitecomber search I did if you would like to read through some of the threads for yourself.

http://sitecomber.com/search.php?domains=www.sitecomber.com&client=pub-1307489338039489&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23FFFFFF%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A150567%3BALC%3A000000%3BLC%3A000000%3BT%3A0000FF%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A0%3BLW%3A0%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fsitecomber.com%2Flogo-490x90.jpg%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.sitecomber.com%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en&channel=5823071447&q=remove+smell+from+lard&sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soapmakingforum.com&sa=Search&safe=active

 

[TeresaT]

I use lard on a regular basis, and what I purchase is deodorized, and I don't smell anything. I just received some free, very expensive bottled lard, and it has a very strong odor. I plan on using it in a recipe at 30%. The odor is pig, and not rancid.
My question is there anything I could do to neutralize the smell, I still haven't rendered tallow or lard from scratch, and am hoping someone here who has will have some advice.I hate to throw it away, but if the smell comes through I will be wasting other ingredients.

The first soap I made was 100% lard and the lard smelled like bacon. When I added the lye, I thought I was going to die. The smell was that bad. However, by the time I reached trace the smell died down. (Hmm, did I get used to it?) My soap does not smell like bacon. I did put some grapefruit EO in it before I poured it and all anyone smells is the grapefruit. I've given all of that away and everyone raves about the smell. So, it's definitely not stinky. FYI: I used the last of that lard yesterday. After a little more than seven weeks in my fridge, the odor completely went away, even though it was tightly sealed. So, if you are concerned about the odor, maybe you can let the lard age awhile to "de-funk" itself.

 

[Susie]

I have found that normal amounts(0.5oz PPO) of any EO will completely hide the scent of lard in soap. And I am really sensitive to that smell.

 

[OliveOil2]

OK Good to know, I already have it in the refrigerator. Hopefully this will make some nice soap each jar sold for over $16 for 14 ounces! I have EO and some real strong FO, so now just have to figure out the other fun stuff.

 

[doriettefarm]

I've used both the store-bought Manteca/Lard and home-rendered lard. The home-rendered stuff definitely smells piggy to me but I can't detect it in the cured soap. I think your EO/FO will cover the smell but you could leave one bar unscented just to see the difference after curing.

 

[TeresaT]

OK Good to know, I already have it in the refrigerator. Hopefully this will make some nice soap each jar sold for over $16 for 14 ounces! I have EO and some real strong FO, so now just have to figure out the other fun stuff.

Oh my gosh! That's some special lard. I'll bet they played classical music and fed the pigs truffles to get it. (And I thought Whole Foods was expensive at $2.99/lb for "pasture centered" pigs.)

 

[OliveOil2]

Everyone was right, just smells like beautiful Lilac. The FO was a total pain, kinda of fun to see the batter thicken before my eyes. My question is the texture of this soap, I wish I could get this perfectly smooth and creamy texture more often. It gelled for sure, I kept a close eye on it and it got good and warm with the floral FO. I never get this texture even on ungelled soap, and this was a standard recipe. I don't see how the particular lard could make a difference, it was more runny, and not as stiff as the regular grocery store lard. But wondering if anyone has some insight?

 

[MorpheusPA]

It's probably the gelling. My lard (from Soaper's Choice) tends to produce beautiful, creamy bars with shiny sides in my silicone molds if it gels, and often even if it doesn't gel all that well.

I find that pouring at thin trace helps too. The tops sink in better and lay flatter and smoother.