My wife and I have been making tallow based soap for almost 30 years. Some things we have learned along the way: 1. Running the fat through a meat grinder makes things go much quicker and increases your yield. 2. Instead of using all the fat from the cow, using only the suet vastly increases the yield. Suet is the hard, waxy fat from around the kidneys. Muscle fat is not quite as hard, and produces much more gristle from the rendering process. 3. We have never rendered more than once for soapmaking tallow, and have never had an issue with the finished soap having a beef or unpleasant smell, even with soap that we add no fragrance oil to. 4. We use a direct-heat method to render, without water or salt. It is more attention-intensive, but I routinely render 2 to 3 GALLONS of finished tallow in about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. 5. We add a small percentage of coconut oil to the tallow, and it really helps increase the lather of the finished soap.
@buttonvalley Thank you for sharing! I recently purchased my first batch of suet from the butcher (so affordable). I'm thinking of making some soap for my daughter, who has very sensitive skin. I'll have to leave the coconut oil out, though, as she is allergic to it. I'm also going to attempt to render my own tallow.
@@juliebahr3736 All-tallow soap is super for sensitive skin. You may also want to add some uncooked quick oats to the soap while you're stirring before trace. We have had folks with severe eczema who got excellent results from using the oatmeal soap. Just as a note, we don't use a stick blender, just stir with a wooden spoon. A blender may chop the oatmeal finer and I don't know if that will affect it's performance. Good luck.
@buttonvalley Wonderful! Thank you so much! I will try a batch with the oats too. Several family members have eczema and my husband has psoriasis so it's definitely worth a try!
I imagine the crock pot and immersion blender and spoons and such are easy to wash afterwards. No extra soap needed. Just use what's left on them. lol That is a neat process.
Plus, I forgot to say I use one of those shields that comes down and covers your face. It’s got the glasses and it’s got the plastic shield that just come straight down from the glasses. Way nicer than the glasses because it also protects the face.
It is very important to note that anyone making soap never uses anything aluminum. Stainless steel, glass, enamelware, plastic, or wood are all suitable.
I like this video best it shows all the steps with the realness of making tallow soap instead of editing out all the little steps like removing the impurities. Thanks for this informative video.
I, too, was having a hard time finding 100% lye until I found 8lb for $23 at Bulk Apothecary (USA Co.). Shipping is steep, but I was able to acquire a coupon online. They also sell dried flowers and essential oils.
Hi Stephanie! What a great video. I just made my soap with your help and it seems to have gone according to plan. :) I have a question for you. Do you use your tools exclusively for making soap? (ie your crock pot, ladle, immersion blender etc) Or do you use these items when you cook food, too? I was just wondering if I can double dip, or if I have to use these tools exclusively to make soap. Thanks!
I just wash my equipment really well and it has never been a issue. I double checked and didn’t find anything saying you can’t use it for food and soap. Great question and thanks for watching our video glad we were able to help.
Have you made tallow soap mixed with Shea butter & Castor oil? If you have, let me know so I can watch the video. I really want to try that. But I am brand new to soap making and am nervous about trying this mixture. I'm nervous about making any soap. lol. I've been looking for videos on soap making with these ingredients together.
I haven't done those 3 together yet, but I have used other oils. The only I've noticed is that it makes the soap softer and the bars didn't last as long. I do love castor oil though, I use it in a lot salves and lotions.
I have made soaps in the past. And I've read through lots of folk's recipes. Some use coconut oil.. I've heard that coconut oil gives more bubbles. Each fat has its benefits. What's your reason for using this fat? Seems like a lot of work. I'm sure you get great soap though😺
We try to use everything we can when buying a cow. The tallow is something we paid for but doesn’t normally get used. This way we can save money from buying soap by using the Tallow. It’s a very high quality soap we also just really like it and we like that we made it ourselves. Thanks for the question have a blessed day
Love your video! Thank you for sharing your process. I have a question: When you cook the fat overnight in your crock pot on low is there a temp you are aiming for? Mine was getting pretty hot on low so I turned it down to “keep warm”. It still came up to 180 degrees. Is this ok? Is this what you want to happen? I’m worried about burning it.
Thanks for the video! I am now a subscriber!! Quick question, I've rendered the fat, chilled the fat, then took the impurities off the bottom. Now I'm going to repeat the process three more times. My question is how long do I let the tallow cook during this process?
I'm making soap right now for second time. I doubled the batch, weighed tallow and lye, measured water by volume (mason jar with markings). The mixture is thick and foamy, not pourable pudding consistency. Thinking there's too much tallow, so should have measured tallow by volume. What do you think?
Yes I’d measure by weight using grams. I should have it in the description. If it thickens enough you can still pour it and it should harden up after 18 hours.
So I just watched another video from someone else. For her soap she needed 200g of water for the lye mixture. She actually uses half ice and half room temp water. She does this to keep the mixture from steaming and getting hot. It's safer and you wouldn't have to go outside to do that step
Partially thawed fat cuts super easy or totally thawed and COLD ... cuts like butter. I cut it into 1'/2" slices, then strips, then cubes .. they melt down into soft blobs. I like the meat grinder suggestion below but I suggest NOT using a stick blender - it pulverizes the tissue and grizzle and it's impossible to filter it out - powderized particles will go thru cheesecloth.. grinding is gentler and won't turn tissue to powder that can't be removed.
So straight tallow clumps probably wouldn’t be good to put down the sink. Tallow soap melts at a warm temp just like any other soap. So hot water will wash it all through the pipes. We have been using tallow soap for a few years now and have never had a problem. People have been making tallow soap for a very long time Nothing to worry about
Yes you can, I would have to study up to see exactly how to know, how much to use, what kind of wood etc.....but yes that would be free! And completely self-sufficient.
I want to try this we are getting a 1/2 cow in sept/Oct… we will getting everything from the cow !!! My brother is getting the other 1/2 of cow so he his giving me all his extras ( as they call it)
Finished soap has no lye or fat in it. When mixed, those ingredients undergo a chemical reaction called saponification, which results in a completely different compound -- soap!
Yes it’s great for your hair and your clothes. Gentle soap smooths and repairs hair and helps with frizz. I know it can be used on clothes but you may need to look up something like homemade tallow laundry detergent Depending on how you are washing the clothes
I love this so much!! Thank you for taking the time to share this ! I honestly had no idea what soap was even made out of until this last year. how sad is that? My hubby is Greek and his skin loves Olive oil soap but I think mine may like this better so I am definitely gonna try this !
Iam sorry we were having some editing issues with the music and sound. If you are able to play UA-cam on a tv it helps. I think we fixed the issue in newer videos but it’s hard to go back and edit once it’s been posted
My wife and I have been making tallow based soap for almost 30 years. Some things we have learned along the way: 1. Running the fat through a meat grinder makes things go much quicker and increases your yield. 2. Instead of using all the fat from the cow, using only the suet vastly increases the yield. Suet is the hard, waxy fat from around the kidneys. Muscle fat is not quite as hard, and produces much more gristle from the rendering process. 3. We have never rendered more than once for soapmaking tallow, and have never had an issue with the finished soap having a beef or unpleasant smell, even with soap that we add no fragrance oil to. 4. We use a direct-heat method to render, without water or salt. It is more attention-intensive, but I routinely render 2 to 3 GALLONS of finished tallow in about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. 5. We add a small percentage of coconut oil to the tallow, and it really helps increase the lather of the finished soap.
Thank you for sharing all this information it is very helpful I will be trying some of your suggestions on my next batch.
Thank you
@buttonvalley Thank you for sharing! I recently purchased my first batch of suet from the butcher (so affordable). I'm thinking of making some soap for my daughter, who has very sensitive skin. I'll have to leave the coconut oil out, though, as she is allergic to it. I'm also going to attempt to render my own tallow.
@@juliebahr3736 All-tallow soap is super for sensitive skin. You may also want to add some uncooked quick oats to the soap while you're stirring before trace. We have had folks with severe eczema who got excellent results from using the oatmeal soap. Just as a note, we don't use a stick blender, just stir with a wooden spoon. A blender may chop the oatmeal finer and I don't know if that will affect it's performance. Good luck.
@buttonvalley Wonderful! Thank you so much! I will try a batch with the oats too. Several family members have eczema and my husband has psoriasis so it's definitely worth a try!
the most simple easy way of making soap from tallow loved ur simplicity throuout the vedio all d best💌
It really is nice to see people making things still. So many of us now days are relying on the phone to otder things out especially in the city.
Thank you
I imagine the crock pot and immersion blender and spoons and such are easy to wash afterwards. No extra soap needed. Just use what's left on them. lol That is a neat process.
Plus, I forgot to say I use one of those shields that comes down and covers your face. It’s got the glasses and it’s got the plastic shield that just come straight down from the glasses. Way nicer than the glasses because it also protects the face.
Great idea I need to get one of those
It is very important to note that anyone making soap never uses anything aluminum. Stainless steel, glass, enamelware, plastic, or wood are all suitable.
I love the irregular soap sizes! Makes it look more homemade than the perfect cuts! Love it!
I like this lady. Did a nice job explaining.
God Bless
Thank you
I like this video best it shows all the steps with the realness of making tallow soap instead of editing out all the little steps like removing the impurities. Thanks for this informative video.
Your welcome glad you enjoyed it and it was helpful
I, too, was having a hard time finding 100% lye until I found 8lb for $23 at Bulk Apothecary (USA Co.). Shipping is steep, but I was able to acquire a coupon online. They also sell dried flowers and essential oils.
Thank you! I will check them out.
Thank you for posting ! I’m going to pick some up , or ship it I’m unsure
Thanks, love this!
I’ve always wanted to try this. I’m a soap maker too! I found your video very helpful.
Thanks! We love tallow soap and there's usually an abundance of it, even after saving some for cooking.
I learned something new today.👍
Glad to hear it!
Thank you for the video - it was beautifully explained at every step and very clear. 😊
Glad it was helpful and thank you for the encouragement
How would you add Brazilian purple clay to this? The ratio for this recipe?
Thank u
Thank you for watching
That's really neat. Thank you. I love when you see people using the animal as much as possible. So cool
Thank you
Thank you
Your welcome
I made it today , it’s wrapped up and still warm . Thanks again
Hi Stephanie! What a great video. I just made my soap with your help and it seems to have gone according to plan. :) I have a question for you. Do you use your tools exclusively for making soap? (ie your crock pot, ladle, immersion blender etc) Or do you use these items when you cook food, too? I was just wondering if I can double dip, or if I have to use these tools exclusively to make soap. Thanks!
I just wash my equipment really well and it has never been a issue. I double checked and didn’t find anything saying you can’t use it for food and soap. Great question and thanks for watching our video glad we were able to help.
Thanks- I needed to know that also.
this great video thank you me the hubby are try this 💗💗💗💗💗💗
So glad you enjoyed it
Excellent! I just rendered lard for the 1st time & felt such a sense of accomplishment. I may try this when we get our 1/2 beef next year.
It’s definitely worth trying the soap is amazing.
Great video, thanks, I’m looking to buy beef in bulk, and that’s how I got here, I’m going to try this, thanks again and keep pumping out videos 🤘🏼👀
Thank you glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the encouragement
my grandmother would do this with tallow .she would take the bones from the cow and make broth and then make bone meal fertilizer from the bones
Ty for showing this video. I had no idea you could use tallow for soap! I will definitely try this.
You are so welcome!
Ace Hardware store has lye in the plumbing section.
Thank you
This is easier than I thought ❣️
yes it easy
Have you made tallow soap mixed with Shea butter & Castor oil? If you have, let me know so I can watch the video. I really want to try that. But I am brand new to soap making and am nervous about trying this mixture. I'm nervous about making any soap. lol. I've been looking for videos on soap making with these ingredients together.
I haven't done those 3 together yet, but I have used other oils. The only I've noticed is that it makes the soap softer and the bars didn't last as long. I do love castor oil though, I use it in a lot salves and lotions.
I have made soaps in the past. And I've read through lots of folk's recipes. Some use coconut oil.. I've heard that coconut oil gives more bubbles. Each fat has its benefits. What's your reason for using this fat? Seems like a lot of work. I'm sure you get great soap though😺
We try to use everything we can when buying a cow. The tallow is something we paid for but doesn’t normally get used. This way we can save money from buying soap by using the Tallow. It’s a very high quality soap we also just really like it and we like that we made it ourselves. Thanks for the question have a blessed day
You are amazing! How do you have the patience to do all the things you do!
I don’t know😂
So glad I came across your video this is great... what state are you in? We live in florida and have a lot of great beef farms.
We are in Kentucky glad you enjoyed the video
Love your video! Thank you for sharing your process. I have a question: When you cook the fat overnight in your crock pot on low is there a temp you are aiming for? Mine was getting pretty hot on low so I turned it down to “keep warm”. It still came up to 180 degrees. Is this ok? Is this what you want to happen? I’m worried about burning it.
Yes, I do turn mine to low during the night as well and then if it's a little low in the morning I'll turn back up to low. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video! I am now a subscriber!! Quick question, I've rendered the fat, chilled the fat, then took the impurities off the bottom. Now I'm going to repeat the process three more times. My question is how long do I let the tallow cook during this process?
Long even to melt and bubble some. So a couple hrs is what we do. Thanks for subscribing
@@GrainFreeHomestead thanks!
Should have said “enough”
I buy my lye in the laundry aisle of my local coop grocery store.
This is the same process I use for cleaning my beeswax. I imagine your hands feel wonderfully smooth.
this is why i love this soup so much
Have you used the tallow for cooking fat as well? Do you go through 3-4 purifications for that as well?
yes, when using for cooking, I still render it down, but generally just a couple of times instead of 3 or 4.
I'm making soap right now for second time. I doubled the batch, weighed tallow and lye, measured water by volume (mason jar with markings). The mixture is thick and foamy, not pourable pudding consistency. Thinking there's too much tallow, so should have measured tallow by volume. What do you think?
Yes I’d measure by weight using grams. I should have it in the description. If it thickens enough you can still pour it and it should harden up after 18 hours.
Have you cooked with tallow? Manteca de res?
We have added it to deer meat but I’ve never cooked with it. I have heard it’s really good to fry French fries with.
Thanks! Did u get your mold for Christmas?
Actually, I did! I do love it.
Is there something productive to do with the juice & scraped off stuff after refrigeration? All the scraps of meat you originally cut off?
Also, SorcerySoap is something I follow on IG. Same Handle here. There's a ton of molds & pretty things you can add to the soap for color & scent.
We feed the scraps to the dog and chickens. You could also bury it in the garden or compost to add to the soil
@@GrainFreeHomestead Yes!
So I just watched another video from someone else. For her soap she needed 200g of water for the lye mixture. She actually uses half ice and half room temp water. She does this to keep the mixture from steaming and getting hot. It's safer and you wouldn't have to go outside to do that step
Thanks for the tip I will try it next time.
Even using ice water, the reaction of lye and water still produces dangerous fumes. It's just part of the chemical reaction.
Do you keep a crockpot and utensils just for the soap making? Or are they ok to use for cooking after washing?
They wash up really good....so I just use them for cooking too.
What makes cookware and utensils unusable is the essential oils and fragrance oil’s with plastic, or rubber. These oils gives off a bad taste.
Any concerns of PFAS using plastic and heat?
No , lye is one of the this that breakdown PFas
I don’t like to use plastic to mix the Lye,what other containers could I use
Mason Jar
Partially thawed fat cuts super easy or totally thawed and COLD ... cuts like butter. I cut it into 1'/2" slices, then strips, then cubes .. they melt down into soft blobs. I like the meat grinder suggestion below but I suggest NOT using a stick blender - it pulverizes the tissue and grizzle and it's impossible to filter it out - powderized particles will go thru cheesecloth.. grinding is gentler and won't turn tissue to powder that can't be removed.
Thanks for the tip! I'll try cutting it in chunks next time!
How much melted lard measured out to lye and water mixture?
Will tallow soap clog up the drain?
So straight tallow clumps probably wouldn’t be good to put down the sink. Tallow soap melts at a warm temp just like any other soap. So hot water will wash it all through the pipes. We have been using tallow soap for a few years now and have never had a problem. People have been making tallow soap for a very long time Nothing to worry about
Great question by the way
Have you ever used lye from fireplace ash?
No I have not but I have seen videos of people doing it that way. Have you used fireplace ash before?
Can’t you make your own lye from ashes? Isn’t that how it was done in the old days? Would be free then lol ❤
Yes you can, I would have to study up to see exactly how to know, how much to use, what kind of wood etc.....but yes that would be free! And completely self-sufficient.
I want to try this we are getting a 1/2 cow in sept/Oct… we will getting everything from the cow !!! My brother is getting the other 1/2 of cow so he his giving me all his extras ( as they call it)
Have you made beef/bone broth?? We love it, if u haven't we have a video on it. Thanks for stopping by!
@@GrainFreeHomestead I will watch it ! Thank you ! I have made once and need to improve on it !
Is it steam or vapor? I think if it smells bad & is not safe to inhale, that is vapor, possibly caustic vapor.
yes, I believe you're right it is vapor.
how is the lye safe to use? and how well does this lather up and how moisturizing is it after use - non-greasy?
The lye is safe because you let the soap sit for at least 6 weeks, the fat neutralizes the lye. I like to let mine sit at least 2 months.
Almost all store bought soap is made with lye.
Finished soap has no lye or fat in it. When mixed, those ingredients undergo a chemical reaction called saponification, which results in a completely different compound -- soap!
Did you say how much fat to make the soap or did I just miss it? Thank you.
In the description we have a complete breakdown on how much and everything you need
@@GrainFreeHomesteaddo you have a formula if we don’t have exactly 32 ounces of tallow?
Is there a formula if you do not have the tallow at exactly 32 ounces?
Can you use that soap to wash hair and clothes?
Yes it’s great for your hair and your clothes. Gentle soap smooths and repairs hair and helps with frizz. I know it can be used on clothes but you may need to look up something like homemade tallow laundry detergent Depending on how you are washing the clothes
You did not say how much tallow to that 12.5oz water 2.5oz lye
I thought that was used for make your own lard . Is there something else that’s you make lard out of or you can do both?
I think you can use lard for soap, but a lot of people prefer it for cooking. Tallow is harder and that helps it not melt down the drain.
Is the same thing in Crisco?
no tallow is a natural fat and its good for you Crisco is synthetic
Can we use "any" cow fat?
All Tallow is cow fat so yes any cow fat will work
Great video
I love this so much!! Thank you for taking the time to share this ! I honestly had no idea what soap was even made out of until this last year. how sad is that?
My hubby is Greek and his skin loves Olive oil soap but I think mine may like this better so I am definitely gonna try this !
Glad you found us and thank you for watching
how can i make soap like yours if i dont get the exact measurement?
@@VirginiaOfrancia check out the description
Wth? I looked through your vids & didn't see this one. I commented on whole cow vid that I didn't see it & here it is in my feed. Weird.
Very weird glad you found it
At the end when you were talking about the soaps being cut up it was very difficult to hear you and I didn't get half of what you said. ☹️
Not sure what happened, but we are in the process of getting a mic to help with sound issues....sorry about that.
What's the salt for?
The salt helps to pull the impurities out of the fat and draws it to the bottom of the tallow...that way I can scrape that layer off.
@@GrainFreeHomestead oh ok thank you for answering :)
you know if you grind that, like you would to make hamburger, it would render a lot more out.
I will have to try that next time thank you
Did you mention how much tallow you are using?
It's 32 ounces of tallow.
@@GrainFreeHomestead thank you. I'll be doing this tomorrow!
In the description I list the amounts for everything.
@@GrainFreeHomestead thank you again!
Your voice is so low on this I have to hold my phone which is on Extreme High to my ear so I'm not seeing what you're doing just to hear your voice
Iam sorry we were having some editing issues with the music and sound. If you are able to play UA-cam on a tv it helps. I think we fixed the issue in newer videos but it’s hard to go back and edit once it’s been posted