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Deer fat?

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JW_Halverson:
Ha!  I just started an article on making deer fat lye soap.  I need to make a batch now and get the photos of the various steps along the way.

Lye soap ain't nothing like the urban legends want us to believe. Properly made it is mild and effective. It does smell a little like animal fat, but you can always use any number of essential oils and fragrances to "pretty" it up. 

As far as rendering, for soap I always recommend you put it in a roaster in the oven and cover it with water. Go low and slow, 250 degrees and overnight with the lid on tight. Strain, cool it, and let the fat separate and harden.  For lubricant or waterproofing purposes, you can skip the water part and just roast it low and slow. It will be a little smellier, if you don't mind. Once you have the fat drained off the cracklings, boil it in water to clean it up if you have bits of floaties in it
.

Mesophilic:
I just went ahead and did a write up on how I make soap.  It's in the How To section

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=64468.msg906156#msg906156

We haven't bought commercial soap for many years.  Homemade lye soap also works wonders on clothing stains.  I had one new mother, after using a bar as a stain treatment, tell me she wanted to know where I get my pixie dust to make such a magical product. 

And don't let anyone fool you, big industry is using lye and animal fats to make soap anyway, they just use big words.  From a major manufacturer


--- Quote ---sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance. The soap bar had a determined pH value: 9.5.
--- End quote ---

Sodium Tallowate is just a fancy word for soap made from lye and animal fat.

BowEd:
Some time ago I got some home made soap from JW in a trade.Worked out very well.

Pappy:
I use it for lub to rub down Broad heads and knives and sometimes as a rub in finish, never found it very tasty for eating.  :)
 Pappy

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