Main Discussion Area => Cooking Forum => Topic started by: JW_Halverson on January 29, 2015, 05:44:56 pm
Title: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on January 29, 2015, 05:44:56 pm
I had a corn fed eastern South Dakota doe given to me in late December and I finally got her thawed out enough to process. She had almost an inch of fat on her back over her hips. Dang!
I collected almost 7 lbs of pure tallow from her and rendered it down slowly in the oven. I had always wanted to try soap making, and this was the perfect opportunity. I spent several hours online researching soap making basics before I searched for deer tallow soap recipes. Turns out I am not the first duck in the water on this!
Hang on folks, there are a few photos to follow, but I am not turning this into a soap making lesson. I strongly recommend you spend the time I did researching, it is not hard to do, but there are some very fine details I recommend you learn about before you start on this wonderful skill!
Step one is mixing the pure lye granules with ice cold distilled water. You want water that has no hardness, no minerals apparently. Measurement of the lye depends on the strength of the lye and the fat profile of the other half of your recipe. You do NOT go by guess and by gosh!(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0023_zps9ac9edd7.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0023_zps9ac9edd7.jpg.html)
Next I measured out the exact weight in rendered tallow, that's the dark liquid in the larger mixing bowl. I had to cool the lye solution to 125 degrees to match the temp of the rendered and liquid fat. I cheated and used 10% canola oil, since it supposedly improves the lather of the finished soap. (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0024_zpsae28fa64.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0024_zpsae28fa64.jpg.html)
The lye solution is VERY slowly dribbled into the warm fat, stirring constantly. You are mixing water and oil. Easy peasy, right? Wrong, temps have to match perfectly, you cannot add too much water too fast, and you cannot add the fat to the lye, the lye must be added to the fat. Well, here I am stirring the pot! And stirring and stirring and stirring. (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0025_zpscb1da02a.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0025_zpscb1da02a.jpg.html)
You stir for quite some time with absolutely nothing going on. You just stir. Stir some more, and you are still stirring. I went stir crazy. But then it started to turn color, losing the clear amber color and turning to something that reminded me of nothing so much as good roast chicken gravy! (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0027_zps70a4bfcc.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0027_zps70a4bfcc.jpg.html)
It starts to thicken a little too, like making gravy. And still you keep stirring.
And now here is where you are about ready to stop stirring. The stuff is becoming thicker and thicker until you get "trace". Trace is the soap maker's technical term for when the stuff gets so thick that it leaves a trace when you pick up the spoon and what drops back in the pot leaves a trace of it's shape. I found out today that I stopped a bit too soon, I shoulda...you guessed it...kept stirring. (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0029_zps86f57eb2.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0029_zps86f57eb2.jpg.html)
I then turned the mixture into a shallow and wide plastic storage container and wrapped the whole thing in heavy bath towels. You want it to cool very slowly now. It has begun to "work" and the lye is saponifying the fats. At this point, the fats and the water should not separate....if you did a good job stirring! I cut the raw soap into blocks so that more air gets to more surface area, this allows the soap to finish curing faster. Couple weeks and I have a batch of nice lye soap! (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0039_zps8c91680e.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Cooking/deer%20tallow%20soap/IMG_0039_zps8c91680e.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on January 29, 2015, 05:50:02 pm
Now I am going to research "milling" soap. That's when you grind it up, or grate it up, add a little water and reheat to make it liquid again. But this time you can add fragrance and stuff. If you add fragrance and such in the early stages, the lye attacks it and may cause it to all smell like toasted crap.
I am thinking I will sneak into Bed Bath & Beyond in disguise and buy some lavender oil. I like lavender. Sssh, don't tell anyone.
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: Danzn Bar on January 29, 2015, 06:06:30 pm
8) Real cool JW....wish I had the time to dabble in its type of stuff...Oh can't wait for retirement... :) DBar
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on January 29, 2015, 06:22:04 pm
Start to finish, I spent an hour on the actual project. That's after dicing the fat really fine and roasting at 300 degrees in the oven, straining out the chunks, running it thru cheesecloth, and then finally thru very fine muslin to get out all the "bits".
The actual "cook" involved warming the tallow up until liquid, mixing the lye solution outside (always do it outside and with some wind blowing), and the actual stirring process. Not a bad investment in time for a little over a kilo of soap.
I'm taking it along on Rendezvous as trade goods. I will keep a pot of hot water on the fire and have a bar of soap handy to have folks try. At these events, your hands are dirty all the time and I will provide a necessary and welcome service. Now if you like how soft and clean your hands feel, consider buying the archer's choice, the one and only Bow Soap!
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: Swampman on January 29, 2015, 06:30:05 pm
Very cool JW. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I never thought of doing this before. Now I have something cool to do with the deer fat next year. I like to use all of the deer that I can when I get one.
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: chamookman on January 30, 2015, 04:41:44 am
Nice Jdub - neat project ! Gotta agree that Lilac is a wonderful smell. Always enjoy when the Lilacs in My yard blossom in the Spring. Bob
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on January 30, 2015, 09:17:44 pm
Have been reading a few more intructional sites on soap making. Some folks dislike deer tallow soap because compared to modern soaps they think it feels "slimey". But one thing that has come up time and again is that deer tallow soap also conditions and softens skin.
For me, it is the satisfaction of doing something using the most raw of materials. Apparently this is now "a thing". It's called Making or the Maker Culture. People that have grown up boying whatever they need, eating out or getting it delivered, are finding a simple satisfaction in going to the farmer's market and buying raw ingredients. Jellies are often one of the first steps, LOL. Yeah, now that is something to get you addicted to doing for yourself, huh?
From Wikipedia: "'Maker culture' emphasizes learning-through-doing (constructivism) in a social environment...Some say that the maker movement is a reaction to the de-valuing of physical exploration and the growing sense of disconnection with the physical world in modern cities.....Many products produced by the maker communities have a focus on health (food), sustainable development, environmentalism, local culture and can from that point of view also be seen as a anti-response on disposables, globalised mass production, the power of chain stores, multinationals and consumerism."
Betcha you guys didn't know we were the pioneers in this movement, didja?!?!?! You hairy, hippy, counterculture, hipsters!
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: Danzn Bar on January 30, 2015, 09:32:52 pm
Right on Jdub.....man can survive without grocery stores! :) DBar
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: GlisGlis on February 02, 2015, 10:49:12 am
Very very interesting I started reading some post about soap making I'm tempted to make my own lye starting from ashes even if right measurements seems critical to obtain the soap
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on February 02, 2015, 08:20:29 pm
A little further reading on tallow/lye soap and I found out why my hands feel so much softer when I used the bit of lye soap I had bought at a Rondy-voo a few years back. It seems that part of the reaction between the fat and the lye produces glycerine. Most soap manufacturers then remove the glycerine so they can sell that seperately.
Now that's funny. They make a soap, remove the glycerine, and then the soap dries out your skin. So then you go buy some skin moisturizer containing, you guessed it, glycerine! :o
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: GlisGlis on February 03, 2015, 12:02:08 pm
Quote
They make a soap, remove the glycerine, and then the soap dries out your skin. So then you go buy some skin moisturizer containing, you guessed it, glycerine!
they call it progress :-X
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JoJoDapyro on February 03, 2015, 12:10:07 pm
Developers do that here. They remove all the large rocks from your lot when they dig the foundation, then sell them back to you for landscape decoration after.
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: lebhuntfish on February 03, 2015, 12:46:22 pm
Nice job on a fun project JW!
You sure are good at stirring the pot! >:D Patrick
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on February 03, 2015, 04:56:26 pm
You sure are good at stirring the pot! >:D Patrick
Next I am going to make all organic fertilizer, I will certainly include pics of stirring the shi....stuff.
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: lebhuntfish on February 03, 2015, 07:46:24 pm
Your bad man, just bad! >:D Patrick
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: Grasshopper Mouse on February 06, 2015, 12:01:47 pm
I don't mind being called hairy, hippy is a little off base for me but ok, counterculture is fine, but I draw the line at being called a hipster!
I've made soap from scratch with lard from the supermarket and lye. It's really a lot of fun and easier than one would expect. The soap clens great and back when I still shaved, it made an excellent shaving soap. Deer fat soap would be a real treat.
Guy
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: stickbender on February 22, 2015, 04:15:45 pm
Do like J.W. said, do this outside, and be sure to wear, rubber gloves, and eye protection, as Lye is some nasty stuff. ;) My Buddy in Montana, had his Mother n Law, make him some soap with anise in it, for getting the fish smell off of his hands, after cleaning fish. thanks J.W.
Wayne
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: JW_Halverson on February 22, 2015, 04:25:46 pm
I was visiting a website for "soapers" and picked up a tip for curing the soap a little faster. They recommended chopping it fine so that air could get to it better. Sooo....I dug out the food processor I rarely used. Ran the whole batch thru the slicer, so I have a small rubbermaid tote full of pure white potato chip looking soap flakes.
Couple more weeks of final curing, and I will "mill" the soap. To mill the soap, it is ground, sliced, chopped, or otherwise reduced to small size and a little water is added along with any scents you would use and it gets reheated and melted together. Once it is all a thick liquid again, you pour it into molds or a block to cool. If you pour blocks, it can be cut into smaller bars.
I am thinking of some cedar essential oil for part of the batch and lavendar for the rest. Some for the fellers and some for the ladies! And one smaller portion will again go thru the food processor and shaved into tiny flakes for scent/dye free laundering of hunting clothes.
Title: Re: Lye-ing
Post by: lebhuntfish on February 22, 2015, 04:53:47 pm
Sounds pretty cool! Can't wait to get washed up >:D Patrick