Beef Tallow

Soap making in no-store land: 6 steps to make soap with ashes and fat

soaplady — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:42:21 +0000

Making aromatic and rich lather soaps with fanciful soap recipes are a fad these days. But there was a time when soap making was done from available materials. A time when even Robinson Crusoes could make soaps with wood from ashes, fat from animals and using utensils made of clay or wood. Then, soap making was strictly an outdoor activity, a barbecue-like thing when women participated together as a group or engaged singly in a strenuous activity of mixing and blending fat with alkali.

Soap making in no-store land: Suppose you live in a remote town where the stores are closed for holidays or you have gone on a holiday to some lonely corner of the earth where you want to pursue soap making, you can do it with just a few basic things. Below are steps to make soaps in the outdoors:

1. Making wood ash lye: Since lye is the alkali used to break animal fat into fatty acids and glycerin, you need to make lye solution first. Lye is nothing but a liquid solution of potash which reacts with tallow in the saponification process to form soft soap. Two methods – Barrel Method and Ash Hopper method can be used to prepare lye solution.

2. Barrel method of lye preparation: In the pre-technological era, people used bottomless barrels to make lye. Usually, the barrel was set on a stone slab with a groove and a lip carved in it. The stone rested on a pile of rocks, underneath which was a clay or wooden utensil to collect lye water. To prevent ashes from collecting, straw and small sticks were placed in the barrel. Then, ashes were put on top of barrel and water was poured on them. A brownish liquid collected at the clay vessel. You can use this method if you do not have the means of an ash hopper.

3. Ash hopper method: Most of the colonists found this to be a suitable method to keep a continual supply of lye. An ash hopper was usually kept in a shed to prevent the ashes from rainfall and other climatic conditions. Ashes were added periodically and water was poured over at intervals. The vessel beneath the hopper collected the lye solution. You too can follow this procedure if you have an ash hopper at your convenience.

4. Fat preparation: Cattle fat was the readily available fat those days. Most of the soaps were formed using beef fat (suet) rendered into tallow through a cleansing process. To render your raw fat, allow the fat to boil in a kettle with equal amount of water. After all the fat has melted, add water again and allow the mixture to cool overnight. By the next day, you can see the clean layer of fat floating upstairs, while all the impurities lie underneath. Collect the top layer by separating it from other impurities.

5. Making soap: Place the fat in a large kettle and add lye solution to it. Boil the kettle until you get a thick frothy mass of soap. You can notice the formation of soap (saponification) or what is called trace when you stir the mixture. However, this may take six to eight hours, so have patience. You can identify soap is formed if there is no noticeable “bite” sensation when you place an iota of the frothy substance on your tongue.

6. Soft and Hard soap: The thick substance that is formed is soft soap. It makes a lot of lather and cleans pretty well. If you want hard soap, like the colonists, you need to mix common salt to the your soap at the end of the process. Addition of salt can turn soap hard and allow you to make bars out of the liquid soap. The bars or the liquid soap can be scented using essential oils or other flavor substances.

Tallow soap basics: How to cut the crap and make a basic soap

soaplady — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:40:14 +0000

Soap making is a hobby with many nowadays. People even gift homemade soaps as a personal token of their affection. Above all, soaps made by you or your family members, are highly customized (personalized) to suit your interests with regard to color, scent and texture. Many people also make extra income out of soap making. They sell their soaps in farm markets and make money out of a not-so-tedious hobby. But as the experienced soap makers know, the art requires skill and patience. You need to keep your wits in place till your tallow and lye water fuse to form the soapy-thing of your choice.

Amateur soap makers are at a loss for soap recipes. With almost everyone around taking up soap making, it is hard to find good old basic soap recipes in the local library or bookstores. Sure, the Internet is a great source, but there again, people hardly get to find a recipe that requires the most basic of ingredients and demands the shortest of our time. This article will detail a step-by-step process on what all you need to make a very basic soap using a basic method of tallow soap making.

Basic method of tallow soap making: This basic method has been referred by Hulda Clarkis in the book, The Cure For All Diseases. To make a basic soap, you would need the following ingredients:

A small plastic dishpan
A glass or enamel 2 quart sauce pan
12 ounces of lye (Sodium Hydroxide)
3 pounds of fresh, rendered beef tallow
plastic gloves and goggles
gallons of very cold water
wooden blender or any other plastic stirring equipment

1. Prepare the previous night: If you have bought suet from your butcher, you can render it the previous evening and refrigerate it overnight so that your tallow is fresh and ready for soap making the next morning. Also refrigerate water overnight to freezing temperatures. You would need very cold water in order to reduce the heat of lye solution.

2. Lye solution: Pour 3 cups of cold water into the 2-quart sauce pan and slowly add lye to the water. Have your protective covering (gloves and goggles) on and it is better if you make this lye preparation outside your house. This is because lye has the habit of spoiling places. Keep it out of reach of children too. Never breathe in the vapor or lean over the container. Since the mixture will be very hot, allow it to cool for at least one hour in a safe place.

3. Tallow preparation: Meanwhile, unwrap your tallow and allow it to melt in the dishpan. Then, slowly mix it thoroughly with lye by pouring lye into tallow. Stir the mixture for at least 15 minutes until you get the texture of a thick pudding.

4. Allow it to cool: Let the mixture set till next morning. When cooled, the soap would have become solid and you can then cut it into bars and package it for sale or as a gift.

5. Liquid soap: You can make liquid soap out of this basic soap. All you need to do is, cut the bars into small chips, dissolve them in enough hot water and add citric acid to balance the pH value. This is to reduce the harshness of the soap on your skin. Once done with mixing, allow the mixture to cool. The result will be a liquid soap which you can use for cleaning.

Livestock as fuel stock: 4 reasons why animal-fat based biodiesel is better

soaplady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:52:58 +0000

Biodiesel is gaining importance as an alternative fuel all over the world. Thanks to the rise in oil prices and the often-occurring rifts between the middle-east oil giants and other countries, petroleum-based products are becoming too expensive to the over-consumptive western world. Biofuel is a sustainable and long-standing renewable alternative to this issue. But what is the future of biodiesel? Can animal fat form a good source of biodiesel?

Animal-fat based biodiesel: Animal-fat based biodiesel has long been ignored or sidelined in the biofuel industry. It has been given step motherly treatment compared to plant-oil based biodiesel and has been termed as a lesser-quality option. But according to scientific studies both animal fat and plant based oil contain the same chemical constituents and differ only in the proportion of the constituents. Both plant oils and animal fat (like tallow) are biodegradable, non-toxic and safe for use in diesel engines. Both reduce unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, particulates and also lubricate the engines well.

Livestock as fuel stock: When livestock is used as fuel stock, there are a few shortcomings. Many manufacturers knew about this and abstained from using animal fat in biodiesel. But with the advancement of technology, it has been proved that tallow is a slightly better ingredient than vegetable oil in biodiesel production. Some manufacturers did not adequately manage the chemistry or downstream refining of the biofuel produced and this resulted in low quality biodiesel from beef tallow. Things have changed and now we have high-quality, animal-fat based biodiesel that complies with ASTM and EN standards.

There are several reasons why tallow is better compared to plant oil based biodiesel. Below are a few:

1. Cheaper than plant oils: Soybean oil, which is extensively used in biodiesel production, costs higher than animal fat. Owing to the high demand of the oil, soybean oil price has skyrocketed tremendously so much so that manufacturers find it difficult to balance between production costs and biodiesel rates. With such increased prices, fuel producers find animal fat as a better alternative to soybean oil.

2. High cetane number: Cetane number is something which measures the ignition quality of a fuel. The higher the cetane number, the better for the vehicle. Petroleum-based diesel has a cetane number of 40 to 52. While soybean-oil based diesel has a cetane value between 46 and 52, animal-fat based biodiesel’s cetane value is between 56 and 60. Higher cetane value results in improved fuel combustion and therefore, better vehicle performance. Tallow biodiesel is better in this way.

3. More lubrication: Animal-fat based biodiesel lubricates the engine parts better than its plant-oil based fuel. With protective compounds, the fuel reduces engine wear and tear, and offers it a longer lifetime.

4. Lower combustion: With higher cetane levels, tallow biodiesel comes with reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and pollutants. This makes tallow biodiesel a greener and better alternative to vegetable-oil based or petroleum based fuel.

However, there is one strong negative point against animal-fat based biodiesel and that is its poor winter performance. Since tallow is solid only at room temperature, it can lead to poor quality ignition in winter. This is a drawback compared to plant-oil based fuels which are active all time of the year. Yet extensive testing has shown that blends like B5 show no change even in cold weather conditions.

Grass fed or grain fed beef? There’s the rub.

soaplady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:49:38 +0000

Grass fed or grain fed, what is the big deal, you might say. No, it is not an easy take. Grass fed beef is extremely different from its industrially-raised, grain fed counterpart. The beef raised in organic ways produces healthy tallow compared to the one raised with preventatives, pesticides and through inorganic means.

Beef has been gaining a lot of bad rap these days. Too much has been said to prove that beef or beef tallow is not as good as we think. True. It is not as good as we think because what we eat today is not the beef or tallow our ancestors ate. Our ancestors fed themselves with natural and organically raised cattle, not the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) monitored cows.

Benefits of red meat: Beef has several credits to it. First, it offers the biggest boost of protein per ounce of traditional food. Next, it is an excellent source of niacin, vitamins B6, B12, K2, selenium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin. It is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is said to have anti-cancer properties. It is also high on omega-3 fatty acids. With all these and our pro-fat leanings, we cannot possibly forgo beef in our diet and tallow in our day-to-day use. But there are certain things we need to be careful about while using beef. The first thing is to find out whether your beef fat is from grass fed or grain fed cow.

Happy cow is dead: If you have an image of a happy cow grazing grass in an absolutely peaceful and serene state, you are at fault. Almost no cow is happy now. At least the American CAFO regulations and the grain feed make it so. The grass fed cow is different from its grain fed cousin in the following ways:

1. CLA quotient: Only grass fed, organically-raised cows contain conjugated linoleic acid. Industrial cows do not. The CLA quotient has anti-cancer properties and can help decrease the risk of insulin resistance.

2. Omega-6 and Omega-3 ratios: In grass fed cows, the ratio of Omega-6 is to Omega-3 fatty acids is 1:1, whereas in the industrial ones, the ratio is 6:1. The latter is an alarming and skewed up ratio that can lead to inflammation or can be a possible precursor of chronic conditions.

3. E.Coli presence: Grass fed and finished beef is less likely to be infected with acid-resistant E.Coli bacteria that can set a series of digestive problems in humans. However, you need to check if the cow is fully grass fed. Sometimes, farmers switch over to CAFO rules and industrial, grain diet after few months of grass feeding. This makes the cow lose all its initial omega-3 resources and other nutritional benefits.

4. Antibiotics, pesticides: Because of the CAFO conditions and poor grain diets, most of the cows are prone to sickness. To avoid this, they are administered with preventative doses of antibiotics. This causes antibiotic resistance in us, resulting in ineffective medical treatment. Some administer toxic pesticides in growing feed for livestock. Often these carry hormone-disruptive and cancer-causing substances into the human body.

5. Hormone implants in cattle: Industrially-reared cows are often subjected to growth hormone implants in order to provide continual hormonal supplements for animals. This may have a huge impact on humans taking heavily-hormoned cows. The American livestock is especially full of such hormone implants.

With all these in practice, the grain fed American cow is indeed overloaded with impurities and fat. This is why the humanely-raised, grass fed organic cattle offers all the health benefits of the traditional beef taken by our ancestors.

Meat before tallow: 3 popular uses of beef Suet (or raw beef fat)

soaplady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:46:02 +0000

Beef has met with a lot of bad reputation recently. The animal fat has been abhorred by millions on account of the projected health hazards it may cause when consumed or used by humans. Reasons: High saturated fats, low polyunsaturated fatty acids, high risk of cholesterol and arteriosclerosis. Health hazards apart, beef has been in use from the ancient times in many industrial, homemade products including soaps, candles, leather and most recently, biodiesel. It has also been discovered that consumption of animal fat like beef or lard is good for health, compared to hydrogenated vegetable oils and that clogging of arteries cannot be attributed only to the intake of animal fat. With all these facts, one cannot ignore the importance of beef and its various byproducts.

What is Suet? “Render therefore unto suet the thing that was beef fat”, goes an old adage. Suet is raw beef fat present around the kidney and loin region of cows, that is, around a beef’s hindquarter. Suet is available in packaged forms in stores. Sometimes packaged suet is dehydrated and can be mixed with flour, which can go rancid or can be unsuitable for preparation of tallow or bird feed. This is why it is better to get raw suet from your butcher. However, when you buy from suet, ensure that you get only the fat around kidneys and loin area. All other fat is not suet and should not be used in suet recipes or suet uses.

Popular uses of Suet: Suet, as such, has a lot of traditional uses. It is used in puddings, in the making of mincemeat, in making of cakes, bird feed and a lot more. But, the most common and primary use of suet is to make tallow.

1. From suet to tallow: Beef tallow is made using fresh suet. Suet is traditionally rendered into tallow for use in soaps, candles and cooking. Raw beef fat is solid at room temperature and has a high smoking point of 40 degree Celsius. To be rendered into tallow, suet is heated on a pot, until it is cleansed of its impurities. When the fat melts and the red skin turns into brown, you can sieve the crackled pieces of fat from the liquid using a cheese cloth. The liquid fat, when cooled or refrigerated, becomes tallow. Tallow is pure white or yellowish in color depending of freshness or quality of suet.

2. Suet as bird feed: Suet is traditional bird food. It is used to attract many kinds of birds – woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, kinglets, thrashers, creepers, cardinals, and starlings. Suet, when mixed with peanut butter, is good food for juncos, jays, bluebirds and goldfinches.

3. Suet and cooking: Suet is an important ingredient in the traditional English Christmas pudding. Since it has only a mild beefy smell, it imparts a rich and tasty flavor to any kind of dish. Suet is used in many recipes including the preparation of Haggis, steak and kidney pudding, Christmas pudding, mincemeat, spotted dick, rag pudding, dumplings, Jamaican patty, Windsor pudding etc. Suet can be made into suet cakes for other uses.

It should be remembered that grass fed suet tastes better and is healthier compared to suet from grain fed industrially-raised cows.

Nourishing Traditions: Why eating tallow is not as toxic as you think

soaplady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:42:45 +0000

Since the advancement of civilization, advent of factories and refinement of food products, we started sermonizing on the evils of harder oils and fats. Animal fat was shunned on account of its high content of saturated fats and low ratio of polyunsaturated fats. Traditional foods and cooking recipes were termed hazardous to health and a “refined” way of eating became the norm. The more refined we turned, the more processed our foods became. Margarine, processed vegetable oils and refined products reigned over traditional foods like butter, ghee, lard, beef tallow, coconut oil and olive oil. But things are changing now, thanks to the enlightening studies and books on the goods of animal fats and ills of processed foods.

Nourishing Traditions: In her book Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon talks in detail about the full spectrum of healthy foods and not-so-healthy foods. Based on the research done by Weston A. Price, she gives healthy fat recipes, explaining why animal fats and harder oils like butter, lard, beef tallow, coconut oil and olive oil are not heart-killers as we think. Price, a dentist and nutritionist, investigated several groups to find out which is evil – taking traditional diets or civilized/processed foods. His findings revealed that people who resorted to the traditional way of cooking and consumption of animal fats and oils lived hale and healthy while those who took refined food succumbed to a lot of diseases, especially cholesterol-related, heart ailments (inspite of it).

Based on Price’s findings, Sally Fallon detailed the nourishing traditional foods of America and the good they bring to the Americans in the book. The book also illustrates with real life studies and instances, how the projected conditions of hyper-cholesterol and arteriosclerosis do not stem from intake of saturated fats, but from processed, unsaturated fats.

Why beef tallow is not evil: Tallow is rendered beef fat. This fat, called Suet, is taken from the kidney and loin area of the cows. Kidney fat of grass-fed cows make good tallow, compared to the industrial, grain-fed ones. Tallow, when rendered, is stable at room temperature and has a high degree of saturation (56%). Unlike hydrogenated vegetable oils, it has a high smoke point (40 to 45 degree Celsius) which makes it ideal for any kind of deep frying.

Tallow is an excellent source of niacin, vitamins B6, B12, K2, selenium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin. Grassfed beef tallow contains high ratio of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is a cancer-resistant agent. Contrary to the popular conception, tallow is good for health as tallow fat is similar to the fat/muscles in the heart. Recent studies have shown that human beings need at least 50% of saturated fats like tallow and lard to keep the heart pumping hale and healthy. Tallow from pasture-raised cows also contains a small amount of Vitamin D, similar to lard. It is also a good source of K2 in its suet form.

Tallow nutritional facts: According to the findings of USDA, beef tallow consists the following amounts of fats, proteins and carbohydrates:

Beef Tallow (USDA #04001) – per 1 serving cup:

Calories – 902
Total Fat – 100g
Total Carbohydrates – 0g
Dietary Fiber – 0g
Sugars – 0g
Cholesterol – 109mg

The way forward: Beef tallow biodiesel as the fuel of future

soaplady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:39:47 +0000

The Federal Energy Policy Act, passed in August 2005, has accelerated the biodiesel revolution in the country to a phenomenal extent. According to the bill, the United States is to set a new standard to itself and use 7 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2012. The said year is not far away and the country is already gearing up to produce gallons of renewable fuels – biodiesel is just one of them. So far, the biodiesel industry has relied only on plant oils (soybean oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil etc) and recycled cooking oils and greases (like yellow grease). With increasing costs of crops and plant oils, the industry has shifted its attention to animal fats like beef tallow and pork lard.

Beef tallow has been identified as a reliable source for biodiesel production. Though chicken fat and lard are used widely, beef tallow has gained prominence in biodiesel production due its cheaper availability and high cloud point. This article will deal with the future scope of using beef tallow as biodiesel.

Beef in your tank: Beef has a remarkable future in the biodiesel industry. There are several reasons for it, but the most important being its ready availability. Tallow is aplenty in the country compared to plant oils. Since plant oil production may affect the raise of crops, which in turn may affect food prices, animal fat is a safe and prudent alternative to soybean oil for biodiesel production. Manufacturers have shifted to animal fat due to cheaper production costs. It is estimated that with 2.5 billion pounds of animal fat (say, chicken fat), a biodiesel company can produce about 300 million gallons of biodiesel. Since biodiesel quality, usage and production varies with different blends, companies gain a lot from manufacturing biodiesel with animal fat like tallow.

Main drivers behind biodiesel production: Biodiesel has a stable future because of its environment-friendly condition. Biodiesel produced using tallow is greener compared to regular fossil based fuels, gasoline or even plant-oil based fuels. It is renewable, energy-efficient, nontoxic, biodegradable and is extremely eco-friendly. It has reduced tailpipe emissions, reduces particulates that cause global warming and can be used in all diesel engines without modifications. This is especially true with the B20 blend.

Biodiesel in the future: In the future, biodiesel produced from tallow will be the regular fuel pumped into our engines. This is because it now makes economic sense to invest in animal fat for biodiesel production than rely on plant oil (like soybean oil). Since plant oils like soybean oil are also used as food additives, the demand is higher than the produce. This has led to price creep in the United States, ruling out soybean oil from the biodiesel industry. A few manufacturers are attempting a blend of plant oils, animal fat and cooking oils. While this maybe possible, increase in price of one commodity may result in trading-in or displacement of it with another. This would keep the renewable energy chain on the upbeat and would never cause depletion or lack of any particular energy resource.

The Tallow Advantage: Tallow is at great advantage as alternative fuel source owing to its ready availability. The American cowman does not require any extra effort to keep the livestock production up and going. The USDA predicts that the American meat production industry has shown a continued growth of at least 1 percent a year. This would mean steady supply of animal fat for biodiesel. Tallow is a byproduct of beef fat and hence, is not a virgin material like plants. Tallow biodiesel has greater oxidative stability which reduces the risk of sedimentation. Above all, since biodiesel is not a consumable product, if the quality of biodiesel adheres to ASTM standards, there would be no question of the quality of tallow or lard used. In brief, beef tallow would be a promising resource for biodiesel production in the future.

The fuel of future: 5 reasons to use biofuel made with tallow

soaplady — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:01:07 +0000

With so many harmful climatic changes happening around us, biofuels are the best alternative resources of fuel that can help reduce the harms we inflict on our environment. Biofuels are made though esterification of fats or oils with alcohol like methanol. With so much being discovered in this sector, it can be said that biofuel would be the fuel of future. It is also safe for use in traditional engines (biodiesel in diesel engines) and have lower emission levels compared to regular fuels.

Biofuel manufacture: Fats or vegetable oils are used in biofuel manufacture. Since cultivation, production and shipment of biofuel using plant oils (vegetable oils) involves a lot of work, time and money, nowadays beef tallow or other animal fat is used in the production of biodiesel. Beef tallow biodiesel is highly beneficial for vehicles as it comes with minimal environmental pollution causing agents and is available for cheap as beef suet in markets and agricultural farms.
There are several reasons for use of biofuel in vehicles and for using tallow as the primary ingredient in the production of biodiesel:

1. Cheap availability: Compared to biofuel produced using vegetable oils or plant oils, biodiesel produced using tallow or other animal fat is extremely cheap. This is because of the ready availability of beef suet and the easy rendering process required to cleanse beef fat of its impurities. However, this will have a backlash on the effect of tallow use in other industrial applications like manufacture of soaps, candles, leather etc.

2. Ready for use in existing forms: Biodiesel produced with tallow can be used in existing forms without modification. In fact, biodiesel would run more smoothly in engines in comparison to other alternative sources of fuels. It actually lubricates the engines better with clear burning emissions and thereby, a better environment. Biodiesel’s super-lubrication properties acts as a solvent to cleanse the engine. This effect is especially produced using B100 (100% biodiesel) or B20 (20% biofuel and 80% petroleum) fuels. However, biodiesel is very effective and complies with existing standards when mixed with 5% of regular diesel.

3. High flash point: Biofuel made with tallow runs through the same compression process as regular transport fuels, igniting compressed, ultra hot air to make the vehicle move. Biofuel has a high flash point – the combustion or ignite point. While petroleum based biofuels ignite at about 125 degrees F, tallow biodiesel is safe even up to 300 degrees F.

4. Just like regular diesel: When it comes to mileage, biodiesel is just like regular fuels. It generally provides the same number of miles per gallon as regular diesel.

5. Cleaner environment: Biodiesel with animal fat like tallow is definitely the best way to a cleaner environment. It does not have pollutants that contribute to smog and global warming. It also has fewer cancer-causing agents. Above all, biodiesel is approved by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meets the requirements and health effects of clean air act.

Laundry at home: 7 simple steps to make laundry soap with tallow

soaplady — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:52:07 +0000

Making soaps, especially laundry soaps, requires a little patience and some basic knowledge in soap making. All soaps are basically foaming salts which are the result of mixing animal fat or vegetable oil with an alkali like lye. A soap is the combination of fat, lye and water. When you make a laundry soap, you mix only the same ingredients. It is just that you create a basic soap and then transform it into a laundry variety by adding a few extra ingredients.

Basic soap making: As mentioned earlier, start with basic soap making. Get ready all your ingredients: 64 oz beef tallow, 24 oz distilled water and 8.5 oz lye. Get all your equipments ready. You would definitely need the following: large stainless steel pot, two heavy plastic pitchers, goggles and gloves, blender, thermometer, soap molds and saran wrap.

1. Start with tallow: Melt the beef tallow you have in the stainless steel pot. Remember to render the tallow before including it in the soap recipe. Half-done or improperly-done tallow would taste bad or go rancid quickly. So, keep your tallow fresh and perfect for soap making. Since tallow has a high smoke point, you need to boil it well to melt it.

2. Work with lye and water: Measure water in one of your pitchers. It is better to use cold, distilled water as cold water would reduce the heat of the lye solution. Once the lye is measured and ready in another pitcher, slowly pour the lye into water. Do this only after wearing goggles and gloves. Better to keep this mixing out of your house as lye, when split, can damage your home walls and floor. It is always recommended to use neoprene gloves. Stir the lye water until it is clear and all lye crystals have dissolved into the water.

3. Pour lye into tallow: Once the lye solution is ready, pour this mixture into melted tallow. Mix it with a blender till it reaches trace stage. You can know more on how to identify trace formation in this blog.

4. Pour soap mixture into molds: After trace formation, pour the soap mixture into molds and cover them with saran wrap. Let the molds sit for about 24 hours. Later, extract the bars from the molds and allow them to dry in a well-ventilated area. Do not use heat for this as we have cold-pressed the soap.

Transforming basic soap into laundry soap: Laundry soap has greater cleansing effect than ordinary soap. It is much stronger and hence can be harmful to the human skin. You can make laundry soap from basic soap. To do this, you may need few ingredients like 4 oz of basic soap, gallons of water, half cup of borax, fragrance oil (as much as you need), and large storage container.

5. Make soap pieces: Laundry soap starts with basic soap. Chop the prepared soap into pieces and put them into the water in the pot. Start heating the pot in order to melt the soap pieces.

6. Boil and stir: Keep boiling. Stir the mixture well in order to let the soap dissolve completely into water. Laundry soap should be made harder, hence water has to be added to it. Once the soap is dissolved, add borax and fragrance oil (if you like) to the mixture.

7. Keep in storage container: Pour the mixture into the storage container and allow it to cool. When cooled, the mixture will solidify into gel. Your laundry soap will be ready once you get the gel like substance. You can now use it extensively for all kinds of cloth washing. You can use an appropriate amount of gel, say about half a cup with every load of wash.

Tallow taste: The sacrosanct link between French fries and beef tallow

soaplady — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:39:11 +0000

People usually buy a food stuff based on its packaging, appearance or brand. Whether they buy it again depends on the taste of the food. A person’s food preferences, especially with regard to taste is established right in the beginning of childhood or what are called the formative years. While babies usually prefer sweet food, toddlers like hot and spicy ones. As people grow, their taste buds tend to change depending on environmental and psychological factors. The question now is, how does tallow taste? From its appearance you would assume that it tastes just like any meat or mutton fat. But that is far from truth. Tallow tastes like the crispy, delicious French fries. Yes, believe it or not, beef tallow has a sacrosanct link with the world-favorite French fries.

McDonald’s French fries and beef tallow: When Ray Kroc, one of the founders of McDonald’s, commented about his food chain, he mentioned, “The French fry is sacrosanct to me. Its preparation is a ritual to be followed religiously.” This is because, originally, McDonald’s cooked their French fries with beef tallow and they were such a delicacy to savor. Only in 1990, the food chain had to give in to vegetable oils owing to criticism on the excess amount of cholesterol content in the French fries. This actually presented the company with a challenge on how to make French fries taste like the original beef tallow fries without using beef tallow. This led to the birth of what is called the secretive, flavor industry of America.

All giant food chains or companies have their secretive “flavor company” which adds “natural or artificial” flavor to their food stuffs. It is originally these flavor companies that manufacture the real taste of fast food in the United States. With man-made additives occupying the food space, people want to go in for a shift and try natural food flavors. Cooking French fries with beef tallow is an attempt at getting the original, real-crispy taste of French fries.

How to cook French fries with beef tallow? Before we go into the details of cooking, it is important to understand how harmful or harmless cooking with beef tallow is. There is rampant talk about the evils of saturated fats and the question of the digestibility of animal fat in cooking. It has been found out that 97% of animal fat is digestible and that low polyunsaturated fats present in beef tallow is good for health. As for the condition of atherosclerosis, it has been proved that coronary heart disease due to atherosclerosis is common with people in every other country and consumption of high fat has little do with it.

French Fries recipe: To cook French fries with tallow, you would need the common ingredients like russet potatoes, filtered water, 6 to 8 cups of beef tallow (better if it is grass fed), sea salt and equipments like deep fat fryer, tongs, cookie sheet, parchment paper, paper towels and French fry cutter.

1. Peel and cut the potatoes using the French fry cutter to the desired size. Then, soak them in filtered water for 30 minutes or even overnight (depends on your time availability).

2. Add beef tallow in the deep fat fryer and start heating. The smoke point of beef tallow higher than most harder oils and hence you can heat it up to 370 degrees. Once you have checked with a thermometer on the temperature of the fryer, slowly add potatoes to it.

3. As you add potatoes, the oil will start splitting, so stay a little away from the fryer. Fry for say 3 minutes or till you get the desired color. Then take the fries one by one using tongs and transfer them to the cookie sheet.

4. French fries should go for a second fry in order to get the real taste. Bring the tallow to 380 degrees and then deep fry the fries again. Now, transfer them to the Silpat-lined cookie paper.

5. Now, sprinkle salt and serve the fries after you have mixed adequate salt all over. Your fries will for sure taste like the original pre-1990 McDonald’s fries.