How to Make Deer Tallow Soap
Deer, or venison, tallow soap is a useful way to use a part of deer after killing one for food. Hunters today are looking for more ways of using the parts of animals that they kill. The meat of deer is good for eating, the pelts are good for upholstery or blankets and the heads are good for mounting. The fat can be used for many different things including soap, oil for lamps and for refinishing leather. In order to make deer tallow soap, you will need a basic soap recipe and you will need to convert the fat into tallow.
Things You'll Need
- Rendering the Tallow:
- Ground deer tallow (suet)
- Roasting pan
- Sieve, fine
- Large pot
- Peeled potato
- Making the Soap:
- 1000 grams of tallow (about 5 cups)
- 1-1/2 qt. glass or ceramic container or larger
- Rubber gloves
- Safety goggles
- 150 grams of lye (about 5.29 oz.)
- Glass or ceramic container
- 1 cup of distilled water, cold
- Stainless-steel pan or glass bowl
- Long heat-resistant stirring spoon (not aluminum)
- Soap molds
- 2 tbsp. of olive oil
- Wax paper
Instructions
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Rendering the Tallow
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1
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
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2
Put the tallow into the roasting pan and place in the oven for more than 45 minutes until it is completely melted. The tallow just begins to melt after 45 minutes, so keep checking the tallow until it is completely melted.
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3
Put the peeled potato in the bottom of the pot. When the tallow is melted, strain the tallow through a fine sieve into the pot. Boil for 60 minutes and remove the potato.
Making the Soap
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4
Pour the tallow into the one-and-a-half qt. glass or ceramic container.
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5
Put on rubber gloves and safety goggles. Weigh out the lye and put it in a container.
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6
Put the cold distilled water in a stainless-steel pan or glass container and take it outside along with the measured lye and the long spoon.
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7
Stand upwind as you pour the lye into the water and stir until the lye is completely dissolved. The lye will get very hot and release vapors. Always add lye to water, never water to lye, as this may cause a small explosion and lye particles will go everywhere.
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8
Go back inside and pour the lye mixture over the oil and tallow. Stir once every 20 minutes for the next couple of hours, ensuring that the tallow is melted with the lye. You will know it is ready to set when it has a thick honey-like texture. Make sure that your soap molds are ready to be filled.
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9
Put your stirring utensil upright into the mixture. If it takes a minute to fall over or if it remains upright, your soap is ready to mold. If it is not ready to mold, keep stirring once every 20 minutes for the next couple of hours. It should be ready within 24 hours.
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10
Pour the soap into soap molds. Allow them to sit for at least a week before turning the soap from the mold.
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11
Turn out your soap from the molds onto wax paper and allow to dry for a further two weeks.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Other animal fat may be used but it may need to be processed slightly differently. Make sure you have the right tallow rendering recipe for your animal. Heat will set the soap faster, so in cold weather the setting up will take longer.
Lye eats aluminum, so never use aluminum utensils or products when making soap.
References
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
