Nom de Plume

Yes, you read that right. Tallow. As in rendered beef fat.

I’ve never used tallow in soap, though I have used lard. Lard makes WONDERFUL soap. (And before anyone gets skeeved out, if you’ve ever used Dove or Ivory, you’ve used animal fats in soap.)

I got tired of buying lard in the plastic tubs; it’s not all that cheap and it’s got BHT and all sorts of other stuff in there to preserve it. So the next logical step was to render my own. Problem: It’s a little hard to find pig fat to render. Bob’s Quality Meats–a fabulous butcher in Columbia City–offered to order me a 60-lb. drum. I think that might be a little extreme.

However! Safeway butchers will just give you beef fat if you ask for it. They look at you funny (as do the cashiers when they see this big bag of fat), but it costs nothing. And these days, with the economy as it is, I’m all about soaping on the cheap. Plus, how best to recycle? They would just throw it out. So right now, I have a pot full of beef fat, water, and salt simmering on the stove. I’ll let you know how it turns out.