What Am I Doing With My Pig Lard?

I know....I know.....I told you all that I was going to use my rendered lard in some soap. But I don't think it is going to get that far. The other day I had my little kids clean out a few pumpkins. We roasted the seeds and also cooked the pumpkin for a real honest to goodness from scratch pumpkin pie. Guess what went into the pie crust? Yep......lard. And it was the best tasting pie crust I have ever made (and I take great pride in my pie crusts!) So I think my soap making creations are going to take a back seat to pie crust and I'll have to wait and render the fat from the two Scottish Highland Beef that are going to market mid November. Tallow makes a harder bar of soap than lard anyway!

Lard Lye Soap Making

Today I am rendering lard from a pig we had butchered this summer. I plan to create a new soap recipe to use this lard. Lard lye soap making isn't any different than using vegetable oils in your soap. One of my first successful batches of soap used lard. I chose not to use lard in my soap (that I was selling) at that time, not because I didn't like the soap, but because there seemed to be such an emphasis (demand) for vegetable oil only soaps. So I ditched the lard and chose vegetable oils.

Today, I think sustainable agriculture is important and I am going more with my beliefs than following the current trend (although the current trend in this area is that more and more people are desiring to buy more and more products locally from small producers). This entire past has been a year of growth and learning. I brought home 14 chickens last October. I already knew we were going to pursue getting sheep and goats, but we spent the winter learning all we could. By spring, we purchased a small flock of sheep, 2 goats, and 3 turkeys. Then we hatched out two batches of chickens from our own chickens' eggs and raised more layers and meat birds we purchased from a hatchery. In August we got three baby feeder pigs. We acquired three horses that are being boarded at a neighbor's place. We added a puppy in February and so.......... our little farm is growing. So you might be wondering how all of this ties in with sustainable agriculture. Well.....doing as much as you can for yourself and making the most of everything you have is an important aspect. This winter, I will be rendering more lard from the three pigs we have raised and making more soap. Doesn't it make sense to use everything we have rather than going out and buying a lot of other supplies?
So....if you raise your own pigs....use that extra fat for soap. If you don't raise pigs.....why not work with a farmer in your area who does raise pigs. Most of the time people who have pigs butchered do not want the extra fat......maybe you could get and use it? Why not try asking a few meat processors what they do with the fat that no one requests? You might be pleasantly suprised. You may be able to get it for nothing or barter a trade for some fat. This is better than allowing the fat to go to waste.

I found my first batch of lard lye soap to be a very hard, long-lasting, mild bar of soap. I can't wait to see how this recipe will turn out. I'll post the recipe once I have iti figured out.