# Bacon fat for soap?



## NamasteMama (Jul 24, 2009)

Ok I have this giant thing, almost a 1/2 gallon full of bacon grease. Did'nt know what to do with it except not to toss it down the drain. I started thinking, maybe, just maybe its possible to make soap from it? Could anyone tell me if it would work? Or would I end up with a nasty bacon smelling soap?


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## Michele of MI (Jul 8, 2009)

My son found a recipe for soap made with bacon fat in Make magazine. It was in the issue before the current one, but they probably have it on their site. All of the males at my house really want bacon scented soap.:1pig: They think that is a great idea! I am not a meat eater, so bacon does not get served often at our house, but if it did we would definitely make soap. I'd love to know how it turns out!


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## Prickle (May 9, 2009)

I've made soap from kitchen grease. 

It was mostly bacon and beef fat with some cooking oil. I boiled it in water first with a little baking soda to get rid of the crumbs and deodorize it. It does have a little bit of a grease smell afterword but once it's mixed with the lye that smell pretty much goes away. It makes an OK soap, gets ya clean like soap should. 

I've also made soap from the fat from lamb chops 

Personally I prefer the vegetable based soaps though.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

know any trappers or bear hunters they would love that or maybe you could make it into something like suet for the birds this winter (warm it, pour in some kind of mold with a string to hang it of course and stick it in the fridge till its well set.)


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## Countrystyle (Aug 24, 2003)

Just another idea for your bacon grease. I found this awhile back but the website is gone. Credit goes to "littlehouseinthesuburbs.com" I haven't tried it yet but sounds good. They also had a recipe for bacon soap but I didn't copy that one. 

"Like Bacon for Candles 
For the lovers of bacon everywhere, I offer you...ideal mood lighting.


Clean, efficient, and 100% kitchen grease.

1. Just like the bacon soap recipe, I boiled the grease with water in equal parts, removed it from heat and added 1/2 as much COLD water to precipitate out the yuck. After cooling, the top layer of grease is scoopable. (I did two washes and coolings.) But, cooling takes a WHILE, so we'll come back to the fat in a minute.

2. Braid up a few strands of cotton yarn a bit longer than your chosen vessel or cut a strip of absorbent natural fiber clothing. Thread it through a metal cap on one end and center it over a magnet. (Of course, if you can think of another way to stabilize it, that's fine too.)

3. Suspend the top of the wick with a chopstick (or other handy stick-type thing: skewer, candy thermometer, knitting needle, an actual STICK.)


4. Spoon soupy, soft grease in and around wick. Be sure to accidentally drip some on the top of the wick, it will help get the fire going until the grease liquifies and starts climbing the wick on it's own.


5. Pop that sucker in the freezer to set for a bit, then light her up!
It will smoke for a few minutes while the wick is soaking and all, but other than that, there's really no smoke or deep-fried scent. That second bit will be a disappointment to some, but I guess 'clean' grease is just rude like that."


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## NamasteMama (Jul 24, 2009)

Cool thanks! I am working on clarifying it right now and I'm going to give it a while at making soap tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it turns out. ;0)


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## Seagrape (Aug 4, 2008)

My mom used to save all the fat drippings from the meat to make her "lye soap". It smelled like old fat so we didn't bathe with it. This what she used to wash my dad's greasy, dirty work clothes. It did a great job on his clothes. 

I can't imagine anyone wanting to bathe with soap that smells like bacon but "to each his own". Good luck with your bacon fat soap.


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## Vintageliving (Oct 11, 2009)

I've made soap with bacon drippings. I cooked it with distilled water, strained it through cheesecloth a few times. Cooled it. Lifted out the fat, weighed it, melted it, and made soap as usual.

It turned out to be wonderful soap. As soon as I've got another can full of bacon fat, I'll make another batch.


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

Seagrape said:


> My mom used to save all the fat drippings from the meat to make her "lye soap". It smelled like old fat so we didn't bathe with it. This what she used to wash my dad's greasy, dirty work clothes. It did a great job on his clothes.
> 
> I can't imagine anyone wanting to bathe with soap that smells like bacon but "to each his own". Good luck with your bacon fat soap.


If you have washed it twice it really shouldn't smell like bacon.


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## Runningtrails (Oct 12, 2009)

I make a lot of soap but never thought about using kitchen grease! What a great idea! We eat a lot of pork roasts and skim off the fat the next day before making gravy. I am going make soap out of it. We cook other things with the bacon grease. It never goes to waste.

Do you think one could make soap from chicken grease, as well?, or is it too soft?


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## Seagrape (Aug 4, 2008)

Runningtrails said:


> I make a lot of soap but never thought about using kitchen grease! What a great idea! We eat a lot of pork roasts and skim off the fat the next day before making gravy. I am going make soap out of it. We cook other things with the bacon grease. It never goes to waste.
> 
> Do you think one could make soap from chicken grease, as well?, or is it too soft?


I don't know about using 100% chicken fat but mixing it with the harder fats, i.e. beef or pork, it should do just fine.


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## Seagrape (Aug 4, 2008)

Here's a link about making soap from bacon fat. 

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-bacon-fat-soap-190784/


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