# tallow vs. lard



## Jonna (Feb 10, 2009)

Hello. as some of you may remember, I was asking questions about "cow lard" (tallow, thank you) a couple of weeks ago. 

I have another question.

We made our first batch using all tallow, no lard. We cut it today and it kept falling apart. The only thing different than normal was the tallow. Is this normal?

Thanks!


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

No, not normal. When you say 'all tallow' do you mean you had no other oils or just all tallow in place of lard? I had problems figuring the right timing to cut all lard soaps, meaning soap that was 100% lard. I've never made 100% tallow. But if you mean you just replaced the lard in your recipe with tallow then there really shouldn't have been much of a difference. I do find tallow a bit harder.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

I have not had that problem. How long was it from the time you made it to the time you cut it? I make mine in the evening usually, stick the molds in the oven for insulation (sometimes I will have the oven on warm and have them in there for about 2 hours, then turn the oven off and crack the door, sometimes the oven is just off and since it's electric, there's no pilot light to warm things up...what I do depends on the recipe and the fragrance). Anyhow, I unmold them in the morning and cut right away. If you wait too long, the soap might be too hard to cut easily. Tallow does make a slightly harder bar than lard, I think. The only other thing I can think is that somehow the soap is lye heavy.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I used to make a 100% lard soap and if I waited to cut in the morning the bottom of the cut would shatter they were so hard. Perhaps if you soaped them with full water? When doing new scents I now use a mostly lard batch because it's so cheap, do it in the morning and cut that evening, makes for a prettier bar. I have only added tallow a couple of times, not enough to have an opinion on if it's harder or not than lard (which I have soaped thousands of times  Vicki


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