What kind of fat do you use. One of my dreams is to make lye soap.
I remember boxes of it that came from my great grandmother’s house and resided under my grandmother’s basement stairs. It was used in big slabs in the basement and sometimes upstairs. Yellow.
One of your dreams is to make lye soap?
Here is my recipe.
21.5 oz water frozen in cubes
12 oz lye
5lb 7 1/3 oz lard
Best done on a cold day outside..
Freeze the water into cubes
in a porcelan pan slowly melt the fat till it is just about liquid.
Place the ice cubes in a glass pitcher and slowly pour the lye over it. The reaction will melt the ice. Do not splash it on you! If you do, wash the spot with vinegar!
Stir it with a wooden spoon. I use a long wooden shim bought at Lowes, till all the ice is melted and the lye is disolved.
Slowly pour the lye water into the melted fat, stirring constantly. Do not stop stirring as this will cause the fat and lye water to separate.
As the lye and fat mixture cools it will begin to harden. This will take some time depending on how hot you got the fat. This is why I do it outside in winter as it cools quicker.
When you can lift the spoon or shim and leave a string of fat upon the surface of the mix it is ready to pour into cardboard boxes lined with newspaper.
Pour about 1 inch thick. Cover and set in a dark place.
The next day you can score the block into bars with a kitchen knife. Do not attempt to pull out any blocks as it is still soft. Cover and let set for four or five weeks. Then bring it out and break into bars wrapping them in waxed paper.
WARNING! The lye can burn you! Keep some vinegar close to neutralize any spills. Do not attempt to wash off lye with water as this will just make it worse.