Homemade Lard for Homemade Soap

To be honest if you asked me what lard was 5 years ago, I’d probably look at you with a glazed over empty stare. I had absolutely no idea what lard was until I started making my own soaps. I am 35 years old and had never once in my life purchased lard, let alone even pondered what exactly it was. This lack of knowledge resulted in me not only discovering what lard is but also how to make homemade lard for homemade soap!

I purchased my soap at the store and that was that. Then I researched down this deep hole of what is in our soap? There are so many chemicals and additives that are not healthy for human skin in your everyday store bought soap resulting in me getting my cauldron out and beginning my soap making journey.

One of the main ingredients in homemade soap is lard.

What is lard?

Lard is 100% animal fat. It has a creamy white color and is used for cooking as well as in soap.

History of Lard

During the 19th century, lard was used in a similar fashion as butter in North America and many European nations. Lard was equally as popular as butter in the early 20th century and was widely used as a substitute for butter during World War II.

Lard has been around for centuries, it makes sense it was so popular, people were more appreciative of animals and the value in what they could provide, and needed to squeeze out any and all resources from what they had in front of them. And they most certainly didn’t have Amazon on demand for all their weird pantry items.

I really had no use for lard until I started making my own goat soaps this past year. I purchased my original lard on Amazon to make my first few batches of soap. At this point I sadly admit I hardly had an understanding of what lard was. I never used it to cook with (and still haven’t) but I know I needed it for my soap making excursion. All I knew was it was white, and soap making required it.

I had this realization as I was stirring up my first batch of lard riddled soap, where did this lard come from? Was the animal healthy? How long has it been on the shelf?

Which ultimately led to me cutting fat from a goat carcass, something I could have never imagined in my wildest dreams that I’d be doing. I can hardly stomach cooking a slab of meat, let alone hacking away at fat chunks like some sort of frontiersmen.

After processing our goat Bruno a few months back I felt inspired to try and harvest my own lard in order to create my own soaps completely naturally and in their most organic form, using my own harvested lard!

Gag me! Seriously, peeling off the fat from the goat carcass was something I’d never have imagined I’d be partaking in. Even my husband questioned my sanity, but encouraged me nonetheless.

I think that’s what leads to personal growth though, is learning something new and trying it no matter how uncomfortable it might feel at first.

After a few scrapes of the fat, I stopped breathing through my nose, and oddly enough I found a newfound appreciation for the animal we had raised. Not only will a meat goat provide you with meat, but lard for soap making (and cooking if you really so desire), but also a beautiful fur. Processing your own animal hide is another post I will share soon.

Not to mention bones to make bone broth with, an animal really can provide us with so much if we really take a step back and look at all of its abilities to provide for us. What if we valued the entire animal for what it is, instead of blindly grabbing meat on sale ignoring the fact that meat in the stores here in America is from unhealthy sources.

I’ll be honest it seems easier, cleaner, less disgusting to quickly click and purchase the lard needed for your own soap making excursion, but I will tell you harvesting your own lard and then making your own soap is a whole other level of appreciation for the animal you raised. I was honestly blown away by the end result, how you could get a beautiful pure white slab of lard from a stinky, brown liquid.

If you are squeamish about touching, cutting, cooking heaps of fat I hear you. I really do. I had to get over the gag factor before I could really look at it from a different perspective. I wanted to produce the cleanest, most organic form of soap that I could possibly create, and purchasing lard from an online retailer just wouldn’t ensure this.

Now that we’ve discussed my own squeamish ways of originally viewing lard, let’s actually get into the simplicity in making it. Although time consuming, it was very simple.

Now if you do not raise your own animals for meat you can seek out a local butcher or 4H group about acquiring your own animal fat for personal use. It’s really a forgotten pantry staple in our culture here in America, the competition for acquiring your own fat to make lard is probably pretty slim.

Let’s begin making our lard shall we?

Step 1:

Once you have your fat from the animal you will need to either chop it up or run it through a meat grinder. Ground fat will most certainly cook down much easier than fat that isn’t chopped finely. In my frazzled fat chopping state I forgot to grind it up so mine took a tad bit longer and more stirring to completely cook into a liquid.

Step 2:

Add your animal fat to your crock pot (word to the wise leave this in the garage it has a scent to it that I just couldn’t stomach and it cooks for a long long time.)

Step 3:

Add 6 to 8 cups of water and 1/4 cup salt to the animal fat and place the crock pot on low for about 12 hours. You don’t need to stir that often maybe every few hours. You will notice your chunks of fat will begin to cook down to a liquid.

Note: This can take up to 24 hours.

Step 4:

After 12ish hours strain your water and fat mixture using a tightly woven colander and a paper towel. You will notice all the impurities left behind.

Step 5:

Place your strained fat and water mixture into a glass Tupperware or stainless steel bowl and allow to cool overnight.

Step 6:

Remove your fat and water mixture from the fridge and skim off any impurities on the top. A simple spoon will do the trick. You will notice by this point your once brown colored liquid is now an off white color.

Step 7:

Drain any existing water from the fat and water mixture. You should have a nice almost completely white piece of lard.

Step 8:

Add the lard and another 6 to 8 cups of water and another 1/4 cup of salt back into the crock pot and allow to cook on low for another 12 hours. You will again be able to see any impurities float to the top.

Step 9:

After 12 hours your lard and water mixture should be back to a liquid form, you will then strain again by removing any impurities. Once it is strained add into a glass Tupperware or stainless steel bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Step 10:

Remove your lard from the fridge, you should have a beautiful white piece of lard. Make sure you strain off any liquid. Pat dry with paper towels to ensure that no liquid remains or it will cause your lard to spoil. If you find that your lard isn’t as free of impurities as you would like you can repeat the process of cooking in the crock pot and straining until you get the desired result. I found that twice was plenty.

Step 11:

Chop up your lard or jam it into a mason jar like I did. Place in the freezer for later use. And you are done! You’ve made your own lard!

I prefer to keep mine in the freezer until I need it. Freezing it will prolong the life of the lard leaving you with a hefty supply of lard for your personal use.

Okay so, 11 steps, and honestly 48 hours to complete transforming fat from a goat (or animal of your choosing) into lard for your own personal soap making.

Although a lengthy process from beginning to end, there is pride in holding an 8 ounce jar packed to the brim with homemade lard.

I’ll admit this was really out of my norm for me. I was squeamish about touching the fat, chopping it, straining it, but overtime I developed a new lens of looking at this heap of literal fat in my hands. Not only was I honoring the animal by using every bit of it that I knew how to, but I was now able to honestly say that my goat soap is entirely homemade. Truly organic.

I do realize most people aren’t out googling how to make your own lard in 11 simple steps, frankly it’s weird. But what I do hope you find from this article is that when we step out of our comfort zone, and allow ourselves to grow in that discomfort we can enhance our homesteads, our lives, and the lives of those around us. And if you do in fact feel inspired to try your hand at processing your own homemade lard, good for you! Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Lard Making!

Danielle