Nourishing Homemade Beef Tallow Soap Recipe

If you’re looking to make a soap that’s gentle on the skin, completely natural, and incredibly satisfying to create, beef tallow soap might be just what you need.

At Edwards Family Farms, we love using every part of the animal, so making soap from our own beef tallow fits right in with our goal of sustainable, nose-to-tail practices.

Plus, this soap is packed with skin-loving fats that leave your hands feeling clean and soft. Here’s how to make your own!

Why Beef Tallow?

Tallow has been used in soap-making for centuries. It’s an amazing ingredient because it creates a hard bar of soap with a creamy lather.

Tallow soap is moisturizing, gentle, and perfect for daily use, which makes it great for everyone in the family.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

Making tallow soap doesn’t require a long list of ingredients, but it does call for careful measurements and a bit of chemistry!

• 14 oz beef tallow (rendered and cleaned – we’ll share tips on this below)
• 6 oz olive oil (or another oil like coconut for added creaminess)
• 3.7 oz lye (sodium hydroxide) – available at soap-making or hardware stores
• 9 oz distilled water
• Optional: Essential oils for fragrance (like lavender, tea tree, or rosemary)
  
  Safety Note: Lye is an essential ingredient in soap, but it’s also a caustic substance. Always wear gloves and goggles when handling it, and make sure your workspace is well-ventilated. Be sure to do your research regarding lye and oil ratios. Use a soap calculator to ensure accuracy.

Equipment:

Gather these tools to make the process smooth and easy:

• Gloves and safety goggles
• Digital scale for accurate measurements
• Heat-safe container (like glass or stainless steel)
• Stick blender (it’ll make soap-making fast and easy)
• Soap mold (a loaf pan lined with parchment works too!)
• Thermometer to track the temperatures of your lye and oils

Step-by-Step Soap Recipe

1. Prepare and Measure

Start by measuring each ingredient carefully using a digital scale. When handling lye, make sure to wear gloves and goggles to keep yourself safe!

2. Mix Lye and Water

Pour the lye into water (never the other way around) in a heat-safe container. Stir until dissolved. The mixture will heat up rapidly, so be careful and let it cool down to about 100°F.

3. Melt and Heat the Oils

While the lye solution cools, gently heat the tallow and olive oil until they melt and reach a similar temperature (around 100°F). Combining the lye and oils at the same temperature helps the soap mix well.

4. Blend It Together

Pour the lye solution into your warm tallow and olive oil mixture. Using a stick blender, blend until the mixture thickens to "trace." This is when you lift the blender, and it leaves a light trail on the surface.

5. Add Essential Oils (Optional)

If you’re using essential oils, now’s the time! Stir them into the mixture gently.

6. Pour and Mold

Pour your soap batter into the mold, smoothing the top if you like. Now comes the hard part: patience! Let it sit in the mold for 24-48 hours until it firms up.

7. Cut and Cure

Once firm, remove the soap from the mold and slice it into bars. Place them in a cool, dry spot to cure for 4-6 weeks. This cure time helps the soap harden and become longer-lasting.

How to Render Beef Tallow

If you don’t have pre-rendered tallow, you can make it from beef fat scraps. Slowly heat the fat in a pot over low heat until it melts, then strain out any solids. You’ll be left with pure, clean tallow ready for soap-making!

Click here for the full step-by-step.

Why We Love Tallow Soap

This soap is a little luxury for your skin and a sustainable choice. It’s a simple, old-fashioned way to turn beef tallow into something everyone in the family can use and enjoy.

Give it a try, and you might find that soap-making becomes your new favorite homestead hobby!

Comment below and let us know if you plan to make some this year.