Between Friends Handmade Soap: lard

Showing posts with label lard. Show all posts

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Funnel Swirl - Hot Pepper!

After my very first funnel swirl, I've had several questions constantly spinning in my head - what can I do to make it better? What should I do differently to get that beautiful look I've been dreaming of?

I decided to take my next batch of laundry soap and "funnel it", and the results came out so different this time! Instead of parallel parentheses, I got concentric circles.

I cut these soaps extra thin so I could get a better look at the way patterns form in this type of swirl. I think I'm getting a better understanding of the funnel swirl secrets. Now you all know what that means - have to make another one just to see if these ideas really work!

So, where's the hot pepper?

See the pinkish orangey colour? That's from *real* hot peppers! I once ordered a spicy dish at a restaurant and ended up getting a mountain of hot peppers. I packed them up and rendered my pork lard with them. The lard turned out to be this bright orange colour, and to my surprise, the colour survived the soaping process and became a soft, dreamy pinkish orange.

The crazy scientist in my head has been dying to find out if the heat of hot peppers comes out in the shower. Will this be a good soap for the cold cold Canadian winter?

..

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Second Attempt

I tried making cake-like soaps again. Instead of spending hours on creating different layers to imitate cakes, I cheated a little this time by using individual cake molds.

The soaps turned out better than I expected, but they look more like flavored white chocolate. Hmmm.... Maybe I should've swirled with cocoa powder instead. That'd really fool people!

I put in lots of lard (one of my favorite ingredients) in to the recipe this time. I rendered the lard a few months ago and have been keeping jars of them in the freezer. Rendering my own lard is time consuming but well worth it. In my opinion, the best way to render lard is the "oven method".

Basically you cut pork fat into tiny pieces and immerse them with water in an oven-safe pot. Leave the pot in the oven overnight at a relatively low temperature and the next morning you'll find a thick layer of pork fat floating on top of the water. This oven method gives you really clean and white lard, but it's relatively soft compared to the hydrogenated lard you can find at regular grocery stores.

Making cake-like soaps is kind of addicting! Up next, I'm going to create CP swiss rolls!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

John's Soap

The weather in Toronto lately has been hot and sometimes humid. Me being a spoiled Torontonian, I find myself missing the pre-summer days when it's dry and cool. (But we ALL complain about the cold for the rest of the year!)

When it's hot and sticky, I go to my summer soaps, and this one is By Far my favorite!

I call it John's Soap because Hubby's co-worker John asks for the same one every once a while. I don't blame him for not interested in trying my other soaps, because I'm in love with these soaps too!

I just love the way they lather on my skin, so rich and so bubbly! When I first started making soaps, I thought I would have to put up with the notirously poor lathering power of handmade soaps, and the first time I used these bars, I said to myself, "I'll have to make them again!"

Now that these bars are almost 8 months old, they are even more amazing to use in the shower. But I'll be a little skeptic in terms of using them in the winter. The winter here is pretty dry, and I'll have to wait and see how moisturizing they can be. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy the bubbles!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Chocolate Soap

Can you say chooooooocolate?

I made this one with my hubby in mind. He loves food, especially sweet food. I went out and bought a 90% chocolate for this soap, and I put in lots of it. The soaps are not scented, but I can smell that distinct chocolate fragrance! Yummy!

The chocolate gives these bars such a shiny texture and they look (and smell) just like the real ones. But I got scared a little the first time I used it. The chocolate actually translated into brown suds! I thought I got a big cut somewhere and the brown color actually came from my blood. It took me a few seconds to realize that I got tricked by my own soap.

These soaps leave my skin nice and soft, I'd definitely make them again. As for hubby, he's intrigued by them, but he said he'd much prefer eating the chocolate rather than showering with it.

I n g r e d i e n t s :

Coconut oil, Castor oil, Corn oil, Lard

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

My First In-the-pot Swirl

I found this great video about swirling, and the video had been replaying non-stop in my head ever since. I had to try the swirl to get it out of my system! Unfortunately, the result isn't quite I expected.

I was hoping for more fine lines and more curves, but this is what I got.
Sometimes I wonder if "good" swirling requires a large mold, either a long and narrow log mold, or a wide and flat slab mold. All my molds are small, the largest one can only take up to 800g of oil. I've been wishing for a nice wooden mold, but it's so hard to find an affordable mold here in Toronto!

I n g r e d i e n t s :
Olive oil, Lard, Coconut oil

Made on 2010-06-09

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Tiger Soap!

The weather in Toronto has been on the chilly side for the last few days. It constantly reminds my husband and I an old commercial that goes, "winter, winter, winter, winter....... SUMMER! winter, winter, winter....... SUMMER!" Oh yes, how short the summer is in Canada!

I laid my hands on an all-natural red colorant. (A heart-felt thanks to a dear friend!) If you've tried coloring your soaps red with natural colorants, you'll know how hard it is to come up with the beautiful red hue. According to my friend, the color is extracted from red bell peppers and only fades a little as the soap cures. I could've put in a little more because now it looks more orangey than red...

With this soap, I also tried a new swirling technique. I LOVE the result! The soap turns out so unique and stunning, even an always-humble person like me can't stop talking about it without a big smile on my face. When Hubby saw them for the first time, his first response was, "Go take photos!"