Multi generations of our family has done our own butchering of pigs each winter. Included in the process is cutting up the fat and rendering it so it can be used. As in the days gone by, we try to use every part of the pig- almost nothing is wasted. We render-(cook the fat down to liquid) the fat, when cut up, and cooked down has many useful qualities. In the earlier days of our country, the cooked down pig fat, which is called lard, was the prime cooking material as vegetable oils were not readily made or accessible to the general population. Lard was also be used for lighting, although the preferred oil for candles and lamps was tallow- rendered beef fat. The use of lard was especially prominent in the making of handmade natural soap. The discovery of making soap was definitely a wonderful thing for early folks. It was discovered that when you mixed lye- their source for lye was water poured through a container of wood ashes- with oils, there is a chemical binding of the lye molecule to the fat molecule. So when mixed, the lye attached itself to the oil molecules and became not lye and oil but SOAP! The resulting natural soap was used for all kinds of cleansing that would not have been possible without it. It was used to clean wounds and washng away of bacteria and disease from skin, clothes and cooking utensils, just to name a few.
When we render the cut- up pig fat, we use a large cast iron kettle, that has been passed done through the family for several generations. The resulting rendered lard is then poured into containers with lids to be stored. Lard can be stored in the refrigerator for several months and will last several years if stored in a freezer. There was a few years in a row that we did not use up all the lard we had rendered. We were wondering how we could use up the older lard stored in the freezer to make space for the new lard we would be rendering, as we were getting several gallons stored up. I had a neighbor friend who had showed us how to make soap with lard as one of our homeschool science projects. Remembering this, I began experimenting with soap making recipes. After over a year of trials I came up with a nice, long lasting soap that was moisturizing, creamy and lathering. I used ingredients available from the farm like the lard we rendered, cow's milk, and honey from local hives. So, began Brown Cow Soap Co.
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