Bacon Drippings for Soap

For as long as I can remember my family has always kept containers under the sink for bacon grease. Occasionally we’d cook with it, but most of the time it was just tossed into the garbage. I continued this practice until a couple of years ago. I had fallen down the YouTube rabbit hole while researching to prepare for chickens, and stumbled across bacon soap 😲. How could I not be intrigued? I fell in love, and needless to say, not a single drop of bacon grease has been wasted since.

The first thing you need to do is clean and purify the bacon grease, and don’t worry, it’s not nearly as technical as it sounds.

Step 1: melt bacon grease

Step 2: Pour into salted water. You’ll want about twice as much water as grease. The salt isn’t necessary, but it does help draw out the impurities and bacon smell from the grease.

Step 3: bring to a boil, and keep boiling for 30-40 minutes

Step 4: remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, remove the solidified grease from the top of the water. Dump water and repeat the process until your water runs clear. Once your water is clear, the bottom of your grease disk may still be slightly brown. You can simply scrape this off.

Now you’re ready to make soap! I like to use the hot process method, so even if there’s still a slight bacon smell to your grease, don’t worry, it won’t carry to the soap. I cannot speak for the cold process though, I’ve never used it🤷. Stay tuned! Next week I’ll go into the how to of making soap with your clarified bacon grease!