Charcoal and Tea Tree Soap with Tamanu Oil

Doesn't that bubble look like a beetle with enormous eyeballs?

I have made soap once, so, I was afraid to make this soap, Activated Charcoal Soap, especially after seeing all the comments about some fails underneath the post on Soap Queens Blog.  You can access that post here.

I bought some activated charcoal a year or so ago.  I have a lot of it.  We have used it a few times for tummy aches and let me tell you, it works like a charm.  It's bizarre though to eat something black, takes some getting used to.  I just mix a teaspoon or two with a little bit of applesauce.

I changed it up just a wee bit and added some peppermint oil.  It smells so good!  I am pretty excited about the outcome, isn't it a beautiful soap?

Charcoal and Tea Tree Soap with Tamanu Oil
This is the recipe I used, please see Soap Queens recipe here.

1.8 oz. Castor Oil (5%)

9 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)

14.4 oz. Olive Oil (40%)

9 oz. Palm Oil (25%)

1.8 oz. Tamanu Oil (5%)

5.1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye

10.1 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount) 

1.7 oz. Tea Tree Essential Oil and Peppermint Essential Oil combination

2 tablespoons activated charcoal

Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool. 

Melt the castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil and tamanu oil (remember to fully melt the entire container of palm oil before portioning out). When the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. 

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of activated charcoal to the soap mixture distributing in a fine all over layer on top to reduce clumps. Without turning it on use your stick blender to stir the charcoal into the soap batter. Slowly pulse the stick blender to incorporate the charcoal. 

Add the tea tree essential oil to the soap, and use the stick blender to blend and stir the essential oil until completely mixed in. 

Continue to stick blend for just a few seconds, to make sure the ingredients are completely combined. When the soap is a medium trace and is still pourable, pour the batter into your soap mold. Tap the mold on the counter to even the soap and get rid of bubbles. 

Spray the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. Place on a heating pad set to medium heat, and insulate the soap for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heating pad, and leave the soap insulated for 24 hours. 

Allow the soap to stay in the mold for at least 3-4 days. Because this soap has plenty of soft oils, it may need up to a week in the mold. Don't rush it! When the soap is firm enough, unmold and allow them to cure for 4-6 weeks. 

Corn Chowder with Bold Chipotle Seasoning

Sadly, I do not have a stellar picture of this soup to share with you.  Dark days and the soup disappeared really fast.  Doesn't that say something though.  I would totally make this again.  It was hot, I will say but certainly you can turn down the heat by putting less Chipotle Seasoning in.  If you sub in Chipotle of your own it wont taste the same because the mix has thyme and other.
seasonings in it.  

My Mother tells me and I kind of remember too that it was hard to find corn at the markets and stands after Labor Day.  It had nearly petered out by then or we had frosts that early.  This was one of the last weeks in October that I bought this corn.  It was STELLAR tasting corn too!  It was crisp/tender and tasty! So good!

Corn Chowder

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
2 ounces butter
2 quarts corn broth
1 tablespoon Bold Chipotle Seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup flour
4 red potatoes, chopped
4 ears of corn

1 cup half and half


Sauté peppers and onion in butter to lightly golden.  Add in flour mixing it up well.  Let the flour paste get a little golden, this is what gives flavor.  Once it has turned golden, add in the corn broth. Then add potatoes, seasonings and bay leaf.  Let it all cook for about forty minutes.  Add in corn and half and half.  Heat it up but do not let it boil again.  Remove bay leaf and serve.

Rendering Tallow

This is was an adventure in cooking for me.

Some time ago I was reading a blog where a woman had rendered suet to make soap.  I thought to myself.  What a lot of work to make soap.  I wouldn't do that.  How would I have the time to do that?  I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Well, apparently, this thought went out into space and came back as a challenge for me to make it.

Recently, we bought a half of a cow.  When I ordered my cuts of meat the butcher asked me if I wanted suet.  I said yes.  Before I had made some English pudding and we really liked it.  I thought, what the heck, I will make some of that pudding.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Oh, the things I would discover as a result.

First of all, most people don't use fat from the cow.  Sadly.  Since this cow gave its life for us, I think we should use all the things we can use and not let things go to waste.  That really is a shame.  I can tell you I will be saving fat from now on.  In this post at the blog, Humblebee and Me, I discovered that morsel of truth and I could not agree with her more.

This site, Cooks Info, I found out more about suet. What it is used for, storage and literature and lore.

I also found out that tallow is great for skin.  I will be experimenting with this idea myself.  You can read all about this one bloggers experience with tallow yourself at Mommypotamus.  I will say that after all my cleaning and such my hands were a lot more soft.

There are two ways of making tallow.  The dry method and the wet method (at Applegarth Farms blog).  I used the dry method. I found this site, The Prairie Homestead and basically followed everything she said.

Here is what I learned.  Go farther than you think because I think I could have rendered more fat than I did. You will see in the picture below where I strained it.  It really could have been more golden.

Clean up is the hardest part about this whole process.  I used a bench scraper for my counter top.  This helped me get rid of a lot of grease before attempting to wash it off.   Regular soap and water wont work very well.  You will have to do it over and over again.  You can use vinegar or any product that "cuts grease".

RENDERING TALLOW 

Cut down suet.  Tearing away the sheath around the fat as much as possible and cutting out meat chunks left behind.

Place processed suet in crockpot.  Set heat to low. The more you break it down before the crockpot step, the faster it will melt.

Once it is cooked down, strain the liquid from the solids.  I did not use cheesecloth.  This strainer worked just fine.

 Pour the liquid into a lined baking dish.

Let cool and then cut into bars.

Wrap and freeze for long term storage.  I am not sure when I will get to making soap with the tallow so I am setting it aside in the freezer for now. I may just end up using it for cooking.