Challenge 1: Unusual Oil used ....

[mullerslanefarm]

Being last weekend was such a tease of spring, I thought what better to soap than with ....
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A month or so ago, I stewed up a bunch of yard birds that were really too old the freeze for roasting or frying.  There was a wonderful golden layer of chicken oil on top of the stewing water.  Waste not, want not so into a canning jar it went.  I used a double boiler (canning jar in pan of water) to gently warm the oil, then strained it for storage.

In my usual soap recipe, I substituted part of the lard and part of the sweet almond oil with the chicken oil.

All y'all have already seen the final result ... you just didn't know that the Pepper Zest was actually a 'Spring Chicken' soap!!

[Nymeria]

... I am so absolutely speechless, lol. ONLY you, Mullerslane! That's pretty cool and I can honestly say this never would have occurred to me because I've never heard of it. I suppose my first reaction would be to wonder if it smells like chicken, but I guess not!

This is certainly full of "win!" Great entry! 

[smittenheart]

SAY WHAT???

I have never heard of that..but of course it would work right..fat is fat..but chicken..aaahhh...that is great..

I love it..

I loved the soap and love it more now that I am thinking it smells like KFC's ..hehe..

[mullerslanefarm]

It actually looks, smells and act a lot like fresh rendered emu oil.

I was going to use rabbit oil, but didn't have any left

[mullerslanefarm]

On my Yahoo group (Tallow_Soapers) we've had "Exotic AO Swaps"

I've used oil from skunk, raccoon, rabbit, oppossum, couger, deer, elk, buffalo, chicken, geese, mink, reigndeer ...  Amazing stuff, various Animal Oils

[TexasThistle]

i gotta try some of this.....chicken soap. hehe...it even sounds awesome.

[JadedMoonlight]

O.o hahaha, I'm sort of speechless. And out of curiosity, how did the other AO's smell? aka, did Skunk reek or smell really perfumy? Haha.

[mullerslanefarm]

Rendered oil smelled like, well, rendered oil. 

The skunk's scent sac is separate & you have to very, very careful to keep it intact when getting the fat off. You don't even want the fat to touch the fur. That smell is soooo potent!

[Nymeria]

How much oil do you get from a skunk? I mean, they're not horribly fatty animals, are they? But then neither are chickens, I suppose. How many chickens did it take to get enough oil for the soap? (approximately, I don't expect an exact headcount  ) You said "a bunch" but I'm just curious. Since I don't have issues with animal fats, you have definitely piqued my interest! Also, what PART of the chicken fat do you use? I know with beef you use the suet around the kidneys and stuff... Inquiring minds!!

[mullerslanefarm]

Well, beginning of winter I canned 42 quarts of chicken ... about 47 birds.

About halfway through canning or so I figured I should probably keep the fat and render it instead of giving it back to the birds.  I don't have a clue how many I used...

as for skunk, the fat is under the skin.  Depending on how cold a winter it is (and when you catch them), the fat can be variable.  Skunks in the spring & summer have very little fat.  Going into winter they have a lot.

some native american peoples used skunk oil to help arthritis  (yes it DOES help)