Bacon fat IS dangerous

Post #331,921 by mhuber 8/26/10 10:50:58 PM Reply	Bacon fat IS dangerous Had a close call today. Explosion and fire. Not actually about food. I was making soap. A new project, haven't done it before. Read lots of people's instructions and warnings, but nobody warned me... Soap is made out of fat and lye. Lye is the scary stuff that all the warnings were about. The fat I am using is bacon fat. I was cleaning it up, refining it. The process is that you boil water and the impure fat together. The water-soluble contaminants dissolve in the water. You let it settle in the fridge, scoop off the fat, discard the water, repeat. I did that three times. Fat's looking almost white, aroma very low. So I decided to move on the the next step, melt it and boil off the remaining water, and get the lye going. So I've got it melting on the stove, and I start getting the lye ready. CRACK! An explosive snap, fat flying everywhere, including the gas stove. Lots of flames. Where do I keep the baking soda? On the fridge, I think... Is there time? Evacuate? Fight the fire? At least turn off the stove first... With the gas off, the flames die quickly. The fat wasn't really hot, I don't think it was even all melted before the fire. Melted now. I'm pretty sure what happened is that a bubble of water hit a hot spot in the fat, or on the surface of the pan. So I spent the better part of the day cleaning up. There is grease on the ceiling. Walls. Light fixtures. Floor. Oh, God, the floor... The fat isn't scorched, it is still usable. About half is gone, burned or spread around the kitchen. I will be finding this stuff for months or years. The cleanup took all my available time, so I didn't complete the soap. I bought some cheap vegetable (soy) oil. I'm doing my first batch the easy way. Should still be good. This will be the lavender and peppermint soap. I would have done a castille (olive) soap, but the local grocery store only has good Extra Virgin olive oil, not the nasty super-cheap pomade oil that I'd never use for cooking but makes better soap. --------------------------------------- I think it's perfectly clear we're in the wrong band. (Tori Amos)
Post #331,922 by Another Scott 8/26/10 11:01:39 PM Reply	! Glad you're Ok!
Post #331,925 by SpiceWare 8/26/10 11:40:48 PM Reply	ditto!
Post #331,923 by Andrew Grygus 8/26/10 11:20:31 PM Reply	One nit. Olive Pomace oil (if pure and not cut with some cheaper oil) is the best high temperature frying oil that you can afford, going to 460°F and with high resistance to oxidation and racidity (carcinogen formation). Avocado oil is better but I said "that you can afford". Yes, it's a refined oil - because unrefined oil start to degrade between 275°F and 300°F. Olive, due to it's hightly durable fat profile, can take the refining process with much less degradation than other oils. And yes, you found out what can happen with just a tiny bit of water in a big batch of fat. When the fat around a pocket of water exceeds 212°F the water becomes superheated - until it finally bursts into steam - all at once - Bang!!. I'm certainly glad the fire went out quickly and without serious injury.
Post #331,926 by drook 8/27/10 1:14:17 AM Reply	Why bacon? Just because it was on hand? Beef tallow is much easier to get to pure-white and odorless. -- Drew
Post #331,927 by mhuber 8/27/10 2:08:07 AM Reply	I cook bacon often without messing with it. Plain bacon fat is a common by-product of my daily life. When I prepare beef, it is usually in a more complicated recipe. --------------------------------------- I think it's perfectly clear we're in the wrong band. (Tori Amos)
Post #331,932 by drook 8/27/10 11:07:05 AM Reply	You won't get tallow as a byproduct The suet is all removed when it's butchered. So you won't end up with tallow unless you go out of your way to buy it. I can understand having "too much" bacon fat lying around. I've got enough in the fridge for several bars of soap ... if I wanted to blow up my kitchen. -- Drew
Post #331,938 by folkert 8/27/10 2:43:00 PM Reply	Isn't that why... It is recommended to use a double screen and cotton cloth cover to make sure these things don't happen?
Post #331,960 by mhuber 8/27/10 9:06:06 PM Reply	Sounds like a great plan Maybe with a brick on to top too. --------------------------------------- I think it's perfectly clear we're in the wrong band. (Tori Amos)

Welcome to IWETHEY!