ANST - Tallow Questions

[Crescentia _]

Stefan wrote:
>Why wouldn't you want to mix in the beeswax? If it is because you don't
>think it is period, I can ease that concern as it is period. There is
>documentation in my Florilegium for mixing tallow and wax in candles.

It's not that I have concerns about this being period; it's because I'm 
doing this for an experimental archaeology project (comparison of 
various lighting techniques) and I'm afraid if I add wax to my tallow, I 
might manipulate my results.

>It may be a wax outside and a tallow inside though. You might check
>this file in the HOME, SWEET HOME section of my Florilegium:
I enjoyed your candlemaking section; that's where I got my recipe from. 
I noticed that a lot of people said tallow rendering was smelly... mine 
smelled no different from making beef stock. And no one had posted a 
yield table. I still don't know what's normal. I got about two pounds of 
tallow from what had once been a little less than 4.5 lbs' raw fat. But 
then again, I got half a pound of tallow from a little more than 5 lbs' 
fat.  *smile*  Go figure.


<snip>

>Making tallow candles is something I've been wanting to try. 
I'd suggest dabbling in it, just for the sake of having a different 
experience. I think the hardest part was actually cutting up the fat. 
The rendering part went very smoothly--no scum, no stink, no mess. We'll 
see how the candlemaking part goes.

Thanks!
-Crescentia
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