ANST - Tallow Questions

[Mark.S Harris]

Crescentia _ wrote:
> 
> 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.

Yes, I can see this. But perhaps yet another experiment...
 
> >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.

I think the reports were when the candle was actually burning, not when
it was being made. From those reports I thought any tallow candles I
made would be smokey and smelly and banished to outside events. It will 
be interesting to see what results you get.

> 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.

When you get the candles made, I'd love to have a report on what you
did for the Florilegium. Even a private email to me (with a note that I can
use it in the Florilegium) would be wonderful. Especially if you can
fill in any blanks that you see are missing or wrong in the information I 
currently have available.

My suspicion is that when you seperated the liquid into two pots it
wasn't as uniform as you thought and one ended up with more tallow.
I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say.

> >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. 

Sigh. Yes there are lots of A&S things I want to tinker around with. Maybe
I'm just lazy and need a Laurel to kick my <snip>. Or perhaps it's this 
Florilegium thingie that keeps getting in the way. :-)

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net
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