[Sca-cooks] RE: "Period" candlesticks and chandeliers

[Stefan li Rous]

Sheepstealer replied to Mel with:
> >Also used were rushlights, but my experiments with them suggest
> >that they are every bit as nasty as Colonial US accounts say they were.
>
> Really nasty in what way ? Seem OK to me
>
> Mel
>
> I used fat from breakfast bacon one time and that smelled like burnt bacon
> and eggs.  Yuck! I used lard from the grocery store last time I made
> rushlights and though that was a lot better. Have not tried olive oil yet
> but think that would be better yet again, should smell like cookies.

Uh-oh. Bacon = pork. From various reports, including period comments
I think, pork was the worst material to use. Supposedly sheep and
beef were better. Not only does pork apparently smell more, as you;ve
noted, but it also smokes much worse than the others.

The lard might also have been purified further than you were able
to get the bacon grease.

For more comments on getting the right tallow and how to refine it,
check the lighting/candle files in the Florilegium.

--
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****