Rancid fats - what to do with them?

[3DStudent]

I have some shea butter that is not even a year old and it is going rancid. I put it on my hands every day because I have dry skin. It's been in a bag with a zip lock seal and in a dark cabinet. I've had this problem before, but I thought it lasts at least a full year.

I know you shouldn't eat or put on your skin rancid fats, as the free radicals would enter your body. But some say make candles or soap out of it. I heard that the rancid fat would emit the foul rancid bits and could irritate your lungs when burned as a candle, so that idea is out. And wouldn't making it into soap have the same principle as using it as lotion, you still absorb the rancid free radicals?

So I just wonder what good is rancid fat? Do you get a time limit and then you have a useless mass of material? In any event I think I just need to buy less shea butter or give half away, as a pound is too much even for a year. I guess when rancid it's just good for greasing mechanical parts, (or anything that doesn't involve some kind of consumption of the substance)?

 

[Mark]

Freezing fat helps prevent it from going rancid.

 

[Athena]

I have some shea butter that is not even a year old and it is going rancid. I put it on my hands every day because I have dry skin. It's been in a bag with a zip lock seal and in a dark cabinet. I've had this problem before, but I thought it lasts at least a full year.


I know you shouldn't eat or put on your skin rancid fats, as the free radicals would enter your body. But some say make candles or soap out of it. I heard that the rancid fat would emit the foul rancid bits and could irritate your lungs when burned as a candle, so that idea is out. And wouldn't making it into soap have the same principle as using it as lotion, you still absorb the rancid free radicals?

So I just wonder what good is rancid fat? Do you get a time limit and then you have a useless mass of material? In any event I think I just need to buy less shea butter or give half away, as a pound is too much even for a year. I guess when rancid it's just good for greasing mechanical parts, (or anything that doesn't involve some kind of consumption of the substance)?

Actually, the best thing to do with old fats is to make soaps and candles out of them - waste not, want not. It's what people used to do with old fats and in my opinion they make better soaps. That's I do with our old/rancid fats. The best soaps I ever made are made of old bacon grease and rancid coconut oil and are transparent. People at the chateau here like them, Scottie and Data in particular.

If you want to recycle it there are dozens of channels on youtube all about soap making, candle making, etc; it's not as difficult nor scary as a lot of people make it out to be. If not, maybe give them to someone in your area who would use them; they'd appreciate it as shea butter is expensive. Maybe there is someone on the forum who fits the bill.

Just some fat to chew on ;)

 

[monotonic]

Greasing machines with food fats is a bad idea especially when they're rancid. Contact with metal speeds up oxidation and your machine will get gummed up by layers of tacky rancid fat.

Candles can be irritating if the fat is very rancid, but if it's only just beginning to smell, it will probably be fine.

Freezing fat helps prevent it from going rancid.

For storage freezing makes sense, but every time you take it out and use it moisture condenses on the cold fat which can lead to rancidity.

 

[Mark]

Freezing fat helps prevent it from going rancid.

For storage freezing makes sense, but every time you take it out and use it moisture condenses on the cold fat which can lead to rancidity.

So the idea would be to only take out of the freezer what you can use before it goes rancid :D

 

[loreta]

Funny that you said that you put butter on your hands, I read a book by Ella K. Maillart, the traveler of the beginning of the 20 Century, extraordinary woman, and she took butter to put on her skin, when traveling. Surely she did not have refrigerator while traveling! So surely her butter was maybe rancid also. I was myself thinking to use those parts of butter I don't utilise anymore as a cream for my visage.

 

[3DStudent]

loreta, it's shea butter, which is similar to cocoa butter and coming from a nut. That being said, when cooking, I will put dropped fat, being tallow or butter, onto my hands. Cooking makes for dry skin when you are washing a lot.

I do put my tallow for eating in the freezer, so maybe freezing portions in advance of skin care fat is something to think about. But unlike moisturizing fat, I don't have any problems with using up "food fat" soon enough!

I think I'll keep the shea butter and make soap out of it. I've made olive and coconut oil soap before. Thanks all for the advice.