candles-msg

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candles-msg - 1/13/08

Candle snuffers, making candles, wax, tallow. Period references.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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To: Mark Harris

From: Dennis Sherman

RE:Candlemaking

Perfume isn't something I've done much research on - I know

essential oils were distilled from plants and flowers quite

early, but I have no idea if they were used in candles.

Tallow candles should not go rancid - the process of boiling down

the fat into tallow is to remove all the proteinous matter that

can rot. That's why I want to do it outdoors - I'm not thrilled

(and neither is my wife) with the idea of a big pot of animal fat

boiling and being skimmed indoors. Several sources suggest that

the candles should be stored in a cool place for several months

before they are used, which is supposed to make them last longer.

Early lighthouses used oil lamps. Whale oil was the common fuel

starting in the 18th C., I believe.

All my sources agree the best tallow candles were made from a mix

of sheep and ox fat. Lesser quality candles were made from ox

(or cattle) alone, and at least two specifically say not to use

pig, as it smokes and smells. Crisco is a vegetable fat,

chemically treated to be solid, I think. If you try it (and I

wouldn't hold my breath for success) let me know how it turns

out. Several sources do talk about vegetable tallow from different

plants (bayberry, a new world plant, is the most common example in

this country), so I suppose the Crisco might work.

There really isn't a straight wick - either twisted or

plaited (braided). None of the fibres that might be used as wick

material would stay together if they weren't twisted. Take a look

at how thread is made - they don't call it "spun" for no reason!

I don't recall beeswax having any particular smell the few times

I've burned beeswax candles. I know the wax goes through several

steps of purification before it is sold. Burning honey, on the

other hand, has the caramelizing smell of burning sugar, as anyone

who has had a boilover while making mead can tell you :-)

Thanks for the questions and comments - I can see where the article

will be all the better for it.

Robyyan Torr d'Elandris Dennis R. Sherman

Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill Chapel Hill, NC

Atlantia drs at uncvx1.bitnet

drs at uncvx1.oit.unc.edu

RE>Tallow

Greetings to Lord Stefan li Rous.

I would guess the best bet for a wick would be to use commercially made wicking,

which can be found at hobby stores. If you want something a little less

sophisticated, cotton "candlewicking" embroidery thread has been readily

available in needlework supply stores for some years now, owing to a revival of

embroidery in that medium. I don't know what was used in period. Linen thread,

perhaps?

I've heard down the years that tallow candles, as a rule, are less desirable

than paraffin or beeswax because they are smokier and they smell. I'm thinking

of trying a blend of tallow and beeswax to see if the latter cuts down on these

problems. Paraffin is cleanest burning, to my mind, but definitely modern. I'd

love to have beeswax candles, but today, as in the middle ages, they are too

costly for everyday use.

If I can answer any other questions for you, please let me know.

Yours in service,

Dunstana Talana the Violet

Northkeep, Ansteorra

aka

Jennifer Carlson

Tulsa, Oklahoma

JLC at vax2.utulsa.edu

From: JLC at vax2.utulsa.EDU (JENNIFER CARLSON)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: RE: Tallow

Date: 15 Jul 1993 11:45:13 -0400

Organization: The Internet

Richard du Geusclin asked how to go about getting tallow and making candles.

I've only used tallow for making soap, but the process of rendering the tallow

is the same:

Go to a butcher or a grocery store that has a real meat counter and ask for

several pounds of beef fat scraps. The butcher may look at you funny. Say

what you want the fat for, and the funny look usually goes away. Make sure it

is understood that you only want BEEF fat. Pork fat makes LARD, which has a

different consistency than tallow. Phone the butcher first, since meat cutters

usually throw out all the scaps after the morning cuttings. Some places do not

charge for fat scraps. If you're charged more than a nickle a pound you're

being ripped off.

5 to 10 pounds of fat is a good amount to start with. Rinse it off with cool

water, trim all the meat scraps off (use the meat to make broth or feed it to

your dog - it will be fresh and will have been refrigerated). Chop the fat up

into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the better it will render, but it is

tiring after a while, so I usually cut the pieces about the size of my thumb.

Fill a large pot - I use a stock pot or a canning pot - 1/3 to 1/2 full of fat

and up to about an inch from the top with water. Put it on the stove over

medium heat. Rendering tallow can be a rather smelly business, so turn on the

fan in your stove hood, open a window, put a fan in the kitchen, or something.

Bring the fat and water up to a low boil, and keep it there for a couple of

hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Skim off any foam or blood that may

rise up. Be sure to add more water as it cooks down. Be patient. As the

tallow and water cooks out of them, what's left of the pieces of fat will

shrink up into ugly little greyish things called "cracklings."

Take the pot off the heat and remove the cracklings with a slotted spoon or a

seive. If you really want to, you can render them again to get the last bit of

tallow out of them. I usually just throw them out. Strain the liquid -

carefully! - through a few layers of cheescloth into a large mixing bowl and let

stand to cool. After a couple of hours put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Once it's chilled take it out and remove the white stuff on top: this is tallow.

The water underneath will be grayish and nasty, and a layer of gelatin may

cling to the bottom of the tallow. Discard the water and the gelatin, and

scrape the bottom of the tallow cake clean. If the tallow is fully rendered, it

will be firm, uniform in color, and smooth in texture. If, at room temperature,

it is yellowish, semi-liquid, grainy, or oily looking, put it in a pot with an

equal amount of water, bring to a boil, strain into a bowl, and cool again, and

discard the water and impurities that settle to the bottom. You may need to do

this two or three times to get all of the impurities out.

Wrap the finished cake of tallow in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

It will keep fresh for a couple of months.

I do not know if there are any special tricks for making molded candles from

tallow. I can only suggest the old "dip" method, wherein you dip a length of

wicking into melted tallow (the tallow will turn yellow when it melts, by the

way), pull it out and let the tallow harden, dip it again to add another coat,

pull it out, etc., until you reach the desired thickness of candle.

Good luck with the candles, and let me know how they turn out!

Yours in service,

Dunstana Talana the Violet

Northkeep, Ansteorra

aka

Jennifer Carlson

Tulsa, Oklahoma

JLC at vax2.utulsa.edu

From: sherman at trln.lib.unc.edu (dennis r. sherman)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: RE: Tallow

Date: 15 Jul 1993 18:20:49 GMT

Organization: Triangle Research Libraries Network

Greetings to the Rialto from Robyyan.

Dunstana writes, in answer to Richard du Guesclin's question about

tallow:

>Go to a butcher or a grocery store that has a real meat counter and ask for

>several pounds of beef fat scraps. The butcher may look at you funny. Say

>what you want the fat for, and the funny look usually goes away. Make sure it

>is understood that you only want BEEF fat. Pork fat makes LARD, which has a

Actually, if you want the absolute highest quality tallow, ask for

MUTTON fat. At least for the purpose of candlemaking, I don't know

about soap. All my lighting history sources that discuss tallow agree

the best tallow is mutton, followed by beef. And they say to

absolutely avoid pork, as it will smoke and smell.

The rest of Dunstana's description of processing tallow is quite good,

except I'd emphasize the probable need to boil, strain, and cool more

than once.

Robyyan Torr d'Elandris Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill Atlantia

Dennis R. Sherman Triangle Research Libraries Network

dennis_sherman at unc.edu Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

From: Ursula <jmiller at genome.wi.mit.edu>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: RE: Tallow

Date: 15 Jul 1993 21:17:14 GMT

Organization: Whitehead Institute

My two bits' worth on tallow: I cook it in one pass -- cook it for 3-4

hours, and mash it up with a potato masher every so often. Cook it until

you mostly have clear, bubbling fat, and brown crispies. All the water

will have boiled away by this point, so put it through a strainer (use a

spoon to squish the last bit of fat out). Then pour it into a (bread)

loaf pan that has 1/2 inch of hot water in it. Cool to room temp, then

cool in the fridge. Then pop it out (with the help of running _cold_

water), and voila! A brick of tallow.

Note: the 1/2 inch of hot water ensures that the brown crispies that went

through the sieve will drop through into the water, leaving your tallow

very clean.

Note: don't bother with the slimy fat from your butcher, use only the

hard, solid stuff.

Note: Call the meat department of your favorite supermarket -- they'll

generally collect what you ask for, and it's more likely to be free.

Note: Store the tallow in the freezer.

So......

How does one make candles out of the tallow? (I know how to make soap).

Ursula

jmiller at genome.wi.mit.edu

From: LIBLBM at orion.DEpaul.EDU (MURPHY LORI)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: RE: SCA Digest V6 #556

Date: 15 Jul 1993 18:28:19 -0400

Organization: The Internet

I have done some work with tallow (beef fat). In order to

start from scratch (since tallow isn't readily available), you'll

need to find beef fat. In central Indiana, my former home, one

could obtain it easily from a local slaughterhouse. Kidney fat

is the choice fat. It has a lower amount of unwanted body parts.

However you get it, you'll then need to render it. To do

that, simply trim away any non fat and heat it up in a large

container with half water and half fat. It will take some time

but you will eventually have three layers: fat, water, and

chunks of fat that will not render. The chunks will float so

you can skim those off (cracklin's for you farm folks).

Let the whole thing cool into stratified layers. Your

clean tallow will be mostly white, just slice the sediment away

and toss it, leaving you with clean tallow.

Pork fat is sometimes available in the grocery store.

You won't want to use it for candles, it doesn't burn as well

and smells worse. You shouldn't use it for soaps either. If you

keep the wick of a tallow canle trimmed it won't smoke as much

and you'll have less smell, they still smell a bit. You'll

just have a house/camp/tent that smells a little like a greasy

spoon. Hope this helps. If you need more, respond. I have more

information.

Yours, Seamus

Date:30 Jul 1993

RE>Tallow, soap & lye

Ha! I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten about you! No, I just got busy

towards the end of the week.

Slimy versus hard fat:

Well, some fat is hard, like suet, and fat from some places (like just

under the skin) is sort of slippery and slimy. The second kind doesn't

really contain very much actual fat, and isn't very useful for making

tallow. The meat department won't save very much of it for you, either,

because it's difficult to cut off. Don't worry about it. It's not bad,

just not very useful.

How to make soap:

Get the following little tome: Soap: Making It, Enjoying It, by Ann

Bramson. 1975. Workman Publishing Company, New York. ISBN# 0-911104-57-7.

$5.95.

I've tried the Castile Soap recipe from this book, and it works

beautifully. In fact, I don't buy soap anymore (that bit about homemade

soap being caustic is bunk if get the proportions right). It's also the

recipe that's most likely to be period.

Equipment:

POT: Get a dedicated soap-making pot: Stainless steel or cast iron is okay,

but I prefer enamel. Make sure there are NO dings or nicks -- the enamel

must be perfect (I bought a brand new one at Bradlees (that's Target to

you)). If the enamel is chipped, the lye will eat through it. You can't

use an aluminum pot for the same reason -- the lye will eat aluminum even

faster.

ONE-GALLON PLASTIC MILK JUG (with cap): For mixing up the lye.

LYE: Use Red Devil brand lye, which is found next to the Drano in your

supermarket. It's the only brand I know of that's 100% lye. Drano has

other stuff in it, so don't use that.

SPOON: Also get a dedicated wooden spoon. The lye really soaks into the

wood, so don't think of using it for food afterwards.

THERMOMETER: It should be fairly responsive (i.e., not a fever

thermometer), and register up to about 110F.

MOLD: Ideally, a disposable styrofoam cooler, not too large. 12-15" by

6-8" is fine. Line it with a new garbage bag, trying to minimize the

wrinkles.

The recipe:

CASTILE SOAP:

26 oz. Olive oil

60 oz. Tallow

11 oz. Lye

32 oz. Water

NOTE: all of the above amounts are in DRY WEIGHT measure, NOT fluid

ounces! A food scale works great.

1: Put some very cold water in your sink.

2: Put the milk jug on the scale, and zero it. Add 32 ounces of water.

3: Measure out 11 oz. of lye onto a piece of sturdy paper. Hold the jug

in the sink of cold water, and carefully add the lye. Cap it loosely, and

swirl it in the cold water. It will get quite hot. Be careful not to burn

yourself, and not to splash lye on you. Rinse immediately if you do. Wear

clothes you don't care about. Cool the lye to 95-98 degrees F, making sure

it's completely dissolved.

4: Fill the sink with water that's 95-98F.

5: Melt the tallow & olive oil together in your dedicated pot. It will

almost certainly shoot over 98F, so cool it in the sink.

6: When the fats are between 95 and 98F, start stirring (leave the pot in

the water in the sink). Slowly drizzle in the lye, stirring constantly.

When all the lye is in, check the temp. If it isn't between 95 and 98, get

it there by adjusting the temp of the sink water.

7: When the soap mixture is the right temp, remove it from the sink, and

stir constantly for 1-2 hours (yes, you read that right). It will take

longer on a hot day, less on a cool day, but you can bet on at least an

hour. Be sure to stir stuff up from the bottom, and out from the middle

and corners. Eventually, it will change color, and become whitish. You're

getting there. When it traces, it's ready to pour into the mold. By

"traces", I mean that when you pick up some of the mixture on the spoon,

and pour it out over the surface, it leaves a little trail behind that

actually stays there on the surface. Your "Joy of Cooking" has a good

definition in the Candymaking section.

8: Pour the mixture into the mold(s). I usually stir it up a little more

vigorously right before I pour it, because I've always ended up with a

couple of little lye droplets in the middle of the soap cake. Oh well.

9: Cover it up with the styrofoam lid or a folded up blanket to kep the

heat in. The reaction is slightly exothermic, and will continue for a

couple of days, and will slow after that. Don't even peek for 24 hours.

10: After 48 hours, carefully remove the cake from the mold (if it's too

soft to do this, wait another day). Cut it up into bars, and let them cure

for 4 weeks. The saponification reaction should be pretty much done by

then. Keep track of tha bars that were on the outside of the big block.

These will have a white layer of sodium hydroxide of them, which should be

trimmed off with a knife and thrown away. Trimming, shaping, and carving

can be done any time the consistency seems right, but don't use the stuff

before it's aged 4 weeks.

Note: Fragrent oils can be stirred in right before pouring into the mold.

Do not use anything water based. The lye will destroy it.

How to make your own lye (I have not tried this):

Pack hardwood ashes in a barrel that has holes drilled in the bottom. Run

water through the barrel, catch the water when it runs out the bottom.

Stir it up. Put an uncooked egg in it. If it floats, dilute it by adding

more water. If it sinks, run the proto-lye through the ashes again to make

it more concentrated.

Enjoy!

Ursula von Moechwald

a.k.a. Joyce Miller

jmiller at genome.wi.mit.edu

From: Jennifer Geard (6/13/94)

To: Mark Harris

Mail*Link∆ SMTP RE>Royal Whims

Greetings to Stefan li Rous;

> Just what is the difference between candle snuffers and candle

> extinguishers? I can see them applying to the same thing.

The first thing to remember is that you had to trim wicks to keep them

burning brightly -- modern wicks are a post-period (I think) invention in

which one of the strands of wick is pulled tighter than the other strands

when they're plaited together, so that when it burns it pulls the top of the

wick into the flame where it is burnt away. Cunning invention, since before

it was developed the wicks would just get longer and longer and the flame got

floppier and smokier and less efficient. (Have you ever played with the

settings on a bunsen burner? It's that sort of principle.)

Snuffers are shaped like scissors, and trim the wick. They can also be used

to put the candle out. Extinguishers are generally shaped like witches' hats

and simply put the candle out. These days you'll often find extinguishers

called snuffers, and the phrase "to snuff a candle" means "to put it out" to

most people. One of those pieces of trivia...

Anyway, how are things going in Texas?

Payn

==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==/==\==

Jennifer Geard bloodthorn at sloth.equinox.gen.nz

Christchurch, New Zealand

From: ekenny at gandalf.ca (Erin Kenny GMSI)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca