How to Make Bear Grease Lye Soap

How to Make Bear Grease

The practice of making bear oil has diminished over the last century. Cheap, grain-based oils and our society’s rapid movement away from field-to-table eating has lessened the value of this wonderful, multipurpose fat. But I think it still can find a place in modern homes. Bear oil has many non-cooking functions like lubricating guns and knives, preserving leather, burning as fuel in oil lamps, and in some circles, forecasting the weather. Bear...

Video: How to Make Bear Grease

I’m really passionate about the correct way to render bear fat. In this video, I’ll show you how to do it. The story of bear oil (or bear grease, as I like to call it) is rich with folklore. Some say it can cure baldness and arthritis. Others say you can use it to forecast the weather. Still more people have more practical applications like using it for cooking, conditioning leather, and preserving metal. My favorite way to use bear grease is pan...

Video: How to Make Bear Grease Soap

Making bear grease lye soap is a practice as old as the hills. It's a time-tested and valued cleaning product to this day. As a matter of fact, you can use any type of animal tallow to make soap, as people commonly did before modern commercial soaps. In this video I'll show you how to use four ingredients: bear grease, lye (sodium hydroxide), water, and essential oils. Animal tallow soap makes a great lather and is better for your skin than the...