Maxi ball and Lee REAL lube

[Tom Compton]

A new friend at Friendship last year introduced a couple of weeks s to what he uses, Mobil 1 synthetic oil and bees wax. I tried some this past June and about to make my own.
TC

 

[Billnpatti]

I think that what goes rancid in bear grease is the stuff that is left in it when you render it. The bear grease that my friend gave me was straight from his rendering pot and contained a lot of bits and pieces of fried stuff. the grease was tan in color. I put it in a pot of water and brought it to a boil. Then I put it outside in the Indiana winter to cool. Once it was cool and the grease had solidified on top of the water, I carefully lifted it off and put it in another pot and repeated the process. After about three boilings and coolings, the bear grease looked and smelled like the lard that you find in the stores. I guess once it is thoroughly cleaned it is pretty stable just like lard from the store. I guess.....at least it seems that way to me. :idunno:

 

[gbeauvin]

Just don't let your dogs get at it. The dogs ate all my lube (both my tin of mink oil and my tub of beeswax/coconut-oil/olive-oil)

-GB

 

[RAEDWALD]

Cannon. Mutton tallow was the traditional black powder of choice with the British Ordnance as it melts at a higher temperature than most other fats and, when made clean, keeps at room temperature in a sealed container. Lard, made from cow, horse or pig will melt more easily at hot day temperatures and go rancid far more easily. IIRC deer tallow also has the same property.

Easy to make with mutton/lamb fat offcuts. Remove any non fat bits, Set a pan of water to simmer. Add the fat cut up. When it has melted and covers the surface of the water turn off the heat and let it cool and the fat to harden on top of the water. Any remaining non fat bits will be on the bottom so carefully remove the fat, put in a fridge overnight then scrape off any iffy bits underneath. Then you can remelt it and pour into the container of your choice. Pop on a lid and it is ready to use. I am still using some I made a few years ago.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Actually the best of the high temp fats are either beef or mutton suet, from around the kidneys, rendered into tallow. Not all of the fat in the animals is the same. Ask a good butcher for some.

Proper beef or sheep suet is also the only fat one can use to make a proper boiled pudding.

LD

 

[Billnpatti]

" Maybe there's a difference between bear oil and bear grease."

When you gently heat the bear fat, or any fat for that matter, in hot water, you will get oil. When you render it in a skillet at much higher temperatures, you get grease. The difference between oil and grease is the size of the molecules. Oil molecules are smaller than grease molecules. The lower temperature of hot water results in the formation of smaller molecules which form oil. The higher heat of frying the fat causes the molecules to form larger molecules which result in the formation of grease. What does this have to do with grease becoming rancid more quickly than oil? Damned if I know. Maybe grease molecules have more active sites for oxygen molecules to attach. If this is so, that might explain it. But that is just a SWAG on my part.