Mutton Tallow (sheep tallow)
INCI Tallow. CAS 61789-97-7, 129521-65-9; EC 263-099-1, as CosIng gives them. Also: Sheep tallow, Ovine tallow, Lamb fat (rendered), Sebo de cordero.
Published values
| Saponification value | 190–202 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 196.0 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1397 g/g |
| Iodine value | 33.8–43.9 g I₂/100 g (typical 38.6) |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 157 |
| Melting point | 43.1–51.1 °C |
| Unsaponifiable matter | — |
Soapmaking books print about 0.139 g NaOH per g (median of 4 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %. Soapmaking books print 0.138-0.139 g NaOH per g for mutton tallow. The Codex standard for edible tallow covers sheep fat as well as beef and gives 190-202 mg KOH/g, and six commercial mutton tallows analysed in 1908 came in at 196.8-197.6, the same as beef tallow. We use the standard's middle, 196 (0.140).
A bar made of 100 % Mutton Tallow
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
How much lye
| Oil | NaOH | KOH |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 66.4 g(64.3–68.4) | 93.1 g(90.3–96.0) |
| 1 kg | 132.7 g(128.7–136.8) | 186.2 g(180.5–191.9) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 60.2 g(58.4–62.1) | 84.5 g(81.9–87.0) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 120.4 g(116.7–124.1) | 168.9 g(163.7–174.1) |
For this oil alone at 5 % superfat, with pure sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or pure potassium hydroxide (KOH); in brackets, across the published range of its saponification value. KOH is usually sold at 90 %: divide by 0.9. For a whole recipe, open the calculator.
Fatty-acid profile
Saturated : unsaturated 57 : 43
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 2.2–2.8 | 2.5 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 20.3–24.6 | 22.5 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0.9–2.5 | 1.7 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 24.3–41.7 | 33.0 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 31.4–44.8 | 38.1 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 1.6–2.4 | 2.0 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 1–1.2 | 1.1 |
Guides that discuss it
Compared with other oils
Where these numbers come from
Table I 'Fatty acid composition and physical properties of mutton tallow' (kidney, back, intestinal, composite) and the abstract; full-text PDF opened at .../article/download/252/253 and read with pdftotext. Published 2003.
The source of the saponification value. Clause 2.4: edible tallow (dripping) is rendered from the clean, sound fatty tissues, attendant muscles and bones 'of bovine animals and/or sheep (Ovis aries)'. Appendix (advisory), tallow column: saponification value 190-202 mg KOH/g. Read from an Internet Archive capture of the FAO file with pdftotext.
Corroboration. The authors' own analyses, printed as saponification equivalents (grams of fat saponified by 56.1 g KOH; the book's formula: saponification value = 56,100 / equivalent). Mutton tallows: Australian 285 and 284.4, South American 284.5 and 285, North American 284.3, Selected English 283.9, i.e. 196.8-197.6 mg KOH/g; a second North American row printed '85' is a misprint. Beef and mixed tallows 283.6-286 (196.2-197.8). Primary laboratory data, a century old; the book's method (2-4 g of fat refluxed with semi-normal alcoholic potash, the excess titrated back against a blank) is in substance today's ISO 3657 / AOCS Cd 3-25.
Source: List, Steidley, Neff & Snowder, 'Physical properties of mutton tallow', Grasas y Aceites 54(2):113-115 (2003), USDA-ARS NCAUR. Table I gives fatty acids (GLC, % of FA), iodine value, trans acids and Mettler dropping point for kidney, back and intestinal fat of a single 170 lb ewe plus an equal-weight composite: kidney 14:0 2.2, 16:0 20.3, 16:1 0.9, 18:0 41.7, 18:1 31.4, 18:2 2.4, 18:3 1.0, IV 33.8, trans 4.5 %, dropping point 51.1 C; back 2.7 / 24.6 / 1.0 / 24.3 / 44.8 / 1.6 / 1.0, IV 43.9, trans 2.7, 43.1 C; intestinal 2.8 / 23.6 / 1.0 / 33.9 / 35.4 / 2.3 / 1.2, IV 37.5, trans 4.1, 48.4 C; composite 2.6 / 22.1 / 2.5 / 32.1 / 37.3 / 2.3 / 1.0, IV 38.6, trans 6.0, 46.3 C. Min/max here span the three depots; 'typical' IV 38.6 and the paper's abstract range (IV 34-44, saturated acids 52-64 %) refer to the composite. The melting point is the Mettler dropping point (AOCS Cc 18-86), 43.1-51.1 C across depots (composite 46.3 C). Sample size is one animal, so ranges are depot variation, not population variation; the paper notes Uruguayan mutton tallow runs ~40 % oleic and ~45 % palmitic+stearic (Grompone 1990). The paper measured no saponification value. SAPONIFICATION VALUE is Codex CXS 211's advisory band for edible tallow, 190-202 mg KOH/g: its clause 2.4 defines edible tallow as rendered from the fatty tissues 'of bovine animals and/or sheep (Ovis aries)', so the band covers mutton tallow as it covers beef. The 1908 Handbook of Soap Manufacture's own analyses of six commercial mutton tallows (Australian, South American, North American and English) print saponification equivalents of 283.9-285, which the book's formula (56,100 / equivalent) turns into 196.8-197.6 mg KOH/g, the same place as its beef and mixed tallows (196.2-197.8); a seventh mutton row printed '85' is a misprint. The composition above gives 195.2 as pure triglyceride, the value the build derived before the band replaced it; the calculator now uses the band's midpoint, 196, as it does for beef tallow. USDA FoodData Central has no 'Fat, mutton tallow' entry (search returned only beef tallow). INCI name from CosIng.
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