crisco candle

Do you think if you put a taper in a tub of crisco or lard it would burn ??


(mended the title - pw)

Hum.... and would you want to breath the fumes.....

I found this about using Crisco as a candle additive:

Believe it or not but the product known today as "Crisco" (the name is derived from "crystallized cottonseed oil") was developed in 1911 by Procter & Gamble to replace the expensive animal fats used back then to make candles!
It was the first shortening to be made entirely from vegetable oil. But because electricity soon began to replace candle light and because the product resembled lard, Procter & Gamble started selling it as... food.

Because of its chemical structure, paraffin expands when heated and contracts when is cools off. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it: the contracting part greatly helps when the time has come to remove a candle from a mold but it's not welcome in the case of container candles where you want the wax to stick to the glass container.
Also because of its chemical structure, vegetable shortening like Crisco does NOT expand/contract according to its temperature. The logical conclusion is that, by mixing equal amounts of paraffin and shortening, you will end up with a mixture that will be 50% less prone to expansion/contraction than straight paraffin.

If you don't have access to special container blends, or if you're a die-hard do-it-yourself'er, you can mix your own container wax by incorporating Crisco (or any other vegetable shortening) into your formula.
The exact proportions depend on several factors: the type of base paraffin, the shortening itself, the other additives you may use... You will more than probably have to test and test again before you find a formula you really like. But if you want a kick start, visit the page about container candles formulas, your will find a starting point for your research.

In small proportions, Crisco gives a nice creamy look to your candles, even pillars or votives.

Makes me think it will burn just fine, but to fat, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that.

Shortening candles are awesome !!! I used tapers and mason jar. Just fill a mason jar with shortening Stick a taper in the middle and light it. so far it last forever

Cool - something to do with that nasty stuff  besides ingesting it

I'm going to try it!  Thanks

take pictures!

Is it smoky?  Clean?

wow! i have an old, very old can of crisco...it's got to be 7 plus years old... i'm going to try this too, next week. will try and take pics.

what sort of material would be suitable as a wick in such a candle?

they work great and like any other candle if the wick is to long it smokes. works just like candle wax.

are far as wicks go i have been using tapers in the middle. if you don't your wick will fall over unless you add metal or paper to the center  I can get a 4 pack of tapers/or emergency candles for 2 $

here some pics

the second pic is just to show the the candel had burned out maple scent i think. So i fill it with shortening and stuck a purple taper in the middle the same height as shortening 

So any noticeable fumes, smells, etc. once the smoking issue is dealt with?

Does the Crisco melt to a liquid as it burns?  Does it harden back up when not burning?

I have to go buy some Crisco, I stopped using it and now use virgin coconut oil instead.  This coconut oil is much to expensive to burn 

Any vegetable fiber can be an OK wick.

One I like is cotton, soaked in a solution of salt and borax. The borax absorbs into the wick and makes it burn much slower.

There are also some less-inexpensive, very thin candles available. If you're in a big grocery store, look next to the matzoh and gefilte...

I have been using candles in my version of the Kandle Heeter, from

http://www.heatstick.com/

On my medium sized version, I use candles and vegetable oil ($2 for 48 oz.) If using a candle, I place it in a small mason jar and fill to the top of the candle with veggie oil.  Light and burn.  When it goes out, I generally take scrap wax from a smaller candle heater and place the wick in a spiral I made from steel wire.  It starts out large at the bottom and gets smaller as it goes up.  I place the wick inside the spiral, so it doesn't fall over when things heat up.  I generally check it later in the day and add a bit of oil, to keep it burning cleanly.  I can easily get 24 hours burn time out of this set up.

During that 24 hours, I have a beautiful flame, contained in the orchid pot I use as the base of the my medium candle heater.  And I have the added benefit of almost free usable heat that the top magnifies and radiates into the room. 

no fumes or smells. the shortening does melt about 1/4 of lyquid on top of the candle while lit . it does harden to shortening once it cools if you use a taper in the middle the 2 mix and you get a semi hard wax top

Is the size of the flame determined by the size of the wick? 

I can imagine that a fairly large container would leave a lot of shortening along the edges of the container.  But it seems like nobody would care about that - later you just refill.

yes wick size does relate too flame size you can trim the wick. or add more shortening to bring up the levle of the liquid 
as far as the sides not melting  thats why i used a mason jar the jar heats up and melts the sides

Well, now I am going to have to try shortening.  Sure sounds like a better use for it than eating the stuff!

AN update for you. I have found that a tightly rolled piece of paper makes the best wick for shortening candles

Cool beans.  I'll have to try that.  Thanks!

Paper with certain blue pigments will turn the flame green, which can be fun. This freaks some people out, but AFAIK the copper is not a particularly high dosage, and the flame doesn't produce a particularly toxic form of it.

I used mc donalds bag. Its used to having shortening on it lol

alright! I have several containers of that nasty stuff from somewhere. I tried to use it in soap and wasn't happy with the results. now I have some avenue for it!

you can mix it with wax right? I have some old decorative tins also that would make good multi wick candles and then inexpensive gifts.

Leah,

It should work just fine.  I burned a lot of old bacon grease recently, it was too old to use for cooking but it burned just great with the candles. 

yes it will mix with old wax 

i was using tapers for the wick but the shortening doesn't  burn fast enough and drowns the wick

so im using rolled paper

Great to know about the paper! 

Any tips on how much paper and how best to get it to roll tight?

i use about a dollar size piece tightly rolled long ways

paper wicks don't burn as fast so you will have to trim them more

charles johnson "carbonout" wrote:
AN update for you. I have found that a tightly rolled piece of paper makes the best wick for shortening candles

pics?

im out of shortening right now but when i make more ill take pics

fardarrigger wrote:
Leah,

It should work just fine.  I burned a lot of old bacon grease recently, it was too old to use for cooking but it burned just great with the candles. 

Did this make your house smell like cooking bacon? If so, I'm going to make bacon-scented candles very soon!

Joe O' wrote:
Did this make your house smell like cooking bacon? If so, I'm going to make bacon-scented candles very soon!

Hahaha..... maybe this idea should be added to the bacon and cholesterol thread 

I have seen Tibetan butter lamps done in a similar way & also I believe that some of the far northern Native Americans would do this with fish oils.

I imagining the fish oil did leave a smell, & my friend who was in Tibet told me that the butter used in lamps of the common folks he met is too rancid for eating & smelled terrible, he said that the more money the less rancid the butter in the lamp.

I have made a butter lamp before just to try it, I used a small piece of wood wrapped in part of a cotton ball. It worked well but needed adjusting from time to time. 

i like butter too much for that

Yes butter is yummy, I think that's why they try to use up the rancid butter for burning so they can eat the good butter. Tibetans make a butter tea that tastes kinda like chicken broth.

charles johnson "carbonout" wrote:
im out of shortening right now but when i make more ill take pics

Have pics yet? 

Here lately I have a lot on my plate. I think its more likely when it gets a little colder

Someone mentioned a candle heater up there -- is this what you were talking about?  Or something similar?  I just built one of these (larger than the one in the picture) and am seeing how long it takes to get warm -- and how warm it will get.  Right now I'm burning old candles that I had laying around, but shortening sounds like a good alternative (although I also have a bottle 'candle' or lamp that will burn kerosene, which I also have plenty of).

Kathleen

Has anyone experimented with adding ingredients to the Crisco for aroma such as vanilla, cinnamon, rosemary leaves, lavender leaves or other essential oils?

not yet still to busy catching mice and fixing our house
i wonder if sweet basil would work
i always have alot of that at the end of summer

And now .... the bacon candle: 

mmm yum good job paul
nice fat lines in that bacon

Why do I feel hungry right about now?