Saturday, February 5, 2011

Bacon Candle - The Bacandle

I have to give credit where credit's due. I got the idea off Digg.com for the homemade bacon candle. In order to take it one step further I made my own. Only this time mixed with traditional candle wax in order to make a true bacon scented candle.

Why would you make a bacon candle? Why would you not make a bacon candle? Actually, I needed a gift for an upcoming birthdays party and figured, "What would make a more manly present?" Lots of things, actually. Instead, my friends each get a bacon candle. (For pictures of the process, see below).

A quick trip to Michael's craft store where I was directed to the candle aisle. Who knew? I flipped through a few books they had for sale on candle making and surprisingly didn't find directions for animal fat candles. Not having any idea what I was doing I purchased what I thought would be the simplest and cheapest wax and wicks. My supplies in hand I headed home to begin.

I followed what I assumed were normal directions for making a candle. Never having made one before I had no idea how this was going to turn out. Would they smell horrible? Catch fire and burn the house down? Only one way to find out.

I rendered and strained bacon fat and set aside.

Next, I melted the wax and mixed with the bacon fat. Everything seems to have mixed well together so far.

Wicks in place I poured the fat-wax mixture into the mason jars.

It appeared an odd success. The kitchen smelled of bacon from the rendering process so I had to wait a few days to see what the outcome would be. Plus I wanted to make sure the candles set completely before lighting.

Verdict: Mixed success. Turns out I should have read the packages a little more closely. The wick was not recommended for the type of wax I used. The candles did not

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 strained, rendered bacon fat
  • 2/3 candle wax
  • mason jars
  • wick's

The above made about 2 1/4 mason jar candles.









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