Guest guest Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 , check out http://www.braintan.com/ ... you'll find lots of info and links there regarding tanning skins the old way... brain tanning... now that's one thing you could do with the brain... I was told by a farmer raising bison that in general, animals seem to have just the right size brain needed to tan their skins..! BTW... brain-tanned skins are much softer than conventionally tanned skins incl. veg. tanning... the skins can even be washed yet retain their suppleness. Dedy From: F. Jewett <<I am toying with the idea of asking if I can conveniently show up at the butcher (a la Mike ) and walk away with more than the " allowable " stuff. As in, the WHOLE lamb. But I'm at a bit of a loss regarding the head (brain aside) and feet - what would I do with them? Stock? And how would I cure the hide? >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 At 07:28 AM 9/11/04 +0100, you wrote: >, >check out http://www.braintan.com/ ... you'll find lots of info and links there regarding tanning skins the old way... brain tanning... now that's one thing you could do with the brain... I was told by a farmer raising bison that in general, animals seem to have just the right size brain needed to tan their skins..! > >BTW... brain-tanned skins are much softer than conventionally tanned skins incl. veg. tanning... the skins can even be washed yet retain their suppleness. > >Dedy Oh. And there I thought brain-tanning was just a new description of what happens when I'm out in the sun too long. MFJ Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can still be found in the most amazing places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 >So far I have only found one source for good lamb, and they're pushing for >orders now. These particular people do it by the hanging/carcass weight, >which according to them does not include head, feet, organs nor hide. >They have noted that they are not allowed to sell (presumably via USDA) any >organs other than heart, liver and kidneys. What I did was buy the whole animal (a beef). If it is YOUR animal and a custom butcher comes out to butcher it, they are YOUR organs. You are not legally allowed to sell them, but it's your cow (or lamb). Actually our local custom butchers will take beef organs if you don't want them, but for smaller animals they specifically say it is up to you to dispose of the organs, they WON'T take them no matter what. The hide on that cow weighed over 200 lbs, and there was no way I could tan it! I tried salting a small piece but it was just too big to handle. A lamb might be a good experiment though. Commercially tanned though, it came out really nice. Brain tanned might be even better, so I've heard. Handling the organs and fat though, take a LONG time, I was working for 2 days straight ... if you really want to use a whole animal, you need your clan involved, I think. For beef hides, the hide is kind of a " tip " for the killer, they get like $40 for it, so I paid the killer for the hide out of courtesy. I also tipped him extra for talking to me and telling me stuff while he was working, he was a fount of knowledge. As for eating brain ... the custom butchers typically shoot the animal in the head, and the lead from the bullet makes the brain unfit to eat in their book. Also everyone is afraid of mad cow disease. The liver can have liver flukes, but the farmer told me the killer would not have allowed me to take the liver if he could see it was damaged (and he was a very good killer). Once you get the USDA involved though, things get more complicated, they have stricter rules. Even though they do things like mark cows that can't walk " ok for human consumption " . Heidi Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Well, after a day or so of thinking about it, specifically about the hide question, all I could do was say to myself " ! What are you THINKING! " It would be a nice exercize, but no, I don't think I'll be going curing hides just now. And it's turning into a moot point anyway, because after checking the contents of my freezer(s), I really don't need any more lamb anyway. Goat, yes - pork, beef or lamb, no. Thanks to all that responded, you're all always very helpful. MFJ Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can still be found in the most amazing places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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