I have three sets of turkey feet. Two have "hardened" and one has not. I do not know why. I cut foot pad, and removed tendons. Then I sewed back up. I sprinkeled borax down the leg and injected legs, and toes with Van Dykes "Preserves IT". There is a wire ran through leg to middle toe for attaching to fan plaques. Any clue on why third set won't "set"? I did all three sets about 2 1/2 weeks ago.
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Not sure why the two have hardened, other than it's been a few weeks. The Rittels Preserves It product is a safer alternative to formaldahyde not a hardening agent. The only time I inject legs using Preserves It is when I mix it 50/50 with elmers glue, and I only do that when I want a very long setup time, as it can take weeks to dry even with the glue. I use Masters Blend for quick setup on most legs. Borax and time itself will eventually dry up the leg skin around your now preserved leg meat. The up side to all this is the combo of borax and preserves it should keep the bugs away, and shrinkage may be kept to a minimum I guess.
It could have something to do with how long they were in the freezer. The first two pairs could have started to freezer burn if they weren't sealed as well as the others, or were in there longer. Also, if they were soaked in any solution for different periods of time. It could have been due to how they were handled before they even got to you. I received a turkey in May that was killed this turkey season and had the worst freezer burn I've ever seen. Even some of my spares from two years ago were in better condition. In fact, I used a pair of those feet to replace the originals. I did a turkey for the same client last year that also had freezer burned feet. I need to buy the guy's freezer - significantly cheaper than a commercial freeze dryer.