I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried to recycle or reuse the salt that we use from salting capes.I buy 50 lb. bags of meat salt from the feed stores. I use it one time and discard it in the garbage dump weekly. It seems to be such a waste.Has anyone ever tried to reuse the salt or take it somewher for reproccessing? Bruce, would it hurt to reuse the salt? Has it lost any of its saline quality? Will ther be bacteria present?
I do not reuse my salt, but a local person who buys up lots of deer hides for resale uses it on his hides after they flesh them and send them to market. He does not have to worry about the hair coming off. He also processes deer so he will process my deer for free and I have a good place to dispose of my salt.
I tried it some years back and lost some capes, to much/many bacteria. Some become accustomed to a saline enviroment. Then you slip the hair, go ahead and try it.
The problem with recycling your Salt is that it contains a lot of the drained fluids from the skins, and if you receive some skins that are on the "edge", with a little taint to them, and you Salt them, you are really taking a chance. I've seen some people re-use their Salt - but only where they are using a Salting Rack, and the skins dry quickly. Usually they simply shake off the salt and when the next skin arrives they shovel it on from the floor (usually linoleum). However, as I mentioned before, if you salt a skin that has begun to break down, after salting, I'd dump the salt and not use it again. There's a good chance that bacteria was involved in the "breaking down" of the skin and you dont want to use it on good skins or capes. As JohnC mentioned, it can be risky! I prefer using new Salt.
The problem with recycling your Salt is that it contains a lot of the drained fluids from the skins, and if you receive some skins that are on the "edge", with a little taint to them, and you Salt them, you are really taking a chance. I've seen some people re-use their Salt - but only where they are using a Salting Rack, and the skins dry quickly. Usually they simply shake off the salt and when the next skin arrives they shovel it on from the floor (usually linoleum). However, as I mentioned before, if you salt a skin that has begun to break down, after salting, I'd dump the salt and not use it again. There's a good chance that bacteria was involved in the "breaking down" of the skin and you dont want to use it on good skins or capes. As JohnC mentioned, it can be risky! I prefer using new Salt.