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Dry Salting Vs Salt Water Bath??

Discussion in 'Tanning' started by Aussie Tanner, Mar 19, 2023 at 7:41 AM.

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  1. Mar 19, 2023 at 7:41 AM #1
    Aussie Tanner

    Aussie Tanner New Member

    3
    1
    Victoria, Australia
    Hi everyone, I've been off and on tanning for many years now and I'm finally starting to get serious about it and put through some real numbers. 90% of what I do are red fox for wall hangers or garmets. I skin the animals and then roll up the hides and freeze them. I thaw out around 20 at a time, flesh them on a beam then salt them. After 24hr I shake the salt off and re salt so they can sit for another 24hr before I start the rest of my tanning process.
    My question is this.
    I Want to ditch the dry salting step and try a salt water bath (brine?) instead. I would love to hear from anyone who has done this and tell me the pros and cons, or for that matter if it even works as a replacement for dry salting? also what salt ratios/salinity levels were you running? any advise is appreciated.

    PS. I did find a couple things that touched on this in the forum archives however you never know what recent experiences people have had and things they have tried.
     
  3. Mar 19, 2023 at 8:34 AM #2
    Frank E. Kotula

    Frank E. Kotula master, judge, instructor

    3,483
    1,574
    wilkes barre
    Two lbs salt to a gallon of water. Then do this a lot with mammals as I like it a better than salt drying and brine the overnight, touch up anything then straight into the pickle. As of today no issues.
    Some tanneries go from skinning straight to an old pickle then flesh and back into a fresh pickle . They all work as you don’t really need the plumpness we get from deer to get them that thin
     
    Aussie Tanner likes this.

  5. Mar 19, 2023 at 2:16 PM #3
    Clementine Freyer

    Clementine Freyer Member

    89
    5
    Atlanta GA
    I just tested out the salt water method for the first time, here’s to hoping lol
     
    Aussie Tanner likes this.
  6. Mar 19, 2023 at 6:10 PM #4
    John Parish

    John Parish New Member

    1
    0
    Florida
    Hey fellas, on the same subject, I’ve seen some guys “tan” their coon hides by just fleshing, salting, salt brine and applying some sort of tanning solution. I always thought you needed some type of acid to properly tan a hide. Are their hides gonna rot or just lose some hair?
     
  7. Mar 19, 2023 at 6:27 PM #5
    Aussie Tanner

    Aussie Tanner New Member

    3
    1
    Victoria, Australia
    Very appreciative for the response Frank. This gives me a great place to start
     
    Frank E. Kotula likes this.
  8. Mar 19, 2023 at 6:30 PM #6
    Aussie Tanner

    Aussie Tanner New Member

    3
    1
    Victoria, Australia
    Clementine hopefully we can both have success straight off the bat. Let me know how it went for you when your done. Good luck
     
  9. Mar 19, 2023 at 9:00 PM #7
    Clementine Freyer

    Clementine Freyer Member

    89
    5
    Atlanta GA
    Will do!
     
  10. Mar 20, 2023 at 8:47 AM #8
    Tanglewood Taxidermy

    Tanglewood Taxidermy Well-Known Member

    9,015
    8,617
    dallas oregon
    I have done both and didn't see a difference in the end product.