Hide Preservation Brain Tanning Brain Tanning a natural

Hide Preservation Brain Tanning

• Brain Tanning- a natural method of hide preservation that requires no chemicals and uses the animal’s brain instead. The brain is fatty and will preserve the hide. – Oh yeah, and its free too! Native American Quote: “Every animal has enough brain to tan its own hide”

Dry Scrape Brain Tanning *** optional step • • • Skinning Gutting Fleshing De-Hairing **** Racking Scraping Braining Buffing Smoking

1. Skinning

2. Gutting • Cut through the sternum to the neck. Detach the aorta + esophagus and tendons/ligame nts. The organs will fall out. – Be careful not to contaminate any of your meat wit organ juice!

3. Fleshing • Flesh the hide by using a sharp knife or scraper blade to remove fats and other tissues from the stretched hide

4. De-Hairing • Use a dull knife or the back of a knife to do this. Do it on your fleshing beam.

5. Racking • Use Twine/Sticks to make a rack. Then thread the hide and stretch it slightly.

6. Scraping (Dry Scrape Method) • Use a very dull scraping tool (back of a knife or a stone). The skin will just flake off.

7. Braining • Scoop the brain out with a spoon or fingers or straw… – You will need an ax to open the brain of larger mammals.

8. Buffing/Ringub • This requires the most elbow grease; its tedious and slow. Work it slowly over the wire…

9. Smoking • Smoke it over coals, not a fire for about 30 minutes!!! This keeps the bugs away. – Be careful not to burn it! – Roll, up the hide and synch it closed – Smoke the inside and outside of the hide