Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: darwin on January 30, 2013, 12:51:45 pm
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I have access to lots of rabbits and have often wondered about tanning their skins and how I would go about it, plus how I would cook one. anybody with experience feel free to comment
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They are very good to eat. Have have a recipe I will share with you later . It makes you come back for more. The hide is very thin, I see some on here use it but depending on application wear can be an issue
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check out the How To section of PA.
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I've killed and traped 100's of wild rabbits. My mom could make awesome rabbit pot pie.
Or I just love it breaded with eye wash and fired.
I've tan a couple when I was a kid.
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http://www.offthegridnews.com/2011/01/25/rabbits-tanning-hides-for-beautiful-furs/
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Cool thanks guys
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I have done sulfuric acid tanning and my projects turned out beautiful! HOWEVER.. the devil might jump up and bite you in the a$$ many years down the road..like if you were to get it wet it will probably then disintegrate.. this being because the acid doesn't want to fully neutralize or so I've heard.. much better idea to try to learn brain tanning and then the use of a very light hand! I've done ONE wild rabbit.. turned out okay but it was indeed a job..probably the BEST bet is a synthetic tan. Forget who makes that.. Guy named OS on taxidermy.net. TruBond.. that is what his tan is called. I have never used it but I think it is supposed to be great for tans that you want to use for garment tanning.. so yeah a washable tan and the fur and skin are still tanned and together.. lol.. Those rabbit skin woven blankets are oh so sweet! Guess you just need a real BUNCH of them. I also of course have used the powerwasher on rabbit furs.. We had all kinds of mostly domestic rabbits running around here.. Destructive little devils.. cute though they may be! I let our young daughter shoot several and was GOING TO tan them but just got sidetracked and never did finish the bunnies I started.. I did skin them and flesh them very well. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/1braintanner/photo-1040.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/1braintanner/photo-1346.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/1braintanner/photo-1863.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/1braintanner/photo-274.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/1braintanner/photo-359.jpg)
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yeah the battery acid trick works good, mother earth news has a how to on line, we used to raise meat rabbit's, that's some good eating man, bub
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Some years back in a wonderful explosion of cottontails, I was canning a dozen jars of "wingless chicken" every week.
I'd break down the skinned rabbit by cutting thu the backbone just behind the last ribs. Toss the front end in a very large pot with a bottle of cheap white wine, bunch of classic french herbs, and a little salt and pepper. Be sure to add a pint or so of water for every rabbit you are canning. Get it simmering just under a recognizable boil. Simmer this for a couple hours to make an incredible soup broth. Strain carefully to get out the bones and pick the meat out for later. Or skip picking the meat, not all that much on the front end.
While that is simmering, take the back end of the rabbit and cut the "rack" just ahead of the pelvis. The heavy backstraps and tenderloins are on this section that my friends and I call the rack. Split the pelvis to seperate the two hind legs. Stuff your two hind legs and the rack in a quart jar with a half teaspoon of garlic salt, and a healthy shake of black pepper.
Now use the broth from the slow simmered front ends to fill the jars to 1" from the top. Lightly screw on the lids and put in the pressure cookers at 10 lbs of pressure for 75 minutes.
The canned rabbit meat falls off the bone. I would crack open a jar, pour the broth into a pan with a diced potato and a cup and a half of frozen mixed vegetables. When the potatoes were done, I'd seperate the meat from the bones and drop it in the hot soup, and serve. A quart jar of this canned rabbit will feed three grown men on hot "chicken soup" if you can make a decent enough batch of cornbread or cathead biscuits to go with it!
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That sounds good, JW i might have to try that, i think im going to try the battery acid trick, if i can convince my better half to allow me to do it inside our weather has been too crazy to try it outside, she is convinced that the battery acid is too dangerous for me to use. the fact that im a toxicologist and work with more dangerous stuff on a daily bases doesn't seem to make a difference to her.
two question
1. Does the acid tan smell bad (if it does i might not be allowed inside with it)
2. Would anyone be interested in trading for any of these skins if they turn out well, their white rabbits? I don't have any immediate use for them and am more doing to learn how and to prevent waste as the rabbits are getting killed whether i skin them or not.
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Never try the acid tan,but I can tell you the batt acid smells bad,been a mechanic all my life and the stuff stinks. Not sure how it will smell with a skin. :-\
Pappy
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On of my favorite meals of all time, is rabbit spaghetti. My mom would take the rabbit and fry it until almost done. While doing that she would start the making of home made spaghetti sauce with pickling spice and all. When the sauce was done, she would take the fried rabbit and put it in the sauce and then simmer it for hours, or until the meat feel off the bones of the rabbit. The best tasting dish I know of.
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To stop the acid... rerinse with baking soda to neutralize. Pappy is right it does have a bit of a smell, but much less than rotting pelts. :laugh:
I raise tons of rabbits, if anyone wants some dried salted ones let me know...we can work out a trade. I have about 25 to slaughter tomarrow.
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Alright all I had time to skin was 6 and my friend did one ( quite poorly) and put them in the acid. It doesn't smell too bad yet. I will keep an update going
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Make sre to stirr them every day. If done right the dermal and skin should peel apart almost in a thin sheet.
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Vinemaple, forget about the skins, send me the rabbit....lol. Man that would be good right about now.
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Everything is still going fine, my girlfriend wont admit it but i'm keeping the guest bathroom cleaner than she ever did.
Just a question though when skinning a rabbit do you leave the cartilage in the ear or skin around it?
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Never tried tanning one but the white rabbits seem to have a thinner hide even for a rabbit. You can use them raw in the blankets though just tube skin them then cut the hide into one long strip about 1/2 to 3/4 in wide take a piece of heavy cordage or rope about 3/8 dia open up the rope a little from one end just enough to get the end of the rabbit skin through and wrap the skin around the rope tightly just overlapping each wrap and secure the tail end the same as before. The rope gives the skin strength use as is for a belt or something or make 30 or so and weave into a blanket.
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This one was done with a commercial tanned skin split up the belly. One of these days i will get enough to do the blanket. Sorry the pictures are a little dark
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By the way, jackrabbits are very good eating also. Liver is big enough to make a pate and spread on a baguette.
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I posted this blanket I made before but this is what Anasazi is talking about.
its alot easier to twist the fur strips over twine when the twine is stretched taut.
this one If i remember correct, was made of aprox. 120 rabbits. some strands were double wrapped
the skins don't have to be "tanned" but they should be softened ...just watch for D#$% moths!
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richardzane....That's pretty darn cool..uhhh I mean a very warm blanket there.Looks like a time consuming project there.Congrats.What does that blanket measure in size?
darwin....here is an alternative tan for you.I've used it dozens and dozens of times on lots of different hides.No smell.No deterioration when getting wet.Drying back soft again with a little scuffing.Alumunum sulfate and pickling salt on a 1 to 2 ratio in weight.Do it in a 5 to 30 gallon plastic container depending on how many you want to do.Cover with soft water,enough that they are suspended so you can readjust their position in the solution twice a day.The trick with rabbit hides is that you have to flesh and salt them to dry to set the hairs in good prior to tanning.That way you don't have any shedding of hair later on.Neats foot oil is massaged in after they are partially dry to help keep them supple.A pound of aluminum sulfate and two pounds of pickling salt will do 1 deer hide in a week or so,so adjust your measurements accordingly for smaller projects,but don't worry if you put too much it is'nt toxic or anything and won't ruin the hide.
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the blanket WAS aprox. 4' x 5 1/2'. that thing was amazingly warm in winter...and HEAVY.
I say "was" because moths destroyed it :(... i was trying to do it as authentically as i'd imagine ancestors could have done
the rabbit project took over a few years, and trying to learn the process of fur tanning/softening.
probably only 2/3 of the hides I "tanned" made it. I didn't tube skin them or salt them(which in hind sight DOES seem like a good idea)
I tacked them out as round as i could and cut them into circles (for spiral cutting)
where does one get aluminum sulfate ?
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You get a maximum effort nod from me making that blanket.I could see that had to take a long time.I'm not surprised the hide deteriorated on you either.There is'nt a rabbit hide out there that I've seen that does'nt shed some amount of hair [even the rabbit lined gloves] at one time or another but setting the root hairs in good salting & drying is your best chance of reducing that.
Aluminum sulfate can be looked up for on the computer.It is in a granular form.It is not a dangerous chemical.In fact it can be ingested with no ill affects.Even then though I did'nt try that......LOL.The salt used needs to be a pickling salt gotten at grocery stores.It does'nt have the iodine in it.This process keeps the pests away.
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'preciate the good advice about salting and alum. sulf.
don't know if i'll ever do another one...but it sure was a great learning process!
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Rabbit fur was used by some native americans to line there mocassins. You would not have to "tan" the hide to use it in this way. Rabbit skins are pretty thin. Just scrape the meat/membrane off. You could just work it in rawhide form to loosen it up some.
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richardzane......BTW you've got a heck of a nice work area there.Is that some sort of kiln you made for your pottery?
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Excuse me richardzane I meant to ask darwin.
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yeah Beadman,
that was my woodfire mud kiln in New Mexico. It kind of evolved from a series, from a basic slap together mud kiln made in the desert.
the one i have here in Okl. is more geared towards humid weather,so the adobe is covered with a stucco, but the same principle.
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Alum and salt=good recipe for moisture, which might very well impair skins turning them "sulphuric". Perhaps better 'raw'. Probably a bit more Tradish, like Cherokee suggests.
Richard Zane, my heart goes out to you, as I have learned lessons like yours! :-[
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primitivepaulette....Good recipe for moisture?Is that your guess or your experience?I've done dozens and dozens of hides with alumnum sulfate and pickling salt and no sulfuric action has ever occured.Decades of shelf life.Doing them raw totally invites all kinds of pests.
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Personally, it's been between 10-15. However, if I can count the experience of some of my hide tanning peers, that goes into the decades. Salt continues to draw moisture and well if you wash the salt out very thoroughly the alum can also be washed out, lol. It is a very old argument even on the taxidermy net site..think this is why new ingredients are always being introduced, but, how many of those are actually in fact alum based....
..I don't mean to cause argument as I have in fact 'tanned' quite a few skins myself using aluminum sulphate and salt and even sulfuric acid, and salt... and they came out really beautiful. I have 'heard' about disintegrating skins from some very reliable sources. It could be that when water is reintroduced to those extended shelf life skins.. Personally? I might not be around then and if I do live that long? :-) Actually, I'm suffering now from some of the tanning I've done.....but it will not stop ME from tanning them, so really there are MANY ways to skin A Cat and tan them. Oh yes and rabbits too :-). Definately a thread topic here that I should have declined any comments on, lol. Must be my conservative side coming forth! Just a differing thought and one that just might bear some forethought?
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Yes just conservatively guessing here there must be 30 different ways to tan hides.Personally I have a first cousin who has been a taxidermist as his main income for 30 years and has a school of teaching too that I did'nt live too far from first hand.He will buy the tanning process from his taxidermy catalogs of which I have the same books.He sends hides away to be tanned too.Neutralizing the tanning process is essential.I had a state taxidermy license myself for about 10 years till I got into brain tanning and the primitive life style reenacting.Nothing lasts forever.Like anything else it matters how you take care of it along the way.
Seems like people want to ask the whys and wherefores of things,and want a gaurntee too.If they'd realize nothing lasts forever they'd be ok.You did a very nice job of skinning on your rabbits and nice pictures of it too.