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Post by hawkeyes on Mar 14, 2020 12:25:03 GMT -7
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Post by Black Hand on Mar 14, 2020 13:50:50 GMT -7
Hawk,
I've read of people double-smoking a hide - once before braining and the second after braining. Have you ever done this?
A little envious of your weather. We just got hit with 8-12" of snow and below 0 temps. One highway was closed due to the treacherous conditions this morning and has re-opened with crappy to super-crappy travel conditions.
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Post by hawkeyes on Mar 14, 2020 14:48:23 GMT -7
Hawk, I've read of people double-smoking a hide - once before braining and the second after braining. Have you ever done this? A little envious of your weather. We just got hit with 8-12" of snow and below 0 temps. One highway was closed due to the treacherous conditions this morning and has re-opened with crappy to super-crappy travel conditions. I have actually had to smoke a few larger hides more than once. However I've personally never done it before adding the emulsion mix. I likely could have even smoked this one for another go. However after three hours I was getting cold standing in the freezing rain mix. Sometimes with big moose hides I know it's not uncommon to smoke them upwards of three, maybe four times. I won't do anything larger than a deer ever again... They are just large enough to be enjoyable without pain and agony. |
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Post by spence on Mar 14, 2020 20:00:09 GMT -7
Neat demo. How do you control the heat in the smoker so you don't cook the hide?
Spence
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Post by hawkeyes on Mar 15, 2020 6:36:22 GMT -7
Neat demo. How do you control the heat in the smoker so you don't cook the hide? Spence It's tricky, and can be a problem if someone has never smoked. Flame up is inevitable which always produces heat, but it can be mitigated easily. What I like to do is get a hot bed of coals going. Then I'll distribute them in an even layer around the bottom interior area of the tipi. While all that's going I'll douse my wood with water and allow it time to soak. When the above is completed I'll wrap the hide and press forward with loading wood, and dousing hot areas as they arise. I find it helpful to liberally wet the area around the tipi which helps control flameup from the wind. We did have a considerable wind out of the West yesterday which can be a pain. In most cases the hide doesn't need to be covered, however it proved necessary. Once the process is moving you can stay ahead of problem areas before they arise just by watching and listening. I always keep the coal bed covered with fresh wet wood and douse as needed. It's a process that is certainly much easier to be involved with first hand versus trying to explain. Time consuming but very rewarding, and the smell... Oh my it's a woodsmans potpourri. In short I find the coal bed to be very important and tending to that before hand has always proved to be beneficial. The even layer of coals coupled with an even punky wood layer makes the process roll with ease. I broke the hide once again this morning and it's soft, supple and looks amazing. It did get a little wet in some areas yesterday after removing it from the frame but that is no cause for concern. |
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