Preserving and making Hide Glue or Drying Jellow Broth.

I used to save my extra bone broths (and meat) in heat sealing mason jars and store in a second fridge. The plastic from the lid was getting into my broth, so that method was partially discarded; if this method is used its done for short term storage and the content is not commerciale sterril. 

Make broth, and gelatinize the liquid. The liquid should be able to stay sold at room temperature for some time and have no grease accumulated on the surface (when cooled, this can easily be removed) ; this is difficult with just bones in your average broth, so it will need much tendon and or scraped hide, chemical and contaminant free (if you plan to consume the glue), from a wild, clean animal; this will make it as thick as possible.

Scoop the jellow onto a glass plate, once dry, they will stick well enough to pit the glass. You'll need to use a tallow, oil, or bees wax on the plate to prevent sticking.

Blow fans on the chunks so that the surfaces cant stay moist initially for very long; keeping the fans blowing for 4 days or so in a well ventilated coolish room. At some point, after a few days, flip the hardening chunks and finish dehydrating. If the broth is to be eaten, make sure dust won't land on your shard while they are drying.

Eventually you will be left with sharp shards of dehydrated jellow which can be taken outdoors and used as hide glue. The glue shards must be rinsed with hot water briefly to remove the outer layer with oil from the plate and then briefly dried again.

If the gelatin is not thick, just pour it onto the the plate , with a layer of game tallow covering the surface of the plate (oil will float, tallow with stay on the plate), and the puddle will dry and begin to lift away from the plate after a couple of days.

You must coat the surface of your translucent, not colored, glass plate first or the glue will pit the surface, pulling the glass right off when you try to remove it later.

I tan the hides, but am left with the face mask and leg pieces; these can be lay on the ground or on a beam to dry, but when ready, rehydrate or put raw into a pot, hair on, cover with water and boil to make the glue broth (don't eat this as the hair probably has chemicals and dirt which will get into the broth). 

I have a pressure cooker, so I can stuff these hide peices into the pot on high for an hour and fifteen minutes. Moose should go an additional half hour after the first cook has been drained, stored and cooled.

BEFORE any drying process to make hide glue, make sure the liquid or jello is skimmed at the surface to remove any oil or fat accumulation. 

The liquide from the hide pieces is poured into or sliced and placed cold, in a jet sled and then air blown on it. 

Hide glue does not really stick to plastic and so lifts right off as it dries. Do not dry jellow using this method if you are going to eat the glue. An alternative to a jet sled is a tote lid. Plastic, in for drying jellow on, is an easier option than a tallow covered plate. You dont have to  clean the shards of the tallow when they are dry.

As the glue is drying in the sled or tote lid, peel off the drying surface layer and flip it, move it, move the jello around, flip the chunks upside down, don't be afraid to make a mess, this will increase the surface area exposed to air currents speading the drying process; because of the plastic surface, the glue won't stick no matter how thin it is spread; I hate plastic but this is one situation which it seems to be the best material for the job.

Im still working on how to make hide glue outdoors. The chunks tend to want to melt into a sloppy puddle and smell in short order.

To use the gold glue shards, simply warm water in a clay pan or other heavy heater (some use double boiler) and swirl the shard until it has dissolved into the water. The direct heat will weaken the glue so hence the clay or bouble boiler.





Just flipped.



Theoretically you can do this with a meat stew or a jellow broth you want to eat later

, but you need to be aware of dust in the environment. The longer the drying process, the dirtier your environment (say you live in a city) the worse the contamination.