Preservation versus direct processing

According to historical sources, there were mainly three different ways to process the casings before using them to produce strings. Two methods had the aim to preserve the casings for later use and the third method used the fresh casings. In an extensive series of experiments, the pros and cons of all three methods have been tested in my workshop.

Freshly stripped casings. Casings without any additional additives.

Preservation by drying. The cleaned, fresh casings are hung onto drying racks.

Preservation by salting. The fresh, cleaned casings are salted (for preservation). 

Water baths are used to desalinate the casings.
In the fire oven, the wine lees are calcinated.
The concentration of the dissolved wine lees is measured using a hydrometer.
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