So I got some bait solution last year before season. Saved my cat carcasses and used one to mix with the Dobbins'. Cut my bait into chunks, about 1/2" thick. Some cubed, some longer slender pieces. Lot of work to cut all that meat up. I have a greater appreciation for grinders now, although I do like the chunk pieces at this point. I made a gallon of chunks, put it in a 5-gallon bucket, put a lid on it, and let it sit in about 65-70 degrees for a few days. It changed smells daily. When I noticed what I thought was a familiar smell of tainted meat from other bait, I mixed in my solution. I stirred it for about a week, every two days. Then I added a cup of glycerin. Let it sit another couple days, then put it into jars.

As you can see, I got almost 5 quarts when I put it in jars. Does the meat absorb all the liquid? The meat had drained it's blood/water while aging. I left it in there. Add the bait solution and another cup of liquid with the glycerin, and the volume makes sense. It seems like the chunks were swelling up after adding the bait solution. Maybe my imagination.

All I know for sure is it has a good smell, similar to several different baits out there. I'll let it marinate in the jars until season unless there's a good reason not to?

I added 1/3 cup of chopped up rat glands, slightly aged.

Yes, the meat can absorb the liquid. What is left over makes great "liquid bait" to put down a hole, specially a smaller hole made with a stake

but
I don't think a week is long enough to gas off, personally.

I go 2-3 weeks after adding the SB...and solution.

But if you've used this system before, your jars are probably safe from exploding.

I was going to ask you to take pictures of the aftermath, if it was too soon to jar it !

Sodium benzoate acts as an astringent and will actually draw moisture from the meat and firm it up as it penetrates the fibers of the meat. The time for the preserving effect to take place can vary.

Temperature, volume and good liquid slurry contact of your preservative to the product is quite important. Thorough stirring is important to prevent hot spots.

For working large volumes of meat bases the use of very warm / hot tap water to dissolve the SB and Methyl Paraben prior to blending with the meat will fast track the process greatly and give you better contact results. Some meats will feel and appear rubbery like after a few days of sitting if you have done a good job with adequate preservatives.

This effect upon the meat does no harm in terms of animal acceptance of the material or taste.

Hey Bob what ratio do you recommend for SB, and MP per gallon of meat?

SB is usually 1 cup/gal if not mistaken BUT MP I don't know.

Mr J will let us know!

Yall keep in mind Dobbins ALREADY HAS SB IN IT !

The norm use of SB can vary. 8-12 oz. per gal. should do a good job for general purposes. Preservative contact exposure is very important to the meat being preserved and whether it is being stopped at a near fresh state or a quite well advanced aged state.

The more bacteria that is present in the meat may require more of this or that to hold the product where you want it to stay. We use a blend of materials in our work in order to hold bulk product for extended shelf life.

I will keep you guys posted on anything that happens or changes. The lids aren't screwed on tight. Hope that helps.

I followed the directions provided with the bait solution, I hope. I mixed the SB packet with hot tap water.

There was no liquid left at all. What you see in the jars is everything that was in the bucket. The meat does have a firm rubbery-like feel.

...ok, just went out and checked, again. Nothing has changed that I can detect. Removed lid, which is a canning jar lid and ring. The ring is loosely holding the lid on. The lid was stuck pretty tight, even with the loose ring. Smelled ok, no change in color. Sitting in my bait cabinet. No guarantee that it'll work, but I'm pretty happy with the progress so far.

I dropped a piece in the grass, picked it up, and threw it away so as not to contaminate the rest of the jar. Don't know if that's necessary or not, but caution over regret. The dog had no trouble finding where that little piece of meat fell, and it ate the grass and licked the dirt where it fell. Not a true test, but one that offers hope.

You'll do well with it. If you followed the directions, you're good to go. I think you're really going to like how it works. Most folks are very happy with the results. The meat does get a bit rubbery, and that's normal. After about 8 - 10 years, it turns soft, but still works well.

8 or 10 years? I'm hoping my bait Isn't going to be siting around that long. LOL

I read Paul's comment to my wife, she gave me that, "don't you even try it" look!

Surprisingly, she likes the idea that I have the option to make my own bait, using my carcasses, and pre-mixed ingredients. I believe she thinks this greatly reduces my chance of failure. Plus it's cheaper.

Had a buddy stop by and he remembered the bait and asked how it was doing. I hadn't checked on it since I was on here last. Out-of-sight-out-of-mind. I figured it was in the cabinet and it'd be ready when I was. Anyways, it's changed some. There's the oxidation I guess you'd call it at the top where the meat is exposed to the air. There the color has changed a little. I've seen this with other baits. Doesn't seem to affect their smell any. The smell of my bait has definitely changed though. It has a very mild fishy type smell. My buddy thinks it's the rat glands. Anyone maybe know? It's not bad smelling at all. Not a rotten smell of fish, more like fish meat smells. Here's what it looks like.

My Dobbins Solution bait has no fishy smell?
Didn't last year nor this carry over year?

When you bottle bait as you have it is a good practice to turn the containers every few weeks if the lids are sealed well and let them sit upside down for a while. This will eliminate the oxidation area that occurs and will also allow the bait to cure more thoroughly due to more effective solution contact.

Thanks! I had the lids on kind-of loose in-case of any gas-off. I'll go out now and tighten them and get them turned over.

I will say that there was no liquid in the bait when I put it in the jars. The liquid that now appears has come out of the meat and glands which had absorbed all the bait solution. I added glycerin before putting in bottles, and there still wasn't any liquid. The liquid appearing now is pinkish, like bloody water. Looks pretty natural to me.

The fishy meat smell would have to be the rat glands is my guess. There were no other "ingredients" other than the bait solution. It doesn't smell strong or bad, so I'm just gonna keep a closer eye on it and see how it develops.

rat glands smell sweet like bubble gum

Thanks Danny, didn't know what they smelled like actually.

As far as my bait, I've included everything I did or used. What that smell is or what is causing it? It's a learning experience for me, and an interesting one at that. I'll keep an eye on it and report on anything I notice.

my strait rat glands resemble a bubble gum smell. But ive never had a opertunity to smell any aged with meat. IMHO most water creatures eventually take on a fishy smell

We must have different senses of smell in the East. I don't think I have ever had any bubble gum that smelled or tasted like rat glands.

LOL, me either. But then again, my sense of smell may be compromised after years of working with skunk essence.

cfowler, you're probably smelling the fish oil that's in the bait solution. It can be detectable in some baits and not in others. It'll work good though.

so what do rat glands taste like? I aint that brave

They certainly didn't taste like bubble gum.

You work in my profession long enough you will get a taste of just about everything sooner or later. Not by choice, it is just one of those things that just happens.

When you are mixing or blending, tapping a bottle etc. Stuff just flies the right way and eventually some of what you are working with hits the bulls eye right in the mouth. I can't explain it much better then that.

WOW! TonyF is the buddy that stopped by and got this thing started again. His first words were, "Did you add some fish oil to this?" Of course I didn't, and hadn't smelled anything fishy up to a few days ago, so I suspected the only thing I added, rat glands. The fishy smell is very mild, but detectable. Thanks for letting me know. That makes a lot more sense.

So once a week I been shaking the jars. Turns the clear liquid into a sort of very light pinkish, milky color. Then I set them back upside down, or right-side up, to keep them turning. The kind-of fishy smell has disappeared or my nose just isn't picking it up. It's a nice mild smelling bait. Has a very familiar smell that I've noticed with other cat meat based baits. I bought two more bottles of the solution at the national. I'm gonna test some down a dirt-hole with a camera in the next month. Stuff has me curious, hope the critters are the same way!

The darker color at the top is more than likely the beaver castor in the formulation. Beaver castor turns dark as it ages and is exposed to air.

Paul if i bought the solution that had no skunk and wanted to add some to a quarter gallon how much essence should i add? i don't use to many really loud baits but wanted to have something for a change up if needed when it gets really cold here in Illinois. i made a gallon at the beginning of last season would've been about middle of October used small venison chunks as my base. it did turn rubbery on me i probably stirred and shook the bucket for 3 to 4 weeks every other day. then i put it in my bait room which stays around 60 to 67 degrees year round its an old closet in the basement and forgot about it till i got back from the wta rendezvous with a gallon of rauesatts coyote pee. thats when i noticed it was all kinda stuck together as one big rubberized chunk it does break apart very easily. my next question is can i grind it in the current state? id like to see which i prefer better ground or chunked. also i beleive the skunk would be better absorbed by ground meat at this point. thanks for all you do for us trappers

The skunk odor in my regular bait solution is almost undetectable once the bait is made. It isn't loud at all.

If you wanted to add more skunk when it gets cold, that is something you'll have to experiment with. For a quart of bait, I'd start with five drops. Stir, let it sit for a few days, then smell. If it's not loud enough, add two or three more drops. Do this until you have the amount of skunkiness you're looking for.

Yes, you can grind it when it's rubbery. The base for my Dig'r lure is 8 - 10 year old Beaver Medley Bait, which is made with bait solution. I grind it very fine.

thanks paul for the insight i appreciate it.

Dobbins with muskrat meat base hase been the best for me.

So the bait solution takes away from the natural meat (beaver/bobcat/rat) smell? The solution is the actual drawing power rather than the actual meat?

I see it more as the bait solution is the spice that makes the meat more attractive. It's kinda like when cooking a steak or beef roast. Is it more appealing with spices or without?

x2 If you get the "taint" just right , it's some good stuff

I made 2 batches one year. Both with chunked beaver meat. One with skunk and one without. Like Paul said.. the skunk gives it a different smell,but not overpowering. That year, the one with skunk I would have put up against any commercial bait on the market. I had so much confidence in that bait. As it aged it lost it's wow power. I also made some out of muskrat skulls and left it in the sun too long. It became liquid , It has a loud stinky smell that I use in cold temps that the coyotes are attracted to.

Any guess how many lb if meat it took to make a gallon? How long did you let it taint? Picking up a few beaver carcasses tomorrow. Thanks

It takes about 4# of ground meat to equal a gallon

I followed the directions that came with it. but the rest was just by site or smell. I just cut up about 1 inch chunks , The taint was about 10 days in spring weather...maybe 50 degrees or less....You want that smell you get when you realize you left a carcass in the fur shed too long and it's stinking up the place....but Not rotten.

Sounds good. I chopped up a medium beaver and then added a couple pounds of ground deer bc it didn’t seem like enough. Going to let it sit about 7 days and add everything. Thanks