Cauldrons and Tanning!

My chests are absolutely overflowing with rotten flesh. I would love to be able to do something useful with it rather than feed my pups and make myself sick. I do know that I can trade it to my clerics for emeralds, but early game I wished I had something better to do with it. I like the idea of tanning rotten flesh into a kind of leather using a cauldron and a tanning rack. First soaking the flesh and the stretching it out on the rack near blocks that provide heat (melt ice) or outside in a warm environment. This would make the grind for a level 30 enchantment table much easier.