RE: preserving a fan
trim off as much meat and fat as you can and then salt or borax the fleshy part of the fan.
i spread mine out on cardboard and put nails through to hold it open nicely then borax them for a month of so..dumping it off and adding fresh stuff every couple days. salt works also..and quicker..heard borax is better though...not sure what the difference is...
that works for me