Boiling a skull (the easy way)

Navy_Gunner

Navy_Gunner

New member
Boiling skulls the easy way!

I have done lots of skulls in the past ranging from bear, cougar, coyote, deer, etc. I love having skulls around, but I allways dreaded boiling them out. Until now. I decided to boil a skull out I harvested last week, and have had a box of "Sal Soda" or washing soda sitting around for a year now. I decided to try it. I got my skull pan out (yes I quit using my wifes pans), filled it up with water (about 1.5 gal) put two scoops of sal soda in the water, stirred it up, and let it boil for about an hour. Then I dumped the water out, ran cold water over it and within 2 minutes I had all the meat, cartlidge, brains, etc. all off. It was the easiest thing I have ever done. That sal soda turned the meat and whatnot into jello, and loosened it up so it just came off in a few big pieces.

Moral of this long story; go to http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01347350/
Buy some sal soda, its about a buck a pound (1/4 cup per gallon so 5 lbs would do many skulls $5 for 5lbs)

Im not kiddng you, from start to finish was about 70 min. 60 min of that was spent sitting on my couch playing PS2. I have never had a skull done in under 3 hours till now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Here would be my only concern. What holds the bottom jaw together? What holds the teeth in? Cartlidge and muscle.
 
I have boiled lots of skulls before, and i have tryed the sal soda method of boiling. Both ways i have had teeth fall out . It dosent happen every time with or without the sal soda, but boiling skulls tend to make the teeth crack no matter what you use . Even if the teeth dont crack over night , after a couple months or even years they seem to like to crack . Thats one of the reasons why i went the bug route(Dermested Beetels). You dont have to wory about boiling stinky skulls, teeth falling out , or cracking. Just clean the skull up a little and toss it in the aquarium for about a week or so and all you got to do is degrease(if needed) and bleach.
 
Instead of boiling, simmer them. Boiling will lead to cracking, etc. Also, instead of paying shipping on the Sal Soda, you can go to a pool supply and buy Soda Ash which is the same thing, i.e. sodium carbonate. Another alternative is in the laundry detergent section of the grocery store -- Arm and Hammer brand laundry detergent. Again... Sodium Carbonate. This is not to be confused with baking soda or sodium bicarbonate. Get some elmers glue and glue the teeth back in if they fall out. To protect the skull from cracking or flaking - mix elmers glue 50/50 with water and spray, brush, or dip it on the skull. The beetles or maseration (rotting) are the better methods with the least effect on the end product but take time, and in the case of beetles -- keeping the little buggers where you want them.
 
I have simmered and still experience the teeth cracking down the road. I just got back my bear and wolf skulls from having them cleaned by beatles. The teeth still crack. I would bet this is almost inevetable. Ever try to save baby teeth whn they fall out? They too wind up splitting and falling apart. Thats what tends to happen when you take it out of it's moist environment and quit feeding it calcium via the blood supply to the tooth. Just a some what edjucated guess. (dad is a dentist) But still a guess.
 
I assume the longer you boil the more the cartlidge cooks out. Who cares if you have to glue a few teeth back in? I dont know about splitting teeth, I would have to say that crapshoot may be on to something. Sounds reasonable to me. I know I have 4 skulls that are sitting on my loading bench that were boiled out years ago, and none are splittin out yet. The only thing they are doing is turning yellow. I hear this is from bacteria that was bleached white, not killed. A lil white paint and problem solved.

I just wanted to share my exceptional experience with sal soda. I have done many skulls before, and they took me forever. I couldnt beleive how easy the meat and all came off. I will send pics when I get the camera from my wife. I did something different this time. After boiling I soaked it in hot water and lots of oxyclean. No stinking bleach, and I let it sit a few days. It is actually whiter than if I used bleach. No softening of the cartlidge, no seperating jaw, no falling out of teeth. Worked well, dont know why, or how just that it worked.

Chris
 
I have used sal soda since I started doing skulls for people. I have an outdoor cooker consisting of a turkey frier burner unit and 3 gal enamal stock pot( for deer and smaller, cut the bottom 10" off of a 55 gal drum for elk or multiple animals at once.) I made a wire basket to keep the critters without antlers off the bottom; this fits inside the pots.
For the most part I use 1 -1 1/2 cups of sal soda per 3 gal of water and bring everything to a good but not rolling boil, this can take up to 30 minutes with the big pot. Then, and this is the key for me, leave it in for at least 30 minutes, let the water and soda start to work. After that time things should be loosened up pretty good, go to work on the skull with a flat screwdriver and wire brush (brass for the small critters) remove as much as you can then put the skull back in the pot. After about another thirty minutes it should be pretty clean, if not use the screwdriver and brush to pick off the rest. These times are for deer, elk and bear-less for smaller animals.
The only teeth I have ever lost are the ivories from elk (always) and imature (baby) teeth. I have never had to glue a skull or jawbone back together.
The real keys to boiling skulls is doing it as soon as possible after skinning (fresh is best don't let it dry out), cut as much meat as possible off before and use plenty of elbow grease so you don't have to boil as long. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
if you use the Sodium Carbonate method do you still need to beach the skull. If so what is better bleach or peroxide and what percentages to water do you use

thanks guys, always a big help.
 
After boiling I use 40% hairdressers peroxide brushed on and leave for an hour or so at a time until as light as you want. Here are a couple deer skulls I did this fall and a bobcat skull.
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