A HowTo Guide For My Crock Pot Methods

IMPORTANT EDIT: Too many people are misunderstanding this post and I actually considered deleting it because of the messages I've been getting. This is an absolute LAST RESORT process for LARGE BONES with tough stuck on skin/ligaments only after maceration has already been done. This is NOT for a fast and easy way to clean your remains. You will destroy your bones quickly that way! Especially if they are small/thin. They will crumble in your hands and you will be very sad. I don't want anyone getting mad at me for misunderstanding this post. SO YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! Stick to maceration and be patient. For strong solid bones it take a lot of time, period. I have been processing bones for over 30 years, I know this stuff very well. If you are new at this do not do it.

I've mentioned here previously in my 'Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH' post that my last resort for removing tough stuck on ligaments, skin and etc from bones is a crock pot. But I didn't really go into much detail. So this is my instructional guide for that.

This crock pot method is one of my own invention. I've never met anyone else that does it. It has worked well for me since the early 90s when I first started using it. I've further mastered it since and figured out other ways to use it for bone processing tasks... and I've used the same trusty crock pot all these years.

DEFLESHING:

When I have a really stuck on flesh mass, ligaments or something similar that maceration has not removed I use the crock pot as a last resort to remove it from the bone. Most of the time it works within hours but in tough cases I've had to leave it overnight or a full 24 hours.

I like to add a metal veggie steamer/strainer to the bottom of the crock pot to minimize the bones/teeth actually touching the hot ceramic pot since it is this extreme heat that can damage them. But if you can find a metal strainer that fits in your crock pot that won't rust, that will work well too.

This method is also a good way to carefully clean smaller more fragile bones that may start to break down during maceration. Put them in a metal screen style tea strainer if they are that small to keep from losing them, or another smaller metal strainer that will fit into the crock pot.

The reason I do this in a crock pot and not stove top is because I like to carefully regulate the temperature. Stove top simmering always seems to eventually boil. The lowest setting on my crock pot never boils. I've discussed why boiling bones is bad in my 'Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH' post.

I fill the crock pot with water well above the bone and put it on low and replace the lid. Being sure to top off the water as it evaporates. Best part is that there is nothing to do. You just put your bones into the crock pot and go do something else. Just like when you use it to cook dinner.



Vultures had literally just pulled the outer skin off this opossum so I decided to do a slow simmer in the crock pot instead of maceration. This worked very quickly with the flesh still so fresh/soft.

There's really not much of a need to add anything to the water. The slow constant heat alone will get the toughest dried on mummified skin off of anything. Often overnight. Sometimes I pour out what has cooked off overnight, add new water and start again... if it is something really fleshy like a mummified head.



These turtle skulls started off whole mummified heads before I added them to the crock pot. The process is so gentle that even the keratin sheaths (or rhamphotheca) that covers the upper and lower turtles jaws were unharmed.

DEGREASING:

If the bones seem very greasy I just add a little dish soap to the water and it helps the natural fats out of the bone and rise to the top. That's the only additive I've ever put in the water with the bones. But grease will still come out of the bone without you even adding soap to the water! This is why I say to add water well above the top of  the bones you've added to the crock pot. The grease will float to the top where you can easily spoon it out of the water.



These partial coyote skulls were quite visibly greasy so I put them in the crock pot overnight with some dish soap.



The next morning a good amount of grease was at the top of the water.



To easily remove the grease from the crock pot so it doesn't get back onto the skulls when removing them I just scooped it out with a spoon. Doesn't get any easier than that. Remember as I discussed previously in my post 'Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH' that boiling bone will draw the grease further inside the bone. So don't do that to remove the natural fats in animal remains.

SOFTENING BONE TO REMOVE TEETH:

Another thing I use the crock pot for it to soften bone so that it is easier for me to remove teeth. This worked well for these wild boar mandible fragments.

The bone became soft enough after a couple days for me to use pliers and wrenches to carefully smash and break the mandible apart and extract the teeth.



Much more about this at my 'Extracting Teeth From Bone' blog post.

My crock pot method works beautifully. Very low maintenance. Rarely any need to scrub anything from the bones afterwords. I've never even had any need to find another method. I do wish though that crock pots came MUCH LARGER...haha

I hope you enjoy my HowTo blog posts. For most of the time I've been collecting and processing bones the internet was not yet around and this info was not commonly found in books either. So I've had over 30 years of trial and error figuring out these things on my own. I decided to save everyone some time that comes across my blog and let them in on a few of my trade secrets. And hopefully keep some bones from being destroyed in the process.

The Mathematics Of Maceration - A HowTo Guide For The Patient

I am constantly being asked how long maceration takes and replying "There is no set equation". So I thought it was time for this blog post for some clarification.

It takes as long as it takes. There are a lot of factors that can change the amount of time from start to finish. Time of year, location, size of remains, amount of remains, type of remains, how much flesh/hide is on remains, etc.

Maceration is my preferred method of cleaning bones of flesh, ligaments, soil, etc. It is one of the most gentle methods to use if you want strong, solid bones as the end result. It is literally a form of rotting or putrefaction. Where bacteria removes proteins from the bone. Simply by putting the carcass remains into a sealed container of water.

But it also takes patience. Lots of it. Here are images to explain.



Be safe, be sanitary! I always wear latex gloves when handling the early unsanitary steps of bone processing. Likewise, I prefer to wear a respirator when switching out maceration baths and pulling off tough stuck on skin and hide. That way I can work with it more slowly and carefully rather than rushing it because of the smell.


(click for larger image)

First Image - Nature/insect cleaned deer and wild boar bones with minimal amount of flesh/ligaments/etc. Added to maceration tub. Was filled to the top with water. Then tight fitted lid was replaced. You don't want any big chunks of flesh or pieces of hide/fur/feathers in your maceration tub. Try to remove as much as you can before you begin this process.

Second Image (top) - 3 weeks later the water in the tub was a rusty brown color. This is a good thing. Means the bacteria are doing their work to remove the fleshy bits. Water was NOT switched out that entire time. Sometimes I prefer to switch out the water now and then as it gets cloudy... say once ever other week. Depends on what I have soaking and time of year. As the oils rise to the top of the water and flesh falls off to the bottom, the water will become incredibly nasty/smelly. As it does, pour it out and replace with new clean water. The rule is that once the water is clear, you're done.

When it is colder it slows down the process. It will work best if kept in a warm location. I've read that maceration works best between 35°C/95°F and 50°C/122°F. I'm located in Florida so I can just leave my big maceration tubs sealed outside year round. The process just really slows down through the Winter.

Third Image (bottom) - There are still some meaty bits on the bone and some of the vertebrae were still attached. So not done yet. Threw them back into the bucket and added water and lid again. Takes as long as it takes. Bone processing takes patience. If you are impatient get several projects going in rotation at once. I usually have all stages of the bone cleaning process going at all time. If you are always messing with the bones or worst, cooking them because you're impatient... you are likely damaging them. True story.

Here's another maceration batch example image:



I left this similar batch of bones soaking for at least a month without switching out the water once. It wasn't planned, I was just busy and forgot. The water had turned this amazing blood red color. The bones rinsed off quite nicely and didn't need to macerate any longer.

They did however smell pretty awful. So I put them into a fresh batch of water with some dish soap to help get rid of the smell and to further degrease the bones. Larger bones like these deer/wild boar pieces take a bit more time to degrease. Some animals also seem to have more grease saturated into their bones.

Next step is to sanitize and whiten. Remember, do NOT use chlorine bleach, only hydrogen peroxide. Check out my blog post Bad Words: BLEACH & BOIL for more bone processing HowTo info about this.

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PRECAUTIONS ABOUT MACERATION ADDITIVES

Some people do use cleaning agents/detergents in their maceration baths to accelerate softening of the flesh and/or encourage grease to come out of the bones. However, I do not. In my experience adding anything manmade to the mix is only chancing weakening the bones. So the below info is just for informational purposes. I do not endorse any of these products.

Sal soda (sodium carbonate) is a water softener that some people use to accelerate softening of the flesh.

Biz is an enzyme-based bleach. Which makes me hesitant to use it personally. But I've had others tell me it works for them.

Oxiclean is a detergent and bleaching agent. I was told it does NOT work very well. Not only did it not get the fatty residue off of the bones but it also DISSOLVED some entire bones!

Borax (sodium tetraborate) is a laundry booster and will turn your bones to mush. So do not use it!

Vinegar will literally turn your bones rubbery. You don't ever want to use it in any step of processing.

The way maceration works is that living bacteria is in the water removing the flesh from the bone. If you put any sort of additional chemical or soap in the water that would likely kill bacteria rather than promote their growth. That just seems counteractive to me.

If you read through the maceration HowTo guide of one of today's biggest bone companies that specializes in selling high quality bones, you'll see they just use water. Nothing more. That to me says all I need to know. See for yourself, here is The Bone Room.

I'll just close with that thought.

Starting Over, Learning Anew

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the time I wrote this blog post I was unaware that it is actually illegal here in the US to walk train tracks or even be within a certain distance of them unless you're crossing at a designated public crosswalk. While these particular tracks I was on were no longer used, walking on tracks still in use is incredibly dangerous. Please stay safe while collecting!

So I've been going through a bit of culture shock the last several months. I moved from deep in the undisturbed country to the middle of where I honestly thought I'd never find myself again... suburbia.

I went from no neighbors, fences or paved roads ... to prying eyes, having to hear the business of others at any given moment and pretty much an entire lack of privacy. I can't even seem to go outside most days to enjoy some fresh air without someone wanting to know who I am or what I'm doing.

I previously lived in nearly pure privacy for over 8 years and didn't talk to anyone unless I wanted. Don't get me wrong I'm exceptionally friendly. Especially with complete strangers. Most times I'm standing in line at the grocery store or post office I start talking to someone else in line.

But my privacy and freedom have always been very important to my well being... and now I rarely have either.

As a person that collects the remains of animals to use in art, jewelry or for display... my life has become especially limiting. And I have to relearn many things because of these new limits.

Before, I could have an entire deer carcass on my property and nobody would flinch at the smell. Now, anything larger than a squirrel would attract far too much attention from the 4 neighboring houses so closely backed up to the short chain linked fence.

So far, all carcasses I've put in the back yard have been taken by an opossum or raccoon. So I have to figure out how to resolve that without having a big cage like I did in the country. That's not something that's socially accepted by the neighbors here I'm sure. Plus, there are small children in the yard. That's right, I'm also trying to adjust to being an instant Mommy figure... to twin 3-year-old girls. My boyfriend's girls.

For a suburban area there is an abnormally large amount of nature here compared to say where I grew up. I'm especially in awe with the low flying vultures everywhere. I find myself trying to make a mental note of where I see them roadside eating roadkill. In hopes of coming back to get the remains.

I did just that recently when I hopped onto my bike with many plastic bags in tow. I went alongside train tracks that also ran parallel a main two lane road into the center of town. I headed out fairly late in the day to minimize the heat and sun.



Within five minutes I found the remains of the opossum I saw a vulture eating weeks previous. If only I had got to them before the big city lawnmowers they' be in better shape and the skull might still be around.



There had also been a lot of severe thunderstorms and tornados in the area so much of the smaller remains were lost in the sand.



This particular area was covered with hundreds of tiny armadillo bone plates (or osteoderms). But just too many and too small to pick up.

Just beyond this I found what I thought at first was the spine and ribs of a small mammal. But then realized it was a small part of the remains of a fish skeleton. I found four more sets of remains of fish on my trek along the tracks that day. Mostly at the bottom of large telephone poles. Which makes perfect sense because I see Osprey flying overhead frequently with fish in their talons. I imagine they sit atop the poles and eat their catch there before dropping it.



Funny, because only a day earlier a friend brought me the remains of what he thought for sure was a reptile skull. Which I quickly figured out was only part of a large catfish. He found it on a sidewalk in the middle of town so no surprise he didn't think it was a fish.

I also saw several animal dens going under the tracks. I wondered what kind of creature lived in them because I saw no fur or tracks.



Sadly I think that question was soon answered when I found the remains of what I believe was a large gopher tortoise (which I left since they are a protected species) that looked as if it was traveling down the tracks when it was hit by a train.



Nearby were the remains of a vulture that appeared to also have been struck by a train.. perhaps while eating the remains of the tortoise.



Amazingly there were only feathers and some skin left behind of the vulture. No head, beak, bones or feet. Something really stripping it clean. Not that I'd pick it up anyway since it is illegal to have, being a protected species of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The ride home was quite stunning for suburbia.





And when I really looked at my bags of loot I didn't do too bad.



The remains of several opossum, 4 various fish, water turtle bones and possibly various cat/dog/raccoon/rabbit/deer bones. I realized afterwards that I need to make this bike ride more frequently if I want to get the remains before they are damage or taken. Plus, there's a LOT more I can explore. This was all found only after a couple miles!

So while I can't process my roadkill finds like I did out in my country home, I do have options. Finding bones mostly flesh free hurries the process and I don't have to have large carcasses in the yard.

I now have these remains in two different sealed containers. One has water and fleshy bones that need to rot off to nothing but bones (maceration). The other has flesh free remains that are soaking in a peroxide bath to whiten. Much of these are already heavily nature cleaned so they won't likely need degreasing.

Fingers crossed this works without a terrible smell coming into the house.

Bone Collecting from the Beginning

I have been collecting bones from a very young age. I was 7 years old when it all began. My brother and I found a tiny dead newly hatched turtle in an ant bed at the end on our suburban Tampa cul-de-sac. We argued over who was going to keep it. Chris, being three years older, of course won that right.

Somewhere around 15 years later though, he passed on that skeleton to me. Sadly, Dermestid Beetle larvae ate up the tiny skeletal remains while it was in a glass case on my wall. Fitting since these larvae are used for cleaning carcasses for the bones and skulls.

I've actually lost much of the older parts of my bone and insect collection to these guys. Now I try to keep my more fragile remains in sealed glass jars or plastic bags. The Dermestid Beetle larvae can actually eat smaller bones and insect remains entirely.

You can purchase Dermestid Beetles and their larvae online. If I ever have a larger scale use for them I'll buy some but the maggots a carrion beetles out where I live do a great job on their own and are free. We'll talk about that in much more gruesome detail later on though.


Misc animal teeth found in my yard & tiny Pufferfish in jar.

So my brother and I had a pretty spectacular bone collection growing up which was carefully displayed in his room. A sea turtle skull, the entire remains of an armadillo, a huge long-horned cow skull, and much more. I'm going to see if I can find some photos of our collection to post later.

Ours parents, unfortunately must have thought this was a hobby that my brother and I needed to grow out of though. One Summer while we were at our grandparents' in Missouri our entire collection vanished with no explanation. We came home to empty shelves where it once was. Still to this day, I'm upset about it. There were things in that collection that I've never been able to get again. And some of it held sentimental meaning.

My brother still collects bones as well. His are bought or found for the most part. I don't think he goes through the processes I do though of going from a carcass to clean bones. But I may just be unaware of that though too.

I live in the deep-country of Florida these days. I moved here to enjoy nature while the locals spend much of their time trying to kill it for sport and/or food.

There is certainly no lack of bones to be found out here.


Skull and fragments found in backyard after the dogs chewed it up. I think it is actually another dog.

There is an endless amount of road kill along the highways to take you pick at, if you care to drag the body to your car and take it home. Ranging from opossum, raccoon, dog, cat, wild boar, deer, vulture, turtle, wild turkey, rabbit, skunk, barn owl...and on and on.

Most of my finds recently though can be thanks to A) the local hunter dumping gutted carcasses in the woods and B) my dogs dragging the bones and skulls into the yard.

I'm going to chronicle those stories here, and much more.