Pot to boil deer head

[emac]

I am going to do a skull mount on my deer this year and was just wondering if anybody had any suggestions on a pot i should get to boil it in.

[h20hunter]

Which ever one the missus won't need anymore.

[2MANY]

I went to the feed store and bought one of their galvanized, circular, feed tubs.
About 30'' diameter and a foot tall. Fill with water and heat outside on the crab cooker burner.
A pot big enough to boil up an elk skull will come in handy someday.

[boneaddict]

I did the same thing, but takes forever to heat up.  I've used the blue porcelain one and I have used another cheap one that I cut so antlers fit into it.  Get what you can and boil away.

[Cleve]

Word of advice. Just simmer the skull. If you boil it to hard it will make the bones brittle. Just simmer it enough to make the meat tender so it is able to be taken off with ease.

[NRA4LIFE]

It really helps to put a little bit of Borax in the boiling water.  All the meat and shmang on the skull turns jelly-like.  Do not use an aluminum pot if you use the Borax.  It will eat right through it.  I also use an old porcelain coated steel pot that my wife was going to throw away at one point.  My dedicated horn boiler.

[emac]

i already checked around the house and we don't have any big enough laying around.  Last year i buried the skull for 5 months and then pressure washed it.  It turned out pretty good.  I just don't have the patients to go that route this year.  How long do you have to simmer or boil it for.  Does it stink when you are doing it.  Don't wanna piss of the neighbors

[troyspinetar]

Tag

[NRA4LIFE]

I simmer it for 15-20 minutes at a time, remove it and pick away as much crud as I can.  Then start with fresh water and a little borax and repeat.  It usually takes 3 or 4 cycles like this to get the skull really clean.  The first simmer can be a bit stinky, not too bad though.

[lewy]

Its an all day affair. Boil, pull out and pick at it, repeat. When you near the end it becomes very tedious. The more time you spend on it the better it will turn out. For me its about a 15 beer project

[Buckmark]

I agree with lewy, it takes all day but if done very slowly it will turn out fine.
For a pot, go to goodwill etc....
Do it outside on the camp stove, very slow simmer to just steaming hot water, allday, remove like said periodically and scrape/clean/brush off (a stiff plastic brissel type brush works great, looks like a giant tooth brush)...
Oh, and if you scramble the brains and remove as much as you can before boiling it helps also..

[Alchase]

Do this in a well ventilated are!

I did one in my apartment about 20 years ago. It days to get the smell out of my apartment.

My  neighbor was gone for a couple weeks, and arrived home the following weekend from when I did my skull. He walked in his apartment, and it smelt like someone died in there.
Of course I knew nothing about it. 
LOL

[NRA4LIFE]

Yes, the skull boiling project does have the smell of death around it.  I'm with Lewy, there's something about a skull boil that really makes you want to consume mass quantities of beer.  Makes for a fun day.

[lokidog]

You get a better quality skull by letting the bugs (you don't need dermestids) do the work, boiled bone often gets brittle and you often lose the nasal bones as well.

Find a place where the critters cant get to it, put it in a plastic bag, not too tight though so the bugs can get in, and leave it for the winter.  This should be skinned and you can also cut as much meat off as possible to speed things up.

 

[erk444]

Also, sodium carbonate works great to turn the meat to jelly too. Thats PH up at the spa or pool store. I can get the meat off a deer skull in about 3 1/2 hours, so it is a long process, but it doesn't have to take all day. Getting the brains out first is a good idea too. Just stand back a bit when you spray the hose in the brain hole.....can get a little messy . I used to take the eyes out before simmering, but I've found its easier to leave them cause it all knida comes off in one big chunk if I leave them. If not, I have to pick at all the little pieces which takes awhile. All I remove now is the skin, bottom jaw, and the brains. Everything seems to come off together....mostly. I do euros for my taxadermist friend when he gets busy. If you do enough, you pick up little things that help. And as said before, make sure you got some beers handy!