I saw the steaming method for cleaning euro mounts on social media and decided to give it a try. Is it worth it... Short answer yes, the steam doesn't get as hot as boiling water so you don't have to keep an eye on it. Does power washing deer skulls still suck, yes.
I had built up an inventory of deer skulls that I wanted to DIY euro mount this year. In the past I have always used my turkey fryer pot filled with water, Dawn dish soap, and OxiClean powder. I had good success but I always got impatient and/or I am not a skilled enough fry master to keep the water at a seamer and it would always turn to a boil when I stepped away. The result was lots of loose bones and teeth which would go flying when the power washing started and are always a pain to put back together. Was the DIY boil method for euro mounts awful no... but was I open to possible improved methods... absolutely.
I saw a video steaming a moose skull and thought it was worth a try. So, I bought myself the cheapest propane tank on Facebook marketplace and removed the valve and added a small a piece of pipe threaded to a washing machine hose.
It's super easy to operate. Put the skulls in a large contractor garbage bag, I did two skulls at once. Poke/cut a small hole in the bag to release some steam. Seal the garbage bag to the hose with some painters tape, I did this so the tape would be easy to remove. Fill the propane tank halfway with water and put it on the burn. Then you light your fire and wait. It was that easy.
My first batch was skulls that had been skinned but left in the refrigerator for over a month so they were super dried out with some meat and brains still in them. I steamed them for an hour and it worked great. I had a few pieces that were tough to remove, like the back of the skull at the brainstem and deep nasal passage. So I steamed them for another 30 minutes and everything came off easy. I think had the skulls been fresher an hour steam would've been plenty.
The next batch was two skull that had not been skinned and been in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. They were also dried out but not like the first two. Since they had more flesh on them I steamed them for an hour and a half and everything peeled off like butter!
As I mentioned earlier the biggest advantage to this method is you can't over cook the skulls with the steam but the power washing is still messy. These skulls look rough because they're stained since I waited so long to clean them up. A little peroxide and they will be ready to display. Good luck to those that give it a try!
I had built up an inventory of deer skulls that I wanted to DIY euro mount this year. In the past I have always used my turkey fryer pot filled with water, Dawn dish soap, and OxiClean powder. I had good success but I always got impatient and/or I am not a skilled enough fry master to keep the water at a seamer and it would always turn to a boil when I stepped away. The result was lots of loose bones and teeth which would go flying when the power washing started and are always a pain to put back together. Was the DIY boil method for euro mounts awful no... but was I open to possible improved methods... absolutely.
I saw a video steaming a moose skull and thought it was worth a try. So, I bought myself the cheapest propane tank on Facebook marketplace and removed the valve and added a small a piece of pipe threaded to a washing machine hose.
It's super easy to operate. Put the skulls in a large contractor garbage bag, I did two skulls at once. Poke/cut a small hole in the bag to release some steam. Seal the garbage bag to the hose with some painters tape, I did this so the tape would be easy to remove. Fill the propane tank halfway with water and put it on the burn. Then you light your fire and wait. It was that easy.
My first batch was skulls that had been skinned but left in the refrigerator for over a month so they were super dried out with some meat and brains still in them. I steamed them for an hour and it worked great. I had a few pieces that were tough to remove, like the back of the skull at the brainstem and deep nasal passage. So I steamed them for another 30 minutes and everything came off easy. I think had the skulls been fresher an hour steam would've been plenty.
The next batch was two skull that had not been skinned and been in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. They were also dried out but not like the first two. Since they had more flesh on them I steamed them for an hour and a half and everything peeled off like butter!
As I mentioned earlier the biggest advantage to this method is you can't over cook the skulls with the steam but the power washing is still messy. These skulls look rough because they're stained since I waited so long to clean them up. A little peroxide and they will be ready to display. Good luck to those that give it a try!
