Beaver tail oil

I'm in the process of getting some tails to make some oil..
I've noticed most use a gallon or so jar and fill them up..

My question is..I'm probably running low on time to make any oil here in Michigan
would it be a quicker process to get the oil if one was to fill the jars up with less chopped
up tails vs filling the whole jar? Just thinking less volume in the jar would create more heat
and quicken the process..I'm probably way off on this thought..

I would cut tails into small pieces as they break down faster than larger ones. A larger jar will take longer to warm up but the mass will cook better. Southern exposure on a black surface will speed things up for you and you should be able to get a fair amount made yet this summer.

using a $2 electric carving knife from the thrift store,
I fill about 2/3 so there is room to work/remove oil
cut into the bone, about 1" apart, then zoom down the bone/red line and the chunks fall right into the bucket
keep the bone sections and freeze until season, then bury or pin in a large dirt hole set.

Good info thanks
Slick way of removing the meat traprjohn

grinding them is the fastest way to get oil to render but it takes a very good grinder to handle them! lol I burnt up a half hrs motor grinding them

Smaller containers will generate at an accelerated rate vs a bucket/barrel etc. They will solarize faster and yield oil faster as well. It does depend upon your solar index where you live as to how cool your nights get. Each night your containers cool off thus loosing work production of the oil. Then it has to heat up again on the next solar heat of each day. If you can keep your container on a black top or an area that retains heat you can cover the container at night with an old rug or blanket to preserve the heat and reduce the heat loss of your container. Over time this practice speeds things up.

Thanks Bob
Great info

Can the container be fairly air tight? Cheese cloth but pretty tight? Dumb question but want to avoid explosions.. lol

Fats don't gas nearly as bad as meats nor do they swell I fill my bto jars to the top packed in. In a week of high temps they will have reduced by a inch. I don't even vent my bto jars I just burp them once a week. I find the pure oil will gas more then the tail chunks ive lost bottles of bto due to explosion but never a rendering jar

Let's see how about up in Greenland where the temperatures arrive cooler and settle cooler mostly year around ?? LOL

NOT A GOOD IDEA !!! lol

Thanks for the info.

I was gonna try making some this year and bought some tails to get it going. I’m about to be gone for a month and didn’t get my fur she’d finished before I go. My only choice now, I thought, was going to be making it in a vented container while I’m gone in the garage.

Are you saying you’ll pack them into regular mason jars - quart sized, I’m guessing - sealed down where the aroma wouldn’t leak out and then just crack them once a week to bleed the pressure? If so, I could probably use this method to make some without it resulting in a divorce. Just leave them in the garage and ask my wife to burp them once a week while I’m gone...

Thoughts?

Alternatively, I have a plastic container I’d planned to use with a brewing airlock on the top. I was going to leave it out in the driveway but didn’t want it to be attracting animals while I was gone.

Thanks for the information...

to each there own I prefer gallon glass jars old pickle jars make up the vast majority of my jars. But ive rendered it in many different sizes to me the gallons give a bigger surface area to work with when its time to draw some off. As well as the black surface oil adds heat to contents. I've just recently started spray painting my jars black on hot days they get hard to handle. To me this puts rendering into turbo. As some have stated a modified hot box like a green house or abandoned car. Would be the safest and quickest way to achive consistent results. A old car that seals tight a guy could leave lids loose and not worry about flys.Honestly flys don't worry me as much as critters! I've forgot to lid containers for 24 hrs and never got a maggot but it already started making oil! Before that time frame id be scared of flys . Once it stars making oil I leave all my lids loose. You still got time to get some oil maybe not a huge amount . but enough to see if its rite for you and your line. I'm starting to believe bto is a regional thing ! some love it others say it don't work.Honestly I think it works best in places with a low beaver population. I find for me it works best away from water.

Just put about 1/2 gallon of tails cut into 1” x 2” chunks into a 3 gallon clear container in my driveway. Pushed up about 8”-10” of gravel around it to hopefully hold some heat when the temps cool off each night.

Curious what you guys think this setup might yield and how quickly...

Not looking to make a ton and not hoping to sell any, just hoping to get a couple ounces to use this season.

If you can get or paint a bucket black and set it over your container that may hold the heat better and will give you an oven effect. Gravel may add a cooling effect I am afraid after it cools down into the night. Try it for a while and if the stone is still somewhat warm in the morning then you may be fine.

I’ll give that a whirl - that gravel was really hot even after the air cooled off a bit.

Depending upon what the weather is like, you could see some forming in a few weeks or so. I drained some off after two weeks and it's still making more.

those are higher maintenance, even when guys use glycerin instead of water, consider lowest maintenance using an aquarium air stone epoxied in place.

I wrap a twine around the top of the jar before screwing the lid on. Just make sure not to screw the lid on too tight as to prevent gasses from escaping but still keep the bugs out.

I’m not keeping it full of water - just have the S lock installed with the cap on it so the gas can vent but flies can’t get in.

John do you have good success with buckets? I know les does, I ask cause every time I use buckets my bto turns out watery from internal condensation. I'll never use aquarium stones again I had a unexpected storm come thru and it ruined 10 gallons of rendering tails! Apparently water flows thru them like nothing

Yes Tony, but I keep them under a black upside down tote outside or in a hayloft, to keep rain off.

I don't leave any 'hair' on mine.
I slit it from the 'butt' end twice, leaving 3 equal pieces, not even cutting all the way through.
I then fold it and shove it into a gallon glass jar and screw down the lid. I never 'gas it' with a tube, but will check it several times, opening the jar.
I set it right in the direct sun, starting in late Feb. / Early March.
Never had a problem and have made a bunch of good oil !

Agreed LT, no hair goes into mine
The hair end stays on the bone and gets shoved into a dirt hole

Is there any harm in leaving the hair and bone in there?

Athletic tape at junction of lid and jar leav lid loose and wrap cloth tape around it no explosions and no wiggles easy and works.

NO it wont hurt a thing just a matter of preference the hair will just stay in the jar with all the other nonrendering sludge.I've added it and subtracted it never saw one ounce of difference. Other then it takes more tails if you start taking away parts that will still render down.If your plan to sell it the cleaner more refine parts leave you with a cleaner oil that requires less straining.

Has anyone tried using a pressure cooker to make bto? Can you explain how you did it ?
Gave it a puff. Filled a pressure cooker full of tail pcs. Cooked it for 45 minutes to get the temp weight to wiggle. Not sure how much oil is rendered usually produced?

I keep my buckets (with air stones) inside an old chest freezer that quit working....double fly and weather protection.

I' ll try my luck with buckets one more time. But 'ill put those black molasses drums over them this should aid in rendering time as well. But I am done with air stones! The plastic these days is to cheap to handle the uv rays! After one season my air stones are so rotten and brittle wind will break them off. Maybe air stones in a bottle of water might be the answer! But honestly on bto I just snug the lids and roll with it . ill burp my jars every other day and be fine

Tire air valve stems is how I have learned to vent all our containers. I have showed them many times in the past. They last forever and don't damage or no need to drill hole in a perfectly good lid.

Bob. New to this and don’t understand how to use air valve stem without drilling?

I drill a 1/2" hole with a paddle bit and pull the new stem thru the top end of the bucket to secure it just below the snapped on bucket lid so as not to interfere with good closure. I remove the valve core and lightly screw on the cap to allow the gas to escape that builds up.



This method allows stacking of buckets and economizes space. Too many containers to set them around in single fashion when you have so many buckets of various materials aging and being stored until ready for their use.

I need to go to the valve stem system my self. Bob your system looks to be the most fool proof of all of them!

I'd have to agree with that. The last couple 5 gal buckets of bait I made, I didn't take Bob's advice...thought the air stones would be ok. They are so fragile, I broke 4 of them just moving sheets off of them, that I had covering the buckets. What a PITA!

I offered to give Tony the rest of my supply of them...but he wasn't biting...lol.

Next batch I make will have the tire valves. Thanks again Bob, for sharing that tip.

Maybe my buckets aren't as air tight as your guys but I quit venting plastic 5 gallon buckets. I never had a problem with them pressuring up and I did 7 buckets of horse, bobcat , and deer scraps without any issues. I use the snap on removable lids.

if you put those valve stems in backwards cant you leave the core in and the cap off?

I don't know if the valve pin would get enough pressure exerted onto the stem to vent the gas out. It is easy to clean the blunt end if you get swelling of product into the base of the stem by running a pipe cleaner or blunt Q tip into the vent to clear it out.

I've had the same results the snap on lids with orings in the lids snap on tight enough to keep out flys but yet release all built up gases I still like the insurance policy a vent gives! Over time the orings dry and crack allowing bugs to penetrate your bucket. This takes 3-4 years but can and does happen. Just bto no worrys once oil starts producing flys don't bother it anymore

Thanks Tony on the heads up on the seals cracking

No problem yes sir I didn't want to see you learn the hard way like I did. I replace my lids after 2 years now that has ended that night mare. I like to place my buckets in full sun several times during the aging process. It might just be in my head but I feel this helps combat mold. Before any prevention chemicals are added. Me personally I want loud baits!

That's some great advise on the valve stems Bob. Thanks.