Bone Ash by Calcining Bones

Remove any meat from the bones, then degrease them.

Calcine the bones in a kiln. For bone china they are calcined to around 1000 °C (up to about 1100 °C), which removes all organic matter and leaves the bone sterilised and white; traditional bone ash was calcined lower, at around 800 °C. Most bones keep their cellular structure through calcination. Handle the hot bones with tongs and heat-resistant gloves, and let them cool before grinding.

Grind the calcined bone with water to a fine particle size, then partially dewater it.