Cooked in the tub

[snopes]

Comment: A friend of a friend (of course) was recently tellingg me about a
case where a corpse was found in a bathtub. The elderly man had died of
natural causes, but he had his bathtub equipped with some function that
kept it at a static temperature until you turn it off. Obviously, since
he hadn't switched the function off before perishing, his corpse was left
"stewing" in the bathtub for a few days, cooking him inside out.

The gruesome conclusion was that the medical personnel went to get the
body out of the tub by pulling on his legs, resulting in them pulling his
shins and femurs out of his legs, and leaving the rest in the tub.

[Eddylizard]

The obvious thing for the paramedics to do would be to peel and chop some onions carrots and shallots. toss them in the bathtup with some celery, garlic and cloves, and let him simmer for another half hour before serving.

[erwins]

Why would anyone think that a heated bath would cook "from the inside out". It's like a weird version of the old microwave ULs, but making even less sense. (I know microwaves don't cook from the inside out either, but at least people didn't understand microwaves very well at the height of that UL).

Does a pot roast cook "from the inside out"?

erwins

[RichL]

Wouldn't the hot water heater eventually run out of hot water? Or is this some kind of heated tub with a temp control for the tub itself?

[Little Pink Pill]

Originally Posted by RichL

Wouldn't the hot water heater eventually run out of hot water? Or is this some kind of heated tub with a temp control for the tub itself?

They do make heated tubs, but at 102 degrees maximum, it's 1/2 the temperature of the low setting on a crockpot (high is 300 F).

It seems like the body would just rot in that, rather than actually cook.

[HollowMan]

Originally Posted by Little Pink Pill

They do make heated tubs, but at 102 degrees maximum, it's 1/2 the temperature of the low setting on a crockpot (high is 300 F).

It seems like the body would just rot in that, rather than actually cook.

Indeed. If you were to put a chicken in a pot of 102 degree water for a while, and later pull it out, you would have a 102 degree chicken. I'm thinking temperatures would have to be much higher than this to cook a body so much that it disjoints by pulling on it.

While it seems pretty unlikely to me that he was really "cooked", unless the tub's thermostat seriously malfunctioned, the temperature could very likely accelerate decomposition. Maybe he was pretty well decomposed by the time he was found, and that could explain why he "fell apart" when they tried to pull him from the tub. (Would they really grab him by the lower legs like that anyway? Seems like somebody would grab the legs and somebody else maybe get his shoulders.)

Cat"Ugh..."Purrson

That reminds me of something I saw on TV - was it CSI? I just remember a body in a bath that had been there for a looooong time, and had turned to soup, more or less.

[LyndaD]

Originally Posted by SiriusSnape

That reminds me of something I saw on TV - was it CSI? I just remember a body in a bath that had been there for a looooong time, and had turned to soup, more or less.

Yup, but he'd been in the tub for awhile (several days, I think). He was rather bloated and decomposing. I don't remember what the actual COD was, but I think the water had been left on and they decided that the warmish water had accelerated the decomposition process.

[franjava]

Originally Posted by erwins

Does a pot roast cook "from the inside out"?

erwins

YES!!1! It's red inside because it's so hot it's on fire!

There's a picture on rotten.com that has that description, but I can't go find it as I am surrounded by children. I think the image is called 'Simmer' or 'Human soup'. something tactful.

[Squishy0405]

That photo popped into my head as well bobs. IIRC that one was about a heater that dropped in or something of that nature. It's been years since I went on that site...

[Der Induktionator]

Someone please tell me why this discussion reminds me of "The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover"

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

Someone please tell me why this discussion reminds me of "The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover"

I have no idea, the guy in that was roasted. Long pork but it does have the great line "Try the cock, dear, it's supposed to be a delicacy, and at least you know where's it has been."

[Towknie]

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

Someone please tell me why this discussion reminds me of "The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover"

Or Eating Raoul or Fried Green Tomatoes?

[Mouse]

I was thinking this was going to be a discussion on the death of Josephus Havenith.

Warning! Pictures not for the faint of heart.

[Floater]

That is exactly what happened to a neighbour of an aunt of mine. He had been lying in the bathtub with hot water dripping into it for a couple of weeks when he was discovered. IIRC they could easily have flushed him down (except for the bones) just by opening the drain. My aunt said that the stench around the area when they opened the window was quite overwhelming and she had to take a stiff whisky to prevent her from throwing up.

[WonkoTheSane]

This made me think of the 'simmer' guy from rotten.com, too. In the interest of research and all that, I'm posting the link below, but be warned that the pics (if real) are VERY graphic and not to be viewed by the weak-stomached, or, really, anyone at all.

http://poetry.rotten.com/simmer/

Wonko

Yep, Wonko's link is the one that I was unable to go find. I even got the title right. Sticks in your mind doesn't it?

And why oh why did I click on that link knowing that I've got beef in the slow cooker for our evening meal...

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by bobs

And why oh why did I click on that link knowing that I've got beef in the slow cooker for our evening meal...

Just falls off the bone and melts in the mouth doesn't it?

Enjoy your dinner.