[Sca-cooks] The rotten meat thread

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> If one is accoustome to eating rotten meat, it does not make one violently
ill. If you self administer a small dose of poisin on a regular basis you
build up a tolerance for it.  Such that a normally lithel dose will be just
upsetting to ones system.  this was done, though rarely in Victoria times,
by those concerned with such thing.

This can be the case, however, with spoiled meat, there's a lot going on.
Part of it involves the bacteria spoiling the meat, and part of it involves
the toxins produced by those bacteria. I'm currently looking for more
information on those processes, in order to present a coherent statement on
the matter. I would point out to you that some poisons are cumulative, and
the more you get of them, even if the extra is in progressively smaller
doses, the sicker you get.

> I often eat chicken that is off tasting, I really prefer it that way.  I
meerly take the offening meat, soak it in a salt brine at room tempature for
1-2 hours, then in clear water at room tempature for about 1 more hour and
cook as if it were right from the store.

You're doing more than you realize here. In the first place you're soaking
it in a brine. That has the effect of romoving off flavors and blood from
the meat- the technique is also known as "koshering" since that's how people
keeping kosher prepare their meat.

The reason _I_ use the same technique is because I have been in a poultry
butchering plant (and I don't suggest a visit for those of you even mildly
squeamish- it put me off my feed for a few days, and I'm not noticeably
squeamish.) and seen what happens. What you're doing is removing the mess of
half-stewed feathers, bacteria, and chicken feces that are absorbed by the
meat in the processing. You follow up with another bath of cool water which
them removes the salt that the first process put into the meat. You're
actually doing everything you can to _remove_ off flavors, rather than
encouraging it to taste off.

> I have never become ill from food that I have cooked.  I have worked in
greasy spoons that served thing regularly that were too off for me to even
what to think of trying, but the regular patrons did not have any problems.

If what you're saying is true, then there's no reason you, or anyone else
should become ill, with your cooking. As far as that goes, there's a fairly
wide range available that average, healthy people can tolerate. A less
healthy person, however, such as a child or an elderly person, or people
with certain medical conditions might become very ill indeed.

> Modern beef is aged only 6-30 days before sale.  pre-1950 beef was aged 90
days or longer.

References, please? And, pre-1950 may have been a long time ago, but that's
NOT the Middle Ages, for all that those of us born then may be middle-aged
;-)

> You could not buy fresh beef. granted it is aged in controlled
environments, but it is still not slaughterhouse fresh. I was raised in a
small town in Nebraska, the only industry in town was the Hormel meat
packing plant.  My parents and grandparents would not buy meat that had not
been aged at least 90 days.  and I still keep beef in my refidgerator for 2+
weeks before cooking it<except maybe ground beef, or I do not plan in
advance for a steak>. not very tasty if I have to cook it too soon.

Again, that's you, and I'd be interested in the temperature at which the
meat is kept. I've hung venison anywhere from a week to a month, depending
on the temperature.

> On the farm, it could take more than 2 months to process some meats before
they were ready for the smokehouse.  the brineing was done in large barrels
in a cool celler, but at far from modern safe tempatures.  I still have the
family reciept for corning beef.  makes 1/2 cow, approx 500 lbs, or 1 whole
pig.  first ingredient is 50 lbs of salt.
>

Again, salting it or cooling it has a distinct effect on the bacteria, and
it's the bacteria which cause the rotting of meat. Would you smoke or eat a
dead cow that had been lying out in the fields for a couple months? I rather
doubt it.

> City folk have different ideas, I am sure many are thinking I am dangerous
or an idiot, or both.  Maybe, but I am a live idiot.  and if I get food
poisining I am less likely to die from it.  "That which does not kill us,
makes us strong".
>
> Joy
> Radei

Among all the people on this List who have been contributing to this thread,
trust me, Mordonna, and I, among others, are NOT city folk ;-)

Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



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