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Thread: Meat in the wild

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    Default Meat in the wild

    Wow, that actually sounds like a good name for a get together.
    Not why i started this thread tho. Anyway, to my question. I've made jerky before and in some cases very primitive (hanging over a wood stove on fishing string) but always with spices. My question is (and yes i did a search and did not find the answer) if your in the wild and are lucky enough to have lots o meat but no spices, what is the best way to preserve the meat so it does not spoil? If a person is alone, or even a couple of people and you take down a deer your not going to comsume it all in one day. So how do you make it last? Thanks in advance for your help MIKE


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    You could smoke it it lightly. If you don't use a marinade that will also act as an inhibitor to bacterial growth, you'll want to cut the pieces really nice and thin so the drying time is shortened. Smoke, as far as I know, also inhibits the growth of microorganisms on your meat.
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    I pulled this info from the net (have never tried it, but have heard from several sources the same thing.

    Preserve Meat in the Wild



    Slice your kill into long, thin strips; knead tons of salt into it, then cover the meat (to keep the flies off) and let it sit for four hours. Then spread it out under a hot sun for a few days to dry it, or smoke it over burning green twigs for 24 hours. When dry and shriveled, the meat will last a year and can be eaten right from the jerky bag.
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    I pulled this info from the net (have never tried it, but have heard from several sources the same thing.

    Preserve Meat in the Wild Slice your kill into long, thin strips; knead tons of salt into it, then cover the meat (to keep the flies off) and let it sit for four hours. Then spread it out under a hot sun for a few days to dry it, or smoke it over burning green twigs for 24 hours. When dry and shriveled, the meat will last a year and can be eaten right from the jerky bag.
    I've read where rubbing black pepper will also help keep the flies off of the meat.
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    In essence, what you are doing is dehydrating the meat. No moisture, no spoilage. The spices probably add some to anti-bacterial growth but, for the most part, are just for taste, If you smoke the meat, hang it over a fire, lay it in the sun, or place it in the oven, the end result is dehydrated meat. Your only other option that I could think of would be to salt it.
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    Thanks guys ( when i say guys i mean girls too) I kinda thought if it was sliced thin and dried that it would be OK, but i wasn't sure and i don't want to find out the hard way. I know about salt but most times I'm in the bush its only for a day or two (unless i get stranded) and i have no salt. I figured that if a person sliced it thin and smoked it that that would be good but i was not sure. I still wonder how long it would last?

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    If completely dried, I would think that it should last at least a year.
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    You don't really need the salt at all, what is important is fast processing. Once the meat is cut you need to act fast to get it hung up in the smoke. It doesn't need very much time in the smoke to develope a thin shiny lining over it and that by itself is enough to keep the flies off of it. They don't seem to be interested in dry surfaces. From there on out the longer you can keep it in the smoke the better. Don't cook it, keep it as high as you can (within reason) above the fire but where it's still in the thick smoke... the smoke itself has some preservitive qualities, don't use any conifers for the smoke.. just about any hardwood will due. The longer you keep it in the smoke (days even) the better off you will be. It might not store quite as long as meat that is simply lightly smoked and completely dehydrated but it will have a little better consistancy and taste in my humble opinion.

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    I have some jerky in the cupboard that I made around August sometime. It's still perfectly good.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I've never had much success in keeping jerky around too long. Seems to disappear rather quickly.
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    My jerky never last long enough to go bad either. Thanks cannonman thats some good info. Hardwood only no conifers, do you know why? Hardwood is hard to come by where i live. Its around, but i guess one should use it sparingly.

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    The same reason your don't use conifers to grill with. They are high in resin and will give your food a yucky flavor.

    The key to dehydrating is low heat over a long period of time. About 200-220F for the temperature. You want your meat in the 165F range but not a lot above that. You can estimate the temperature of your campfire by how long you can hold your hand about 4" above the hot coals. 50 degrees for every second. 8 seconds is about 200F. 7 seconds is 250F so between 7 and 8 seconds with give you just about the right heat. Notice I said coals. You don't want flames.

    For true smoking, there are two methods, hot smoking and cold smoking. I don't do either one so I'll let someone else talk to that but I do know that cold smoking temps are down around 70 - 90F, hence the name.
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    see i take a problem with the conifer debate about the use of it, i as you all know cook my meat on a fire pit the only way i cook it and 90 percent of the time it is with evergreen wood white red and tammarack balsam and spruce and my food tastes great as just rick said it is the coals not the flames that you want and as far as my experience goes the resins of the pines are all burned off and it is just the heat of the coals that you are using
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    Quote Originally Posted by wareagle69 View Post
    see i take a problem with the conifer debate about the use of it, i as you all know cook my meat on a fire pit the only way i cook it and 90 percent of the time it is with evergreen wood white red and tammarack balsam and spruce and my food tastes great as just rick said it is the coals not the flames that you want and as far as my experience goes the resins of the pines are all burned off and it is just the heat of the coals that you are using

    Thats what i was thinking. If a person is using dry wood, and let it burn down to coals, i figured it would be alright. Maybe I'm wrong? Correct me if I am.

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    Interesting. You don't have any off flavors from the pine? I've always adhered to conventional wisdom and haven't cooked with it staying with the harder woods instead. You wouldn't smoke meat with it would do you? You're just cooking, right?
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    to smoke meat what do you need? smoke then no but heat is different not flames just heat and yes most of my life i have cooked with pine never knew any better till i got here and can't say i'm going to change my direction on this topic
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    As you say, the difference is smoke. Coals to produce heat (hardwood will last longer) with green wood to produce smoke. With that green wood producing the smoke comes the resin. Now for just drying or cooking - shouldn't matter - just need more soft wood because of long drying time.
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    i concour....
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    You don't have to smoke it if you don't have access to smoking materials. As long as the meat is sliced thin enough (less than an eigth to a quarter of an inch thick) the flies will stay away from it, if it is too thick then the flies will try to lay their eggs in it. You can then hang the meat in the sun to dry. If it is not dry at the end of a day in the sun you should cover it or brink it inside at night to keep moisture away from it. When I was a kid I dried meat this way in the summer while I was spending time "camping" in the back yard. There are also numerous pictures of native american tribes drying buffalo meat on huge racks in the sun after hunts with no sign of smoking.
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    Now, this is definately not going to have as much flavor as meat that has been salted and smoked, but it will be preserved.
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    Quote Originally Posted by backtobasics View Post
    Thats what i was thinking. If a person is using dry wood, and let it burn down to coals, i figured it would be alright. Maybe I'm wrong? Correct me if I am.
    You can cook anything on coals of just about any wood out there with very minor differences in taste. Smoking with green wood is WAY different, you cold smoke some venison with some tamerack and it will be nearly inedible when done. Unless you really like the pine taste of course.

    I have a book all about cold smoking and when I move back to the country I'm planning on building a cold smoke hut. Cold smoking allows meat to hang in your kitchen or basement for LONG periods of time as it is totally preserved. Hot smoking stuff will preserve it, but not to the same degree. (no pun intended) Hot smoking is actually cooking and adding smoke flavor, cold smoking is only smoking for preserving and flavor.

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