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Thread: Meat in the wild

  1. #21
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
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    i personally love the smoke of cedar on my meat, and particularly pork. it certainly dosn't bear as much smoking before the taste gets strong, but this only nessecetates a shorter smoking, if you can further dry without the smoke. this can also be countered by diffusing the smoke or raising the meat to be dried higher above where the smoke is most concentrated. what really matters is that the air is dry and moving. the smoke is just a booster to preservation during the drying proccess, flavoring and a repellant to insects.
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  3. #23

    Post Smoking & salting meat/fish in the wild. . .

    Backtobasics wrote: My question is, 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
    Mike,

    I (we) live in the wild backcountry of AK. Every year, during hunting season, we take a Caribou or two. We have a hanging smoker that we use. It takes 2 days to smoke the quarters (whole), ribs, flank, neck, etc. Smoking the meat in this way keeps the meat from going rancid and it tastes really good as well. It keeps for as long as it takes us to completely consume it, about 5-6 months per animal. If we make sausage or burger from any of the meat we smoke it after processing it. We then wrap the meat with a canvas tarp and hang the meat in our food cache to keep away the insects and critters. In the winter we bring a quarter inside the cabin at a time to use and keep it from freezing.

    During the summer we catch and eat fish fresh from the river near our cabin. In the fall (during the salmon run) we catch as many as we can and salt or smoke them. We get 25# bags of sea salt from Seward and use it for salting the fish and cooking. A 25# bags last us about a year.

    We also trap rabbit (snowshoe hare), marmot, beaver, fox, etc. Which we treat the same (smoke) and eat throughout the year.
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  4. #24
    Senior Member RBB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by backtobasics View Post
    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
    My grandfather smoked a lot of his meat. He always said fruit wood was the best for smoking meat, though he often used sugar maple, for meat, or sometimes alder for fish. Alder works fine for fish, but gives meat a very harsh taste.

    I usually use apple - as I have several apple trees. I cut the meat against the grain - so it is easier to eat. I smoke it until it is dry a a bone - unlike the jerk you buy in the store. It lasts longer that way. With the apple wood flavour you can get by with no salt. I have some hanging that is five years old and is still edible, though I'm not sure how much food value it retains at that age.
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  5. #25
    Senior Member Riverrat's Avatar
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    I have never smoked meat, but an uncle told me that apple tree wood was really good for smoking meat.

  6. #26

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    How should it be stored if you dont have jars, cans, or any air tight containers? (or no plastic ziplocks for that matter)

  7. #27
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    Rawhide pouches were made, sewn together and sealed with fat to make them water repellent. Jerked meat was added to the pouch, either by itself, with other fruit treats, or made into pemmican which is basically meat and fruit and nuts mixed together for the trail. The rawhide pouch was the container, and sometimes pottery items were used.
    It's not really critical that it be airtight, just moisture resistant. For the most part, there was no "long-term" storage. Probably the longest anything was stored was a few months over winter.
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  8. #28
    USMC retired 1961-1971 Beans's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by backtobasics View Post
    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?
    Not meaning to be smart *** but the addition of salt & pepper to your gear doesn't seem to me like a big thing. The quantity needed isn't large and the weight shouldn't matter. Stow it -forget it until it is needed.

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  9. #29
    noob survivalist crimescene450's Avatar
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    you smoke it starting raw right?

  10. #30
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    CS - Generally that is correct. Whether you are in the wilds of some forest or the wilds of your back yard you start with some raw piece of meat and then smoke it. The smoke creates some chemical changes within the meat and on the surface. In essence, that's the difference between a smoked ham and just a salty pork roast.

    When you smoke meat, you are establishing an area around the meat that is moisture free. That it turns pulls the moisture out of the deep muscles of the meat, in a roast, or out of the layers of meat in something like a fish. You can easily see a 50% loss in weight just from the loss of moisture in the meat. The less fat the better since the fat can go rancid and/or change the flavor of the meat. That's much more likely to occur in the wild but it can happen at home too.

    The meat will develop a pink color. That's due to the chemical change caused by the smoke. I know what the chemical is but it escapes me at the moment. Someone chime in if they know the chemical in smoke that actually cures the meat.

    You can also brine meat, salt meat, can meat and pickle meat. All methods of preserving meat. Hope that helps.
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  11. #31
    noob survivalist crimescene450's Avatar
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    and one more question

    we use green wood for the smoke, should we include the leaves on the branches? or take them off and just use the wood part?

  12. #32
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    All you need is the limb. What you're interested in is the smoke. The leaves and stems will probably give you flare up. I've honestly never tried to smoke anything with leaves or stems.
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  13. #33
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Wow, folks not to many of you have read Foxfire huh? I got though half the posts and saw a clear McCandless moment. So how many of you are willing to eat what you wrote?

    I may be new, but it doesn't take much to see bad information in this thread.

    please take a moment and understand I did not single anyone out here.

    Exception, smoking requires better than 170 degrees for a long period of time, Nativedude and Rick alluded to it. but I wrote this after reading the first page and there are some moments here.

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    Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 06-09-2010 at 12:33 AM.
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  14. #34
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riverrat View Post
    I have never smoked meat, but an uncle told me that apple tree wood was really good for smoking meat.
    Because it added a "sweet sappy" wonderful flavor. I just picked up a couple of bags for pork spare ribs and chicken breasts... I will add some Pappys XXX BBQ at the last couple of minutes.....mmmm!
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    Quote Originally Posted by sjj View Post
    I've been taught that some meats, such a bear, need to be thoroughly cooked to a certain temperature, just like pork. I question if just smoking at relatively low heat is safe for certain meats?


    Trichinosis is nearly non-existent in wild bears at this time. And even if, on the remote chance one acquired Trichinosis it not that big of a deal, even if left un-treated. Yes, it should be treated if possible. Trichinosis in meat can also be killed by freezing, the length of time needed is depended on the depth of the temperature. That said, bear meat does not lend it's self to low-temperature cooking, but makes great stew or strogganoff.

  16. #36
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Likewise, Trichinosis is virtually unheard of in pork today. Most pork is massed produced in environmentally controlled barns and the porkers never see the light of day. Since they don't run around outside, they don't contract the parasite.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    WOO - If you see bad info then you need to point it out. Be specific. Your post was vague, other than the temp., and doesn't address what you think is incorrect. You sure won't ruffle my hide if you think I posted something wrong. But bad info on food could get someone hurt so speak up.
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  18. #38
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Rick you didn't post anything wrong... I was thinking how bad things were in the early days of transporting meat before Ammonia Refrigeration. That would be sailing vessels prior to 1875. Butchering was an art and most meats went bad quickly. Fresh Turtle caught at the surface, or taking live goats and sheep or a hog was the approved method back then. Hense "tons" of salt to dry out the meat and hanging to get the blood out. Pepper & flies? Pepper, French Sauces (Bernaise, Holendaise) English Gravies, were made to disguise rancid meat. Brining, smoking, cooking, like you said were very important back then. Cod all along the atlantic coast was sun dried with loads of salt to transport back to England.

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    but a lot of people got sick and back then we could handle it...

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    Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 06-09-2010 at 09:31 AM.
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

    Theodore Roosevelt 1907

  19. #39
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Here I found this interesting read... Vinegar - Salt cure with hot sunny Africa.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltong
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

    Theodore Roosevelt 1907

  20. #40
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by backtobasics View Post
    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 consume it all in one day. So how do you make it last? Thanks in advance for your help MIKE
    OK I am focused now... Meat Prep is best done at the home prior to going out in the woods. Here is what you need to know right out of the manual for doing this work in the woods.

    http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/smokers-survival.htm

    What has been left out is the "hours" of butchering the meat, removing the muscles, removing the fat and sinew and prying the bones apart from the carcass. Without a saw, several clean knives and a heavy chopping knife, the process would be longer.

    Even if you have a clean kill one would hang the carcass for a day or two with the offal removed and gut open to and the neck cut to drain as much blood out to reduce moisture and the meat from going bad. Some hang a deer for three days in a "fly bag" as part of the process.

    If you are really going to do this I suggest you start with rabbits around the house like I did, and put in some practice on the skills. Really make a smoke house out of your poncho and you will have some fun while your neighbors think your crazy.
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

    Theodore Roosevelt 1907

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