Meat turning blue and green

[Drengr]

I left some steaks in the fridge partially uncovered for a few days because I forgot about them and they had blue and green streaks. They didn't smell bad or look slimy so I tried eating one and it tasted really good. A little after I ate it I got a high that lasted for about 30-40 minutes. I heard the blue and green is caused by "bad" bacteria so is dangerous to eat or is it ok since it tasted so good?

Edit: Normally I seem to have problems digesting regular raw meat so I make it into jerky and the blue and green meat didn't cause any problems but I'm still nervous about the color change.

[ys]

blue and green are more likely from fungus and not bacteria.

[Drengr]

Is it still ok to eat it or should I avoid it?

[dariorpl]

Most doctors would tell you to avoid it like the plague.

If I was worried I'd eat small amounts at a time.

Something similar to this happened to me once with a ground beef+egg concoction, a little after I started on this diet. It was in the summer time and I had left some of it at room temperature overnight. I threw it away without tasting it, so I can't say if it would've tasted good or not.

I can't remember if it was green or black or purple. But something weird like that, anyway. And it was only at the surface. I was surprised because I had done the same thing a few times, also during the summer, and that was the first time it turned a weird color like that. Although I'm not sure if the other times it also had eggs. It may've ciontained a few other ingredients too, I just don't remember.

[TylerDurden]

I've eaten high-meat that turned blue, green etc. due to fungi/mold and it didn't harm me ever. However, I suggest  you try small amounts and experiment to see what works for you.

[Drengr]

I ate maybe 2 ounces. I don't feel sick or anything like that and like I said in my original post it tasted really good, almost sweet. The reason I'm worried is because of the weird drug-like high I got from it.

[TylerDurden]

I ate maybe 2 ounces. I don't feel sick or anything like that and like I said in my original post it tasted really good, almost sweet. The reason I'm worried is because of the weird drug-like high I got from it.

The so-called "drug-like " high is precisely the reason for eating aged, raw meat. You'll probably find, like me, that, after eating lots of aged, raw meat regularly that the effect dies down to zero after some weeks of eating it frequently. The effect then restarts after you have avoided the stuff for some time.

More info:-

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/high-meat-recipe-preparation-for-more-advanced-rafers/

[dariorpl]

Here most everybody eats some high meat mold every now and then in the form of salami skin mold. It's usually white and/or green. It generally tastes really good, although sometimes depending on the brand it may not taste good at all. I think it may have to do with moisture. If it's moist and brown it tends not to taste good, whereas if it's dry and white/green it generally does. I'm not sure. It may also have to do with the particular molds that are used to inoculate each brand, or perhaps with the ingredients of the salami itself. Or of whether the skin is made from natural intestines or from cellulose/plastic. It may also have to do with how long it's been stored and hung to dry after preparation.

I haven't eaten it in a while because of the salt content.

[Drengr]

I might start purposely letting the meat get like that. I can eat heart, liver, kidney, marrow, suet, backfat, adrenal gland, thymus, wild salmon and halibut with no problems, and occasionally dry aged chorizo that has some white mold. But regular muscle meat, even though I love the taste causes digestive problems and the blue green steak didn't.

[dariorpl]

Have you seen AV's appearance on Ripley's Believe it or not? It's a classic

After looking for it, it seems that the main video has been taken down recently, but you can still find it, here's one version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTl2FTgmoNU

They exaggerate for shock value in that they say he always ate it like that, when in fact he only suggested having small pieces once in a while for most people, and a small amount once a day for some people. He certainly had no problem with having it always like that, though. It's just that for most people it's not very appetizing.

[sabertooth]

You could also try dry aging meat at home, by letting large hunks hang on hooks in a fridge. As long as there is good air flow it will age without rotting....typically after a couple of weeks or so the outer layer will begin to dry and form a crust...sometimes a little mold will grow depending on the surface depending on moisture level and temperature range, but it shouldn't be a problem. Go by taste and begin to develop an instinctive feel for what is optimal. I personally like a diet of mixed fresh and aged meats. A few slices from the aged meat as a garnish , goes great with a plate of fresh meats, fats, and organs.

You can experiment with different methods of aging meat, to determine what works best for your digestive and taste preferences.

[dariorpl]

sabertooth, if you were able to consume your meats always fresh, and assuming the same quality and variety of cuts, would you still seek to have a good balance of dry aged meats, or would you mostly forgo them?

Suppose you were part of a group where a new animal would be butchered and divided among the members often enough that everyone in the group always had fresh meat available and there was no need to store it for longer periods.

[sabertooth]

Ideally I would go for fresh kills everyday of the week....there is a life force in fresh blood that diminishes after a few days hanging in the fridge that seems to be stronger than the effects of aged meats.

The logistics of organizing enough people into a coop where it would be possible to kill a mature animal on a weekly basis, is just to much to handle, so I have had to compromise with once a month butchering of a large sheep.

I will freeze some of the blood, fats, organs and even some muscle meat, so that after about week two I can thaw it out and have access to some fresh to consume along with my aging meat. I also freeze much of the stomach and intestines to use as craving dictates...By eating the whole animal and even unwashed intestines Im confident that I get enough positive bacteria even without eating AV style high meat....but still every now and then I just like the taste of dry aged meat.

There may be a more scientific way to work out these optimal balances between (fresh full of life force and aged probiotic meat) but until anyone gives me a few million dollar grant, along with unlimited access to a high tech laboratory, to do a proper investigation, I can only encourage others to work out their own balance based on available resources, trial and error, and instinct.

[Drengr]

What is a good temperature range to set the fridge to for aging meat?

[sabertooth]

 Somewhere from 34 to 38 F*...depending on moisture level and air flow...

If it doesn't get cold enough then excess moisture and heat will build up leading to rotten green moldy meat, so if the fridge wont go below 38, you may want to use a small fan to help air it out while it is ageing



 

[ys]

 Make sure meat does not have deep thin cuts.  Otherwise cuts will always start rotting instead of aging.

[Drengr]

Ok, I got my fridge down to around 35. I hung an elk round roast and will leave it in there for a few weeks to see how it turns out.

[dariorpl]

That's very interesting sabertooth. Maybe some day you will find it advantageous to join or form such a group. Another possibility would be to sell most of the meat that you don't consume right away, but I suppose there are too many laws that prevent you from doing that. Also, there's likely not much of a market for the organs and blood.

I look forward to the day when I can enjoy food with as high a quality as yours. For now I have to make do with plain cuts of meat, many of which are not very good quality.

[Drengr]

After some experimenting I realized it was eating raw lean meat that caused digestive problems. If I eat fatty meat there is no problem so I have been eating lots of 55% lean ground beef and 65% lean ground beef with heart and liver mixed in. I take a little bit of the beef and dip it in sea salt before each bite, this seems to have completely stopped the constant foot cramps that been plaguing me since I was a teen. I have also been aging lamb tongues in the fridge and eat small amounts with the ground beef. I still eat bison and elk jerky just less of it.

[tding]

Why take the risk when you can get ones with a normal color?