Who bolts their meat?

[PaleoPhil]

I used Tyler's past description of how he eats meat as the definition of bolting, not knowing much about it.

Does Aajonus bolt his meat?

[goodsamaritan]

Not me.
I count 10 chews.

[kurite]

You count everytime you take a bite of meat???

[goodsamaritan]

You count everytime you take a bite of meat???

Yes.
I tried counting my chews since I heard about the bolting thing.
Raw eggs, just gulp them.
Raw fish, probably less than 10 chews.
Raw beef 10 to 15 chews max.
I'm only 2+ years rpd so it may change

[Hannibal]

IMO bolting down very high meats and some tough parts is good.
The rest I like to chew a little bit and feel the taste.

[kurite]

goodsamaritin i thought that saliva makes it harder to digest the proteins in meat? Do you simply not believe this theory? Because it doesn't really make all that much sense to me either.

[ForTheHunt]

I chew, but I have noticed that animals bolt everything down as long as isn't so big that they might choke. Then they'll just tear it down to bitesize pieces and tear that down.

I see no reason in not chewing. Kinda stupid if you ask me. We don't have to obsess over every minor detail. Just do what feels natural and be happy with it.

[RawZi]

    I haven't seen him eat meat, but I assume he does.

    I've chewed raw meat.  I think it was ok.  I don't chew anymore.  I think it's better.

[djr_81]

I chew my meat a bit before swallowing. I've tried bolting and just don't enjoy a meal as much when doing it.

[Ouchburns]

Im going to get my butcher to cut my meat into capsul form 

I chew my meat until I can easily swallow it, I dont worry about stuff like that.

[Hannibal]

Fat that isn't thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva do not digest good. Salivary lipase is crucial in fat digestion.

[PaleoPhil]

Fat that isn't thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva do not digest good. Salivary lipase is crucial in fat digestion.

Interesting. Why didn't you tell us about this before--did you miss the previous discussion threads on bolting, chewing, saliva, etc.?

It makes sense that saliva would be more for fat than meat, since suet (and I'm guessing also omentum) and gristle is very chewy, as is blubber. I think this is where the phrase "chew the fat" (generally meaning to chit-chat about inconsequential matters) comes from. I enjoy the chewiness of suet more than the taste. It's kind of like wax candy, only better. When I eat raw suet, it takes time to chew and it also makes me feel happy and chatty, interestingly, and I'm not normally chatty. So I can imagine traditional peoples sitting around a campfire chit-chatting (chewing the fat) while they literally chew fat.

[Hannibal]

Why didn't you tell us about this before--did you miss the previous discussion threads on bolting, chewing, saliva, etc.?

I don't know. Probably I thought that most of you know about this or I've just forgotten

[PaleoPhil]

Or maybe you did tell us and I forgot. Heh heh

[Hannibal]

I saw dogs which bolted down chunks of suet - majority of them vomited afterwards.
Dogs that chewed it haven't got any problems.

[PaleoPhil]

Dogs chew suet? Fascinating. I've seen canines chew gum, so it makes sense, since suet is almost as chewy. Not that it makes a big difference to me practically, but scientifically this is interesting. So maybe the instinctive approach is somewhere in between Tyler's bolting of nearly everything and my chewing of nearly everything (except raw eggs and liquids)? Maybe both canines and humans are naturally designed to tear off and bolt (or chew once or twice) meats, but thoroughly chew suet and other chewy fats? Maybe Tyler chews fat too, but just didn't think of that? It's too bad he can't be online to fill us in on that.

[Hannibal]

Maybe both canines and humans are naturally designed to tear off and bolt (or chew once or twice) meats, but thoroughly chew suet and other chewy fats? 

It depends on the stomach acids of an animal - vultures and hyenas can bolt down chunks of bones, horns and teeth and their digestion is very good. Humans haven't got such strong gastric acids.

[PaleoPhil]

But what if Tyler's right and we're able to build up the acids in our stomach really well so that we can bolt meat (not chewy fat) too?

[Hannibal]

But what if Tyler's right and we're able to build up the acids in our stomach really well so that we can bolt meat (not chewy fat) too?

I bolted down very tough parts of mutton tongues many times and they digested very well. I even bolten down small parts of bones and have got no problems. But I would never take a chance to bolt down big chunks of hard bones or horns.
When I can chew the meat I chew it because I like to feel the taste of it. If somothing is to hard to chew i simply swallow it.
But pure fat, esp. kidney fat is definitely much better digestable when thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva.

[majormark]

hmm, maybe my recent bad experience with suet was also due to not enough chewing.

[ys]

Chewing suet is pretty challenging.  It does not mix in saliva at all (in my case) and feels like a bubble gum.

On the other hand, Hannibal might be correct.
From Wiki:  As part of the initial process of food digestion, the enzymes in the saliva break down some of the starch and fat in the food at the molecular level.

Back fat is easier to chew but it too does not mix well in the mouth.

[Taste Sense]

That's good to know that raw fat should be chewed thoroughly. On cooked diets I hated cooked fat. It was too slimy and distasteful. But raw fat is another story. I prefer it slightly frozen. I can't bolt my meat yet, as large chunks simply won't go down like that, and chugging lots of water with it makes me want to gag. Maybe in the future things will get easier for me.

[goodsamaritan]

Horse fat does not need chewing.  It melts in my mouth.

[Hannibal]

Horse fat does not needs chewing.  It melts in my mouth.

That's very true. Sometimes I can buy some fatty parts of horse meat and they simply melt in my mouth - I chew them only a little bit.

[Hannibal]

Chewing suet is pretty challenging.  It does not mix in saliva at all (in my case) and feels like a bubble gum.

Maybe you don't secrete enough saliva.
In my case suet does mix with saliva without any problems.