High-Meat-Recipe Preparation For More Advanced RAFers

[sanborn]

I was introduced to high meat by a friend who had an array of different meat and fish all neatly cut up in small portions in small mouth pint jars.  He used nose clips and had some pride in his 'collection'. 
On the other hand the way I got started was if I had some fish or an organ in a jar in the fridge that I was too slow consuming, it started becoming high meat all on its own.  This is fine except I ended up with some larger than bite-sized chunks so had to keep airing it out twice a week until it got to the point where I could easily cut it by pressing it between my fork and the glass jar.  Now I have about 8 of these going.  Sometimes I let some of these just sit there in the fridge without airing them out but when I am ready to start on them, I just take them out 2-3 times a week for some 'fresh air' a few times before I start consuming them. 
Thanks, Tyler, for your full description - it is very good to see this.

[Wolf]

wait wait WAIT.. TEETH GROW BACK?.. like i mean not if you loose a tooth, but if your tooth gets worn down, if it still has the root, it can grow back??

[Ioanna]

I'll try it right now I'm making a batch and will report back...

report?? 

[TylerDurden]

wait wait WAIT.. TEETH GROW BACK?.. like i mean not if you loose a tooth, but if your tooth gets worn down, if it still has the root, it can grow back??

I assume so.

[miles]

I assume so.

What if it's snapped in half? My tooth got snapped in half ages ago and it got a cap put on it, and hasn't grown noticeably. Do you think the cap stopped it from growing, or that it only grows slowly to counter wear so couldn't recover from so much of a loss?

[TylerDurden]

What if it's snapped in half? My tooth got snapped in half ages ago and it got a cap put on it, and hasn't grown noticeably. Do you think the cap stopped it from growing, or that it only grows slowly to counter wear so couldn't recover from so much of a loss?

No idea. I have heard strenuous claims by followers of weston-price that teeth can grow back in all sorts of circumstances, I'm a bit sceptical, though.

[sabertooth]

I have ran out of my tasty high meat, and don't really like the jar meats that I have left, so I have been cold turkey without it for the last week or so. I have no withdraw or Delirium tremors or anything. I do miss it, but it seems my digestion is just as good as ever, my apatite is a little less than usual, but I have been on paternity leave so I haven't been working as hard.

I got a 5 pound chunk of beef that I am going to age out on a rack in my shed. Its been out there about a week and its smelling mouthwatey delicious, although I promised myself not to touch it until its riper. My wife threw our dog in the shed the other day and  it got a hold of my meat and chewed on it a bit befor I found it. I rinsed the dirt of and put it back on the rack and perhaps the dog germs might help it age better, I hope it turns out good,

I guess I can start trimmings small slimy pieces of the surface while allowing the center to age longer , I want to have a meat locker where I can keep a chunk of meat on a swarma spindle and just cut off a piece whenever I want. I am not sure how well it will work out , but I am going to give it a try.

[magnetic]

So if I hang my meat in the fridge it will become high meat, but probably much quicker than if I use the jar/airing method, right?  Will I need to eat it quicker or will it still be good to eat after 2 months of hanging (this is probably how long it will take me to eat ~200 lbs. of meat)?

[magnetic]

So I have 9 jars of high meat from fresh, never frozen grass fed ground beef that I started April 9th (10 days ago). I have been airing them out regularly, I think today is the 4th or 5th time I have opened them up to air out. The strange thing is that all are the same bright red color except for one jar, in which the meat has all turned brown.  Is that meat bad? Or is it just progressing faster than the rest of the meat? I made high meat once before, using prefrozen grass fed ground beef, but it didn't seem to get high so I just ate it after a few weeks.

[larrymagee]

This is a wonderful thread.  I'm new to RAF but I went ahead and made some high meat and I did get a nice high this afternoon about 3 hours after eating two small bites of it.  It feels great.  I made mine out of sirloin stew meat and I stored it 3 days outside the fridge in a plastic container.  I air it out about 3 times a day.  I'm going to keep ripening it outside the fridge until I can't handle the taste.  Then I'll put it in the fridge.  So far, the taste is great.  The smell is kind of foul when I first open it.

I read were one of you eats high meat 3 months on / 3 months off.  Do most of you have a little every day?

[Ioanna]

so you got high meat benefits after just three days?.. or is this a different batch?

[larrymagee]

Yes, 3 days but it was left at room temperature the whole time.   

[Ioanna]

i haven't tried high meat yet, but three days.. surely i can do three days...

at room temp, did any condensation form on the inside of the container?  what does it look like? do you actually chew the meat, or did you just bolt it?

[larrymagee]

Yes, there was some condensation.  Some of the meat is grey and some is still red.  I ate a couple of small grey pieces.   It tasted good to me (vinegary) so I chewed it. 

[Ioanna]

lol, thanks for your responses!   i'll start a little bit tomorrow, something to try on the weekend 

[larrymagee]

I was starting to smell the meat through the plastic container so I transferred it to a glass jar.  Man did it smell bad when I opened it up outside and got to the slime on the bottom.  Just like a restaurant dumpster.  And a fly was on it instantly.  I guess there's no question that it's now high meat.   I can't wash the smell out of the top of the plastic container so I'm leaving it out in the sun to air it out.  What a trip!!

[TylerDurden]

I was starting to smell the meat through the plastic container so I transferred it to a glass jar.  Man did it smell bad when I opened it up outside and got to the slime on the bottom.  Just like a restaurant dumpster.  And a fly was on it instantly.  I guess there's no question that it's now high meat.   I can't wash the smell out of the top of the plastic container so I'm leaving it out in the sun to air it out.  What a trip!!

Flies go crazy for raw meats, more so than cooked meats, as they lay their eggs on them. I hope you got rid of any such eggs, as, otherwise, you will have maggots crawling all over your meats soon.

[larrymagee]

Yes, the fly landed on the plastic container top after I had transferred the meat to the glass container.

[larrymagee]

I just tried my high meat after 4 days of ripening outside the fridge.  That's all I can take.  It's rotten enough for me (pretty nasty).  It's going into the fridge and I'll keep eating it.

[PaleoPhil]

I think the reason that Aajonus and others recommend keeping high meat and aging meats at cool temps is that pathogenic bacteria tend to thrive in warm temps, whereas good bacteria can handle cool temps fine. On the other hand, some African HGs scavenge carcasses that have been sitting out in the tropical sun, so it may not be a big deal as long as the food is very exposed to air. On the third hand, HGs probably have stronger stomachs than most moderners.

I don't think my high meats and aged meats ever turn grey unless they've been partially or totally in direct contact with plastic at some point after being exposed to air. High meats no longer smell or taste bad to me--just strong. It makes sense, because if fermenting meats/fish turned off all H. sapiens, then our ancestors would have been turned off from scavenging and likely would not have come to dominate the planet like they did. This raises the question of why do fermenting meats/fish smell and taste really bad to unitiated moderners. I wonder if modern foods somehow alter the taste buds and olfactory organ?

[Ioanna]

I wonder if modern foods somehow alter the taste buds and olfactory organ?

I don't see how anyone who consumes sweets, sugars, etc can have a taste for aging meat or organs.  I think we have to lose that sweet addiction first and experience true hunger to find aging meat appealing.  just mho.

[larrymagee]

Thanks for the info Phil - I think I'll start another batch in glass in the fridge.  This batch tastes okay but the smell is really horrible.  It might be unsafe.

I always tend to jump into things a little too quickly.  Now that I've tried high meat, I have the patience to wait 3 weeks.  It gave me a nice mental lift but I can do fine without it for a few weeks.

[PaleoPhil]

I've only bitten into bad meat once and the taste was horrendous--much worse than high meat or even stink fish (the first time I tried stink fish it tasted worse to me than high meat). I only sunk my teeth in a fraction before I spit it out. Even the first time I tried unflavored raw fermented cod liver oil was not as bad as meat that had gone truly bad, though the RFCLO was nasty the first time--it tasted like how a dead fish smells that has been lying in the sun on the beach for a long time. On the other hand, maybe my taste buds are more attuned now that I've been eating raw Paleo for some time? Still, if you were able to eat the meat then I would be surprised if it was very bad, especially if you're new to eating raw meat and didn't get sick.

[larrymagee]

Okay, thanks, Phil.  Maybe I won't throw it out.  The taste was fine.  It smelled exactly like a restaurant dumpster on a hot afternoon.  That may be what it is supposed to smell like.  The worst was when I took the slimy container inside to wash it.  The smell stayed in the room and I had to air it out and spray a deodorizer. 

[larrymagee]

I re-read the first post in this thread.  It says to air out the meat for a few minutes every 1 - 3 days.  Is it necessary to let in air for that long or will a couple of seconds do it?   I can't imagine being able to keep flies off of it if it's left open for minutes.  Also, does anyone stir it to get air to the bottom?

Thanks