What rawpalaeo foods are you eating right now?

[zeno]

Sabertooth have you taken to completely skipping the butcher by buying live animals and butchering them yourself? Do you think this is more cost-effective? I'm sure of the benefits otherwise, but I'm curious of the differences in cost...

[sabertooth]

This is my latest kill, a large male lamb, its been aging on a meat hook for the last three days. I love the cool weather we have been having its perfect for aging meat out in my shed.

I haven't completely quit eating store bought meat, but I am moving towards that goal. I will still get fat trimmings and other spare parts from my butcher. Sometimes I will have to get some store bought beef if my food supply runs out before I can obtain another whole animal. Luckily I have just found another farm who will sell me pasture raised sheep and goats, so hopefully I wont have to buy too much questionable quality meat from the local stores.

The cost of grassfed meat is outrageously high if you buy it by the pound at the local markets where I live. Grass fed ground beef is now 7 dollars a pound at the whole foods. So its absolutely essential for me to obtain the most economical source of quality foods.

I have been buying lamb at 1.25 per pound , on hoof. A real deal considering that most stockyards are selling it for 1.80.

Its hard to get an exact dollar amount of how much I save by butchering myself, because you have to factor in the added bonus factor of being able to obtain all the organs, bone marrow, glands, lymphnodes, intestinal fats, blood,etc.; that are nearly impossible to obtain at the local grocery store.

The last lamb cost me 140 dollars and I get about 60 pounds of eatable material.
So I estimate about somewhere between two and three dollars a pound of edible matterial
It depends on the leanness of the animal.

Compare that to 7 dollars a pound for just the muscle meat, and you can see a great savings in cost.
Especially considering that I will eat two to three pounds a day. I actually ration myself when my supply gets low and I don't have enough money to buy more.

[miles]

How well does the meat last in your shed? Do you get anything growing on the outside of the meat? What parts are you hanging and how? What's the environment like inside your shed?

[sabertooth]

It has been cool with low humidity, in the 40s and 50s.

I have been hanging the whole limbs and the torso.

But during the day its been getting too warm so I will take the pieces and put them on a rack in my fridge.

It seems to be aging well, if you let it dry a little in the open air then it doesn't seem to get infected with slimmy molds.

I am attempting to perfect my methods of keeping the meat dry enough and well aired so it doesn't spoil, and moist enough to develop that beneficial bacteria rich flavor.

I will usually consume the whole animal by the third week so I am not sure about aging it beyond that.

[zeno]

I will usually consume the whole animal by the third week so I am not sure about aging it beyond that.

Ha-ha--like a true animal! 

[Löwenherz]

[IMG]
...
This is my latest kill, a large male lamb, its been aging on a meat hook for the last three days. I love the cool weather we have been having its perfect for aging meat out in my shed.
...

Hi Sabertooth,

what minimum meat aging time for lamb/mutton do you recommend?

Löwenherz

[zeno]

Sabertooth, may I ask how you slaughter the animals? I know that there is some concern when killing an animal to ensure a stress-free death so as not to spark the release of certain chemicals into the body. This may be hearsay but I know I've heard something along these lines and I was wondering how you slaughter.

When slaughtering a lamb, I was taught to slit its throat and bleed it out.

This is an unrelated question, but when and how often do you find yourself eating? Do you eat one large meal in the middle of the day?

[sabertooth]

Hi Sabertooth,

what minimum meat aging time for lamb/mutton do you recommend?

Löwenherz

The length it takes a chunk of meat to age to perfection varies greatly. It depends on a number of factors. Humidity, temperature, air flow all have to be controlled for optimal aging.

It taste best after at least 10 days of hanging in dry fall weather. After about two weeks it seems that I get bacteria overload from eatting exclusively slightly rotted meat and will lose my craving for it..

I have experimented with all types of different conditions and have even eaten meats completely infested within maggots.( kind of biter)

I am in the middle of forming a theory which explains my experiences with aged meats.
Its called bacterial cycling.

After eating on a kill that's been aging a while the body will build up more than enough bacterial co-factors it needs and will lose its apatite for bacteria. Then when a new kill is landed the body will metabolize out the old bacteria by digesting the fresh meat and the cycle will start over again.

This is the crude layout of a phenomena I seem to have been experiencing since I began to use the whole animal, and quit using frozen meats. My body will absolutely thrive on meat that is beginning to age and then after eatting on the same rotting carcause for a while I will suddenly lose my apatite. I still finish off whats left ,which usually isn't much.

Then with a body saterated with bacterial stuff I will begin a new cycle with a fresh kill. The old bacterial from the last kill will help with the digestion and assimilation of the new kill. While the new kill cycles of the old bacteria. Then as the new kill begins to age it replenishes the body with a new generation of bacteria.

I swear my digestion has never been better

Sabertooth, may I ask how you slaughter the animals? I know that there is some concern when killing an animal to ensure a stress-free death so as not to spark the release of certain chemicals into the body. This may be hearsay but I know I've heard something along these lines and I was wondering how you slaughter.

When slaughtering a lamb, I was taught to slit its throat and bleed it out.

This is an unrelated question, but when and how often do you find yourself eating? Do you eat one large meal in the middle of the day?

I cut their throats and let them bleed out.

I eat three to four times a day; usually a medium sized breakfast, a small lunch, a pre dinner snack{ egg yolk with a bite of tomato}Then a large dinner.

[Löwenherz]

...
I am in the middle of forming a theory which explains my experiences with aged meats.
Its called bacterial cycling.
...

Sabertooth, thanks for your interesting thoughts!

Your theory makes perfectly sense if we imagine a "wild" tribal life in the open grasslands somewhere on this planet. And your report would and should be a nice story for all vegans suffering from digestive problems due to fungal infestations.

Have you experienced rancid fats? Some beef cattle farmers told me that fat near the bones can get very stinky quickly. I noticed that lamb fat is more stable than beef fat, btw.

Löwenherz

[sabertooth]

You may be correct about lamb fat being more stable. It seems if you leave the whole limb intact the fat seems to stay relatively fresh, and wont go sour as easily as beef fat. Aged lamb fat taste good to me. I think the key is to let the surface dry a little, under the right conditions it won't go rancid even when aging it for a couple of weeks.

Lamb back fat seems to form a protective layer over the flesh and seems to seal it off from unwanted growths. Allowing the inside to age without rotting.

[RogueFarmer]

Man that sounds so good.

I have a rose veal that I can't keep alive for various reasons, I am wondering if it's cold enough yet to pull this off. He is about 300 pounds or so.

I would have to transport the carcase 500 miles lol, I wonder if this is worth trying or if I should just freeze it. Any suggestions?

I am moving to southern Ohio.

[sabertooth]

goat blood


Lamb marrow from an aged leg
 



My latest kill, a 7 month old male goat.

[RawZi]

    Grass finished tendinous meat minced, then mashed with fatty marrow, raw chicken liver and pastured never been chilled egg and a little shallot.

[Adora]

Hi I'm new I've herd of marrow bones, but what is fatty marrow, where do you get it, and how do you get into it? Should I season it? Also I was giving my beef heart fat to my dog and I saw a pretty plate of beef heart, with the fat. Should I just eat fat, bite it, swallow it down, and I'll just know when I've had enough. What about other stuff, fibrous things, that I was supposed to throw out. Is that good for me?
Almost all of the grass feed local meet I can get has been frozen. I can get conventional meet totally fresh, which is better? Or should I mix it up. I want to start hunting, but fishing I have already done. Does anybody eat fresh water fish raw? Please advise me.

[RawZi]

    Bovine marrow seems to be all fat, barely blood. I would recommend from my digestion to take a ceramic butcher knife, cut the fiber into small pieces, so they are swallowable. chew the fat! Or grate it. No fresh water. On rare occasion very lean non organic. Rest of time stick with grassfed. If you get skin problem, then avoid frozen. Who knows? Frozen may bring about other things you don't like, I haven't the faintest idea, I don't eat it.

[goodsamaritan]

Does anybody eat fresh water fish raw? Please advise me.

I don't.  I haven't found a worthy clean source.  Pristine fresh water shrimp in a far off province, 1 time.

[Iguana]

I don't.  I haven't found a worthy clean source.  Pristine fresh water shrimp in a far off province, 1 time.

Yes, we have the same problem in Europe. Even in clean mountain streams, they release young farmed trouts to be fished later.   

[RawZi]

    I tried some raw corn with raw milk.  Not a good mix.  Didn't make me sick (or detox), but it tasted like cow flavored corn.  Count me out lol. 

[Isthmus]

Some Rose Veal kidney and braising steak. Along with a little bit of raw honey and butter afterwards.

[goodsamaritan]

Hydrating evening snack: Juicy organic papaya
Also tasted some Guyabano / Graviola that my son likes so much these days.

[TylerDurden]

I'm having my usual:-  raw wild moufflon(thanks Iguana for recommending it) and raw wild boar meats. Also some raw eggs and some raw grapes, the eggs are not organic or free-range by label but are as good in quality, the grapes are nonorganic.

[cherimoya_kid]

I'm having my usual weekday lunch of raw sea bass, raw scallops, and a little raw dulse. 

[RawZi]

    Grass fed beef shank marrow.

[zeno]

I'm having my usual:-  raw wild moufflon(thanks Iguana for recommending it) and raw wild boar meats. Also some raw eggs and some raw grapes, the eggs are not organic or free-range by label but are as good in quality, the grapes are nonorganic.

Tyler, how is it that you source all this wild game? Do you just buy it from hunters or wild game processors?

[Adora]

One more marrow question. If I had some venison bones would I just wack them with a hammer then get out what I could. I get hungry thinking about marrow, but just not understanding, maybe if I'm holding the bone it will make sense.