Ground BISON!!

[Sully]

I can get fresh cheap 100% grass fed bison at my local co-op, i'll never go back to organic beef, the grass fed bison is just to darn great to me, I got some grass fed beef too, i'll see how that taste, if it taste like the organic beef i previously had, i'm afraid i'm going to stick with this ground bison, the bison makes me druel, i lick the package clean! i neer done that before!!! btw its the first grass fed meat I ate!

[Raw Kyle]

Nice. I might switch to bison since Slanker's has bison suet and organs as well as meat. The only problem is that I wanted to try Lex's idea with the dog and cat food mix from Slanker's (since it's so cheap) and I don't think they have that from bison. Maybe I'll make my normal food from the beef mix and make jerky and pemmican from bison and eat bison and beef organs.

[Sully]

I would like to try slankers stuff, but I can't afford it. I buy my meat with digital food stamps in the form of a card called "Quest". My mom can't buy my meat with her cash, so I'm in control of the quest card. I'm her last under age child and I'm the only reason we get it so she lets me be in charge of it.

[boxcarguy07]

Doesn't bison have a lot less fat than beef?
I guess it wouldn't matter if it was ground and a high fat percentage... do you happen to know what % of the ground bison is lean/fat?

Bison's more expensive as well. I spend most/all of my money on food now as it is! 

[Sully]

Bison's more expensive as well. I spend most/all of my money on food now as it is! 

The bison I get is 5.99 a pound I think. Pretty cheap, i think it was on sale. Doesn't matter, I get about 200 a month on the card. And all the money is for me.I don't have to buy fruit or veggies. I just gathered all of my plant foods. And in the winter go carnivore.

[boxcarguy07]

Ah gotcha...

the ground beef I get works out to around 4.50 per pound... and when you eat 3 lbs a day, that can add up pretty fast!
if it was anymore expensive i couldn't do it...

I so wish I could gather my plant foods, that would cut down on costs a bit! I envy you! 

[Sully]

I so wish I could gather my plant foods, that would cut down on costs a bit! I envy you! 

yeah wisconsin offers lots of variety, right now i'm gathering mostly apples, pears, crabapples, black walnuts, grapes, and two varieties of small plums, where do you live?

[Sully]

Oh yeah, I occassionally buy raw coconut fat. But that's about it. I use to make nut butters, but I recently stopped doing that.

[boxcarguy07]

yeah wisconsin offers lots of variety, right now i'm gathering mostly apples, pears, crabapples, black walnuts, grapes, and two varieties of small plums, where do you live?

sounds like heaven lol.
I live in the southeast, in a moderately big city. I think there are either kumquats or loquats later on in the year, but that's it here. At least that I've ever seen or heard of.

[lex_rooker]

the ground beef I get works out to around 4.50 per pound... and when you eat 3 lbs a day, that can add up pretty fast!
if it was anymore expensive i couldn't do it...

Keith,
Not sure where you are purchasing you meat, but Slanker Dog & Cat is about $2/lb and the suet/fat is about $1.50/lb.  Also, adding extra fat will up the calories and reduce the amount you need to eat which further lowers your daily cost.  My total cost for food - including shipping charges - works out to about $7 per day.  You could easily match this or beat the price by raising the fat content of what you eat.

Just a thought,

Lex

[lex_rooker]

Sully,
Bison is extremely lean.  I usually find it measures less than 4% fat which is about 25% of calories or less which is not nearly enough.  You could risk protein poisoning if you don't eat a significant amount of carbs or raise the fat content to at least 15% by weight.

When I purchase very lean meat, I ask the butcher to give me some additional fat that weighs 10% to 15% of the weight of lean meat I'm purchasing.  I ask them to grind the fat for me which they will usually do for free.  When I get home, I mix the ground fat into the lean meat and freeze/store in single serving sizes.

Lex   

[boxcarguy07]

Just wondering, how strong is the liver taste in the dog and cat food? And do you know the fat % of it?

Next time I order meat, I'm planning on ordering from Slankers, and ordering ground beef and suet. With the suet mixed in, this would lower the average price of my food by at least a little bit.
I'm getting quite enough fat now as it is anyway.

[lex_rooker]

Keith,
To me the taste of the D&C is rather mild.  I do mix it with fat and ground beef so that the D&C is only about 1/3 of the total mixture by weight. 

When I first started I tried to eat D&C alone but it was just a bit too strong tasting for me.  I then started mixing it at the rate of 6 lbs ground beef (three-2lb packages) to  one 1 1/2 lb package of D&C.  Then I dropped it to 4 lbs ground beef and 1 1/2 lbs D&C.  Finally I got to 2 lbs Ground beef, 1 1/2 lbs D&C.  When I went to 80% fat I had to add an additional 1/2 to 3/4 lb of fat or suet to the mix to bring the fat content up to 80% of calories.

I found that the D&C consistently measures about 18 percent fat by weight which is around 68 percent calories from fat.

The Ground beef measures about 13% fat by weight which is around 60% of calories as fat.

Lex

[boxcarguy07]

Interesting, thanks for your help. I suppose I'll have to do my own math soon enough 

But just wondering, I checked the Slanker's website and they say 90/10 for both the ground beef and the D&C. How were you able to calculate those percentages you gave?

[xylothrill]

Just wondering, how strong is the liver taste in the dog and cat food?

The Dog & Cat is stronger than liver alone. It's a mixture so I'm not sure which part(s) make it stronger.

[Nicola]

When I purchase very lean meat, I ask the butcher to give me some additional fat that weighs 10% to 15% of the weight of lean meat I'm purchasing.  I ask them to grind the fat for me which they will usually do for free.  When I get home, I mix the ground fat into the lean meat and freeze/store in single serving sizes.

Lex   

Lex, do you bolt the raw meat down or do you chew it? Do you have the fat and meat ground for any reason? I am interested, if this bolting or chewing has an effect on our digestion; I chew (can't help that, it just happens! I will even spit out the tough) and still find, that not all gets digested (not all suet get's broken down).

I have added this himalayan salt to my water in the morning but this seams to have a cleansing effect in the colon (in other words loose stools)!!!

Nicola

[lex_rooker]

But just wondering, I checked the Slanker's website and they say 90/10 for both the ground beef and the D&C. How were you able to calculate those percentages you gave?

Slankers just grinds the meat and adds about 10% fat by weight to both the D&C and the Ground Beef products.  The actual fat content is the sum of the added fat plus whatever is in the meat itself.  Since organ meats have a higher fat content the total fat in the D&C is higher than the ground beef which starts with lean muscle meat.  This is how they arrive at the 90/10 numbers they publish on their website.  The 90% is the meat they start with (muscle or organ) and the 10% is the extra added fat.

I have a commercial FA73 fat analyzer made by UINVEX.  It is the same unit that is used by most meat markets to test the fat content of their ground beef.  I measure every batch of food that I order and what I gave you are the averages.

Be aware that the D&C is made from leftovers from the regular meat they sell plus older animals who were used for breeding or other purposes and are past their prime for tender meat, so they go into the D&C product.  Any animal where no part of the animal was sold for human consumption is not USDA inspected as this just adds to the cost and serves no purpose for pet food.  This doesn't bother me at all, but some people may not want to eat meat that doesn't have the USDA stamp of approval. 

Lex

[lex_rooker]

Lex, do you bolt the raw meat down or do you chew it? Do you have the fat and meat ground for any reason? I am interested, if this bolting or chewing has an effect on our digestion; I chew (can't help that, it just happens! I will even spit out the tough) and still find, that not all gets digested (not all suet get's broken down).

Nicola,
I"m a chewer.  I purchase very course ground meat for two reasons. 1) it is far cheaper than whole cuts of meat (steaks, roasts, etc), and 2) I'd have to cut the larger pieces up to eat them anyway so why pay the extra money?

The normal gound beef is to fine for me - nothing to chew - more like paste.  I much prefer chunks about the size of the end of my thumb to give my teeth some work to do.  The Dog & Cat food is really ground far to fine for my liking, however, when mixed with the course ground "Chili Beef" it works out fine.

Lex

[Sully]

wouldn't it be fine if the bison is ground with fat lex? i eat coconut fat before i eat it, should i mix it in?

[lex_rooker]

Certainly it is fine if the fat is ground into the meat initially.  The problem is that most meat providers don't add enough fat at the initial grinding so you have to add extra after the fact.

I no longer consume coconut or any other vegetable oil and that includes flax seed oil and olive oil. The lipid profiles of vegetable fats are very poor. There is no real Omega3 in most vegetable sources, only percursors that the body can "convert" to Omega3, and this is very inefficient.

Though Coconut oil is a staple for island dweller's, I'm just not convinced it is the best food for humans - especially when other better foods are available. If you think about it, Island dwellers would quickly exhaust the meat supply on an island so they would have to find a replacement for animal fat or perish.  This doesn't mean it is an optimal food. 

I'll choose grass-fed saturated animal fat everytime over fats or oils from any vegetable source including coconut, olive, or flax.  All vegetable fats are modern additions to the human diet.  Raw unprocessed animal fats are also down right cheap compared to most "high quality" vegetable oils and fats.  I see no reason to include them in my diet and now avoid them like the plague.

Lex 

[xylothrill]

The bison meat might be lower in fat but don't they have a fatty hump on their backs? Wouldn't this have been cherished by hunters?
Correct me if I'm wrong. All I can find on the subject are humans who have the lipodistrophy disorder commonly called "buffalo hump"

Craig

[Sully]

I can get organic beef fat. But not grass fed fat from the butcher. Like I said before i can't order stuff unless they take food stamps. I kinda don't like the organic fat, think it's because it gets touch up of grain? i don't know what to do for fat.....     organic beef fat or coconut fat? any suggestions?

[xylothrill]

Organic doesn't mean much. It can mean the animal was fed organic grain or that there were no hormones or antibiotics used on them.

Since you're an omnivore, you're probably getting enough carbs and fat. What's important is that protein not dominate the diet.

Yes, I'd suggest Raw Virgin coconut oil or whole coconut. The "organic" beef fat would be a little better than conventional. You are young and your body should be able to handle it until you're able to find or afford grass-fed fat. Avocados are fatty but not rich in saturated fat.

[Sully]

yeah, i have extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil. I plan on going carnivore in the winter. Since I only eat vegetation I gather, besides the coconut fat. I ordered a dehydrater. i think i'll get the organic fat and dehydrate it, until i get another source, or until i get a job after high school.

thanks Craig

[lex_rooker]

think i'll get the organic fat and dehydrate it, until i get another source, or until i get a job after high school.

Sully,
You can't dehydrate fat.  It will just go rancid if you try it.  The cellular structure retains moisture and the fat quickly oxidizes (takes on excess electrons, also known as free radicals in bio speak) and this is not a good thing.  You can slow the process down from days to several months by freezing the fat, or you can render the fat at a temperature above the boiling point of water.  Rendering will release the pure fat from the cells and evaporate all the water.  Rendered fat will keep for years if it is in a sealed container, but the relatively high heat will damage some of the fat soluable vitamins like A and D just like any other cooking process.

If I had to choose between rendered grass-fed animal fat or a vegetable fat like coconut or olive oil, I'd choose the rendered animal fat hands down.  Even though rendered grass-fed animal fat has been heated and some nuritional damage has been done, it still has a far better lipid profile (omega3/omega6/omega9 ratios) which are the primary building blocks for our cells.

Lex