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Health and safety wise, freeze everything first or it depends on the animal?

HuumanCreed

HuumanCreed

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Location
Westminster Maryland
I considered posting this on the food section but I figured this is more of a health safety issue. I was reading how 90% plus bears has trichinosis. That you should always assume bear meat is infected with it, that eating raw/rare bear meat is very dangerous. As a guy who like his venison on the rarer side, this has me concerned.

I don't think I have ever eaten anything 'flesh' that was not frozen at one point before it got to me. Even the few fishing trips (day trips, never been out multiple days in the wood in a combo camping/fishing trip) in my life, it was never one where we started a fire, gutted, and grilled the catch then and there.

I forgot to saved the deer heart last year before dropping it off at the processor, but will try to remember this time.

Anyway, is it safe to eat venison that has not been frozen beforehand? Especially the heart and liver. Especially if you are eating it rare.

So do you have a list of animals that can be eaten 'fresh' and those that need to be frozen first before you can eat it?
 
It’s the cooking of the meat that makes it safe to eat, not the freezing. I’m not aware freezing does anything to bacteria except gives them a nap. I’m also not aware of deer getting the parasite that causes trichinosis, think that’s pretty much a bear and pig thing. Man-bear-pig thing?
 
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Tr33_n1nj@ said:
It’s the cooking of the meat that makes it safe to eat, not the freezing. I’m not aware freezing does anything to bacteria except gives them a nap. I’m also not aware of deer getting the parasite that causes trichinosis, think that’s pretty much a bear and pig thing. Man-bear-pig thing?
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Whoa, I'm getting mix/contradicting info all over the place. Some are saying as you are saying, that it just hybernate them. Official government agencies' sites are saying opposite things.

1693222986965.png
 
What is “safe to eat” to you?

What odds of you getting sick from the food you eat once are you willing to accept?

What odds of you getting sick from the food you eat regularly are you willing to accept?

Who do you trust to give you good information?

Why do you want good information?
 
Don’t think twice about fish.

We have a walleye trip in the UP every June and we eat what we catch almost daily.

Deer just out of how we do it and not out of any habit or “fear”, usually get frozen. Tenderloins and backstraps would be the only ones that have the chance of not being frozen, although recent articles I’m sure most have seen, might change my mind just to eliminate any possibility, even if it’s super slim.
 
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Undercooked Venison Can Cause Rare Blindness Disorder

Adam Crockett lay death-still and unblinking as a doctor pushed a needle into his right eyeball and withdrew built-up fluid. With that task complete, the doctor at the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland pushed a second needle deep into the back of Crockett’s eye, all the way to the retina. Stopping...
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Freeze first, or don’t and SEE if it happens to you or not!
 
Deep and extended freezing does kill some parasites including trichanosis, however parasites in wild meat requires colder and more sustained temps to be effective. Cooking is the most reliable
Means of making meat safe. It’s definitely possible to cook venison enough to make it safe without overcooking. A meat thermometer is your friend.
 
Cooking is way more important to me than freezing. I eat venison regularly (during hunting season) that has not been frozen, and the best beef is bought fresh! If you're worried about parasites, have you ever looked into Sous Vide? A lower temp cook for a longer time is an effective parasite killer as well.
 
Generally speaking I think venison is one of the safest things you can eat undercooked. However, there has been more recent highlights on toxoplasmosis, which can be killed in the freezer. So, yes, safer to freeze first. But generally it seems the chances of getting sick are still very low and if you know what to look for it can be treated pretty easy. I also remember hearing or reading that a lot of us may have toxoplasmosis but don't show symptoms.
 
Weldabeast said:
I don't know dude....I think that might just be your opinion
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Haha it is for sure. But I’ll take the information and tools available today to extend the amount of years I get to argue over freezing meat.

For what it’s worth I eat deer meat that has only touched the inside of the deer, my hands, and a grill often.
 
I haven't tried it yet but I watched this urubes video from guam were they shot a sambar and then sliced it real thin and set it on racks in the sun that were enclosed in a screen to keep the flys off. The meat set out for I think they said 8 hours baking in the sun and then they ate it. They said it was delicious but it was a urube video.....
 
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we have taken backstrap from a deer, trimmed it up and then fried it before freezing multiple times and never had any issues. I cant speak to the heart and liver. Its my understanding as well that cold generally (unless extreme cold and long durations) causes any parasites or any other bad stuff to basically be dormant. Reaching certain internal temps cooking wise is going to keep you the safest.
 
kyler1945 said:
Died at 40. Life expectancy has almost doubled since the fridge was invented. The current ole days are gooder than the good ole days…
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I've read recently, you had a pretty good chance of living to 70 if you made it to 10 or so. Childbirth and childhood diseases wiped out entire families on the regular which skews the mean.
 
I treat venison like beef but would treat bear like pig (have cooked quite a bit of pork but have only eaten bear that others have shot/prepared) Freezing is a decent safety measure but also isn't a guarantee, as some of the northern strains can survive and just go dormant. I've eaten deer tenderloin and heart the evening of a kill, as well as multiple fish that were swimming that day. It's super unlikely to get trichinosis from deer because you have to eat contaminated meat to get it. Yes we know deer may occasionally eat meat but for the most part they are herbivores, so I don't plan to change my eating/cooking habits. Need to be a bit more careful with bottom fish like halibut to make sure they are fully cooked through because they seem to get a bit wormier than others, but as long as it's fully cooked, the worms die, get cooked and blend in and you cant even tell they are there. Fish worms seem to all die from a deep freeze as far as I know.
 
HuumanCreed said:
I considered posting this on the food section but I figured this is more of a health safety issue. I was reading how 90% plus bears has trichinosis. That you should always assume bear meat is infected with it, that eating raw/rare bear meat is very dangerous. As a guy who like his venison on the rarer side, this has me concerned.

I don't think I have ever eaten anything 'flesh' that was not frozen at one point before it got to me. Even the few fishing trips (day trips, never been out multiple days in the wood in a combo camping/fishing trip) in my life, it was never one where we started a fire, gutted, and grilled the catch then and there.

I forgot to saved the deer heart last year before dropping it off at the processor, but will try to remember this time.

Anyway, is it safe to eat venison that has not been frozen beforehand? Especially the heart and liver. Especially if you are eating it rare.

So do you have a list of animals that can be eaten 'fresh' and those that need to be frozen first before you can eat it?
Click to expand...
I’d say yes, I take a bite out of every heart fresh after the kill, every single time of course I have the immune system of a dog so that may be apples to apples. I can lick a handrail and have no worries and other people would be hospitalized bc of it but I always fresh cook as soon as getting home with it the backstrap and freeze i everything else. Never had any problems between me the wife or 5 boys. But bear meat or pig meat I would never play around with.
 
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