Good to know.
Where bacteria is present in meat that is ground,
Is the salty cure used to make many processed meats enough to kill bacteria?
Is the smoking process hot enough to kill any bacteria?
If not and I know everyone is different, How much bacteria is needed to make someone sick? My family (on my mothers side) has a "iron" stomach. We can eat anything without ill effects.
Bacteria is transferred to the meat as we rag and clean the deer. It gets transferred to the outside of the deer, not inside the meat. Bacteria lives on our skin as well as on the hide and hair of deer. Most bacteria is not a pathogen but some is. E.coli is one example of a bacteria that is a pathogen to humans. Once we skin a deer bacteria in small numbers can be transferred to the outside of the deer. Some may be pathogens. Washing the carcass with clean water can help. When we hang a deer, warm and moist conditions can create an environment where bacteria can multiply.
So, now we have a deer ready to butcher. If we have kept it clean and kept temperatures below about 38 degrees, there has been little opportunity for bacteria to grow or multiply but there is likely some on the outside of the carcass. If temps have gotten warmer, any pathogenic bacteria may have had a chance to multiply. From this point on, during the butchering process, bacteria is transferred from place to place by contact. So, when we cut stakes, there is a possibility of bacteria being transferred to the outside of the stake from the blade of the knife or saw. When kept for a week or so in the fridge or if frozen, that bacteria will not multiply significantly. So, when we cook a stake, we just need to kill the bacteria on the outside of the stake. Bacteria has not penetrated the meat muscle.
Back during the butchering process, we've got chunks of meat that have been cut off the bone and the outside of those chunks can have bacteria transferred by the blade. However, if we grind those, now the outside gets mixed with the inside. So, with a burger, you can have bacteria inside the patty as well as on the outside. With a burger you need the internal temperature to get high enough to kill the bacteria, not just the external temperature. The temperature that will kill bacteria depends on the bacteria. E.coli which was the culprit in the "Jack in The Box" case will die at about 155 degrees, so they say cooking a burger to 160 degrees internal temperature is pretty safe.
Yes, there are other ways to preserve meat besides refrigeration. When I make jerky, they have a cure that you add to the grinding process that is a preservative. I believe smoking is another way to cure meat, but I'm don't know the ins and outs of how long each preservation technique lasts.
As for the "how much bacteria", it really depends on the specifics of the bacteria, as well as the immune system of the person.
Keep in mind, we are talking about "best practices" here. If you do most of the things right, chances of illness from meat is pretty low, whether you process it yourself or a butcher does. The guy at real risk is the one who shoots a deer in early archery season, the arrow goes through the paunch, does not recover it until the next morning, drags it for a mile through a creek, and then straps it to the hood of his car. He is too tired to deal with it that night and just hangs it in the garage for a day or two before cutting it up.
I don't at all mean to make anyone fearful of eating venison. I'm simply trying to make sure guys new to all this understand the best practices and why they are protective.
I've had a lot of folks tell me they don't eat venison because of the "gamy taste". I've then had them over for dinner and served venison and had them ask "where did you get those great stakes?" I'd then tell them it was venison. That thing folks refer to at the "gamy taste" usually comes from slightly tainted meat resulting from poor game care.
Thanks,
Jack
