Peter:
>I understand that this is your first attempt at a low carb diet. It will be
>interesting when you try it raw and see what difference (if any) you feel
>between low carb cooked and low carb raw.

Hmmm...do I really have to try it all raw again? ;)

>When you sear your meat what cuts
>do you use, how exactly do you sear it and for how long?

I was using a little tabletop gas grill but it was too easy to burn. After
reading about some indoor electric grills, I investigated and bought a
little "Speed Grill" (ToastMaster, $40 on sale in Hawaii from Liberty
House) which cooks from two heating elements, top and bottom simultaneously
like a waffle maker. It has worked out _great_. Takes only a minute or two
depending on thickness to sear the outside.

Cuts: Kirts rank ordering:  ;)

1) I alway look for fat and like the thick edge of fat on top sirloin best.
Expensive but not the most expensive.

2) Porterhouse, ribeye, new york strip, delmonico, etc are basically from
the same tender area. And the priciest. (Tenderloin is the most expensive,
but least worthwhile cause it is so lean. Round steak, rump, etc are
cheaper but leaner and tougher.)

3) TriTip and/or brisket cut cross the grain are OK if aged. Inexpensive.

4) The rest of the cuts are pretty tough but improve with aging.

Interestingly, there is little market for "prime" meat (very marbled)
anymore with the fat phobia stuff. This means it is the same price as
"choice" ("select" is below "choice"). Most important is to find aged meat.
Call butchers and ask if they hang their meat and for how long. If they
hesitate they're bullshitting you--if they brag that they hang it for a
couple weeks you've got a winner. Or age it yourself in the fridge by
hanging.

Certified "Angus" is aged to perfection and has a distinctive and pleasing
flavor, especially the fat.

So the ultimate for me (and for most steak gourmets ;)) is a (prime or
Angus) top sirloin or porterhouse which has hung for two to four weeks. I
used to avoid any marbled meat, but no longer...;)

>This makes a lot of sense. I wonder if your instincts are guiding you in
>this direction or if it is your mind guiding your instincts towards what
>might be a long forgotten and more original pattern of eating.  If eating
>some lightly cooked foods does sharpen your instincts then maybe limiting
>the amount of food categories consumed daily as you suggest might be a
>consequence of this.

Sounds good to me. ;) I couldn't say with any confidence what.

>It is clear to me how cooking grains, legumes and various tubers is an
>advantage in times of scarcity by increasing the amount of eatable foods.
>But, when it comes to meat it is not clear to me that there is an
>significant advantage eating it cooked over eating it raw.

At least one advantage is no e.coli from a seared steak ;)

Maybe think of rare (80% raw) meat this way: It's like a pate: a trick to
help one approach a low carb diet fo mostly raw food. Just going by
pleasure one ends up eating too much fruit it seems (at least from the
majority of instincto experience).

Further, if cooking mimics aging, then cooked meat may be more useful than
fresh meat which our ancestors probably avoided in preference to cooked
and/or aged meat/organs, especially if we honed our taste for animal foods
as a scavanger even earlier on.

I feel a little silly talking grills and butcher shops on the raw-food
list, much less defending cooking. ;) I don't know what its all about...

Cheers,
Kirt