On Dec 17, 2006, at 8:58 AM, michael raiti wrote:

> Ginny,
>
> It seems to me that raw beef is more common than
> raw/lightly cooked chicken or pork from what I have
> come across.  Do you find that that is the case?

Yes, and I feel the quality can be higher. Not many good pig and  
poultry farms around yet.

> Is
> there a reason that you cook the pork and chicken a
> little rather than eating it completely raw?

Well, pork I can eat raw, but I like the flavor brought out by a  
quick searing. Understand, when I say "cook", it's a one minute  
excursion through a pan greased with meat fat or butter, or a quick  
run under a broiler. It's not a moral issue for me, so I might as  
well enjoy it a bit. It's definitely NOT cooked, and I wouldn't have  
qualms about eating it raw. Chicken, OTOH, is really tough until the  
protein reaches a critical temperature. I cook it just enough to eat,  
and it's still pink and firm. I suppose I could eat ground raw  
chicken, but it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

I feed my dog raw, and am not panicked about licking my fingers or  
cleaning the knives and cutting surfaces. We do some whacking of  
quite large pieces occasionally, like whole livers, up to 15 pounds  
in a big cow, so it  gets pretty bloody.

>   What do
> you do with chicken livers?

I'd heat them in butter, and eat raw. Usually my dog gets them, not  
because I don't like them, but because there's only one in each  
chicken:)

> Do you find there is a
> difference between ground beef and steak?

No. If anything, the ground beef tastes sweeter, I think because of  
the concentration and rapidity of the taste bud assault. I don't get  
a lot of tender cuts like steak; all mine takes some work to chew,  
and some creative knife work across the grain. It's all sold as dog  
trim. We know in dogs, and I suspect it might be similar in humans,  
that the act of chewing releases enzymes and acid in the stomach as  
the food is prepared for ingestion. This could alter your reception  
of the meat, digestively speaking.

> I am
> wondering if the ground beef is having an acidic
> effect on me that would be lessened by soaking a
> little to remove some of the blood.  One thing that I
> have noticed is a saltiness to the meat that makes me
> think that (over) cooking has the effect of losing a
> lot of the electrolytes - particularly potassium and
> sodium.  Do you eat the marrow or bones?

That's kind of a "well, DUH!" to me:) Of course, meat loses liquid  
and changes composition when heated, and that's why I don't cook it.  
The  only exception would be bone broths, which I make with  
accumulated inedible bones and the occasional whole neck, tongue,  
hock, etc, purloined from the dog supply. I eat whatever bones I can,  
chewing up chicken bones, especially the joint ends. These are of  
course raw, in my version of "cooked". I chew on lamb and pork ribs.  
In soup, which I make with acid, the small bones all become edible,  
but all the good stuff is dissolved out anyway. I don't get many  
marrow-type bones, but I suck all the marrow from the soup bones. I  
find I have a real craving for the broth, too, an appeal besides  
normal appetite. I suspect there is a lot of nutrition in there. This  
is my only glutamate habit:)

ginny

All stunts performed without a net!