Trichinosis

[MiG25]

Been doing some reading on Trichinosis, the universal advice is to cook bear, cougar, etc to 160F or 165F and that not all strains are killed by freezing.

Some anomalies in the data stick out to me, Steve Rinella states that 100% of Black Bears in Western Montana over the age of 6 are infected, while the adjacent area in BC reports 8% (with no age given). Alberta states that 72% of cougars south of the Bow River are infected while in the adjacent area of BC the infection rate is 11%.

 

[medvedqc]

there is no reliable data on trichinosis ... cook well and you will be safe dont and you can excpet some days ...

 

[Geppetto]

there is no reliable data on trichinosis ... cook well and you will be safe dont and you can excpet some days ...

Sound advice. Much safer to assume that it's there and just cook to a proper internal temperature.

 

[scruffee]

I adapt all my bear meat cuts to that style of cooking. I don't do steaks to avoid messing up. Everything gets turned into ground, sausage and roasts, and marked as bear so I cook it extra "thoroughly".

 

[9.3mauser]

If you decide you want to eat Steve Rinella you have to make sure he's really well done...

 

[Skogkatt]

Does someone know how much it cost to test the meat for Trichinosis? It is mandatory to test the meat in some countries in Europe and I will feel safe eating that meat also. If you make a mistake you will have Trichinosis forever.

 

[MiG25]

In my reading I came across testing in Montana, it said $80 (US of course).

 

[dogger1]

i thought you can get worse things eating cougers raw,sorrey been to long in the house,my mind is on hunting all critters

 

[medvedqc]

Does someone know how much it cost to test the meat for Trichinosis? It is mandatory to test the meat in some countries in Europe and I will feel safe eating that meat also. If you make a mistake you will have Trichinosis forever.

we had to do the test for wild boar in our hunting association in europe and the vet office was contacting us back only if positive. we needed to keep the meat in cold chamber up to the results 2-3 days.

 

[rifleman762]

I just did a black bear roast on the rotisserie at about 350F until the internal temp was exactly 160. It is quite tender as far as bear meat goes; actually the best bear meat I've ever had! So you don't need to cook it to shoe leather .

 

[XXXXX]

If you make a mistake you will have Trichinosis forever.

Negative. It's very treatable.

Of course it's better to prevent than to treat.

 

[bearkilr]

In my reading I came across testing in Montana, it said $80 (US of course).

You can do it yourself, if you have a microscope.Take a piece of the diaphragm and squeeze between two glass plates.However, cooking thoroughly is still the best. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat bear meat blue rare. They test in European countries for cold smoking, that doesn't apply to cooking.

 

[medvedqc]

You can do it yourself, if you have a microscope.Take a piece of the diaphragm and squeeze between two glass plates.However, cooking thoroughly is still the best. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat bear meat blue rare. They test in European countries for cold smoking, that doesn't apply to cooking.

in Finland which is part of Europe they re testing wild boar and brown bear. bear meat is considered delicacy there ...

 

[jerstilly]

We were always told that freezing your game meat for a minimum of 30 days before ingestion, greatly lowers your risk. We have been doing this for years.

 

[chuck nelson]

Rinella is 100% correct even though he might be wrong.

 

[MiG25]

We were always told that freezing your game meat for a minimum of 30 days before ingestion, greatly lowers your risk. We have been doing this for years.

It seems that freezing does not kill all strains.

 

[riversrest]

Parts of the lips and the tongue of the animal is what they use in parts of Europe to test.
We have a coop here which does testing that way too. Cold cured bear bacon and belly is one of my favourite hunting foods.

 

[medvedqc]

We were always told that freezing your game meat for a minimum of 30 days before ingestion, greatly lowers your risk. We have been doing this for years.

It seems that freezing does not kill all strains.

freezing is not working well on trichinosis. not worth the try.

 

[freddyfour]

I'm nervious of cooking chops and steaks. But roast and ground are always easy to keep above 160 degrees.

You guys that cook chops and steaks, what is your technique to ensure proper temp without cooking the flavour out of it?

 

[medvedqc]

I'm nervious of cooking chops and steaks. But roast and ground are always easy to keep above 160 degrees.

You guys that cook chops and steaks, what is your technique to ensure proper temp without cooking the flavour out of it?

never done chops only ribs slow cooking so i can t tell but for the steaks we are using a method taught by me grandpa while cooking bear in old europe: use a pan, oil, bear steak, then a bottle of beer, well all cooked use your favorite liquor will be it slivovic, whisky, brandy name it pour it and light the fire then add some heavy cream or creme fraiche and mushrooms ... and then enjoy it.