Botulism smoked salmon and seal a meal

[DATsBBQ]

I've read to kill all the bugs in pork it needs to be frozen for over a month at well below zero. But I hear folks eat raw fish all the time and don't die. Cold smoking can be tricky I hear. Feed it to Mikey More experienced opinions are sure to be forth coming.

 

[jminion1]

He was right the threat was real. From low temp cooks to long cool down periods is the recipe for poisoning.

You can salt but if cooking at low temps then fast cooling is needed before sealing. The freeze for 24 hours or a higher temp cook is needed.
It's when it's sealed that is the perfect conditions for the botulism.
Seafood from both the Atlantic and Pacific botulism can be present.
Not just salmon, also cod, crab and shelfish can be effected.
I'm glad to hear you are well. Botulism is ugly stuff. Takes years to recovery in some cases.

Jim

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Note to self, don't eat at Mango's place.

 

[LarryWolfe]

From the best of my knowledge, freezing at 0* or below does not kill germs/microorganisms. All it does is makes them dormant, once thawed they will simply begin to reproduce again.

I'd certainly agree with the quick cooling of the meat prior to sealing though. But if there is something bad on the meat, freezing it will not get rid of it in my opinion, it will only halt the reproduction until it's thawed.

 

[Chiles]

Don't tell anyone, but I am a closet Sushi lover. As a matter of fact, I have about a 30 dollar a week habbit and crave the stuff.

During a coversation with the head chef of a sushi place in Columbus, we went over the different species and talked about preperation. Salmon must be frozen for 24 hours before it can be thawed, sliced and served. Some Tuna species do not have that same requirement, and I have eaten it right off the hook. Litteraly.

The good news for you (and you have to check to be sure) is that many salmon packagers I bet will freeze the product for shipping. Unless you caught this yourself, I bet the fish you had were frozen at the shipping point.

Take all this with a grain of salt because I am learing something new all the time.

Chiles

 

[Smokey_Joe]

My thoughts....

Think of it as a learning experience...not a scolding.

Did the indians put their stuff in ice chests????

I don't think so, but what was their average life expectancy?

Did "white man" really come with "great medicines"...or did they just come with common sense?

 

[Finney]

My thoughts....

Think of it as a learning experience...not a scolding.

Did the indians put their stuff in ice chests????

I don't think so, but what was their average life expectancy? A lot longer before the white man showed up

Did "white man" really come with "great medicines"...or did they just come with common sense? No, they showed up with diseases that the indians hadn't built up immunity to.

.

 

[jminion1]

The preservation of food was learned over a long period of time.
Creosote was used for hundreds of years ago, the problem was that the things that perserved food was hard on the body but it did keep the rats and insects out of the meat supply.

In Alaska the natives would putrefy meat (fermintation) to preserve it. Those methods don't always work. Most of the old cases you can read about were not the natives but cases amoung the white population. It could always be traced back to food handling gone bad.

Refrigeration and with the new cures available to us means we don't have to play with the old method. The new cures are easier on the body and refrigeration has gone a long ways in extending life expectancy.

As long as we understand the Botulism is a problem that needs to considered and we handle the meat correctly there should be little to no chance of you getting Botulism.

 

[Smokey_Joe]

My thoughts....

Think of it as a learning experience...not a scolding.

Did the indians put their stuff in ice chests????

I don't think so, but what was their average life expectancy? A lot longer before the white man showed up http://www.efmoody.com/estate/lifeexpectancy.html thinkin' 40 was REALLY old for an American Indian before we ruined their world.

Did "white man" really come with "great medicines"...or did they just come with common sense? No, they showed up with diseases that the indians hadn't built up immunity to. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021101070028.htm

.

.

 

[jminion1]

Get cooled without covering, allow the heat to disapate quickly.
I would cool over sheetpan with salmon on rack.
Freeze for 24 then vacuum pack.

Jim