Hi everybody. Just glad I store my grain in sealed 5-gallon buckets. Eww, I hate bugs.
The bugs are already in the grain. So, don't be surprised if you open one of those buckets and find the evil weevils.
What's YOUR bug limit?
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The bugs are already in the grain. So, don't be surprised if you open one of those buckets and find the evil weevils.
I had a history teacher in high school that one day out of the blue served the whole class venison summer sausage, cheese,.and crackers. After everyone started eating he went to the front and started reading select portions from The Jungle.
Some people made a big fuss about it, but I thought it was pretty damn funny
maltoftheearth
Well-Known Member
Best post of the bunch. I am a foodie so I like to know where my food originates. Also, forkin' coon is forkin' cool.
I have a farily high tolerance for bugs, mice or maggots no so much. I have a lot of flour, cereal and dog food sitting around so meal moths are fairly common here. I usually try to fish them out but at least some of them make it in to a batch of muffins
broadbill
Well-Known Member
I don't get the point of the teacher's demo....
broadbill
Well-Known Member
Ever participated in any animal "processing"?
...that one seems to separate the "I like to go to expensive restaurants" foodie from the "I like to know where my food comes from" foodie....
forstmeister
Well-Known Member
broadbill said:
Maybe you need to go read The Jungle (or read it again if necessary).
broadbill
Well-Known Member
Oh, I've read it a number of times...and I'm still not sure what your history teacher was trying to prove.
Its a book about corporate greed, about deplorable food quality and working conditions as a result of that greed, the kind of lives immigrants lived in the US at the time, and why socialism and government regulation are good (debatable, but that was Sinclair's overall thesis, despite the more well-known effect the book had on changing food safety law in the early 1900s).
If the idea your history teacher was trying to convey is that meat is bad/somehow tainted), he missed the point almost entirely (to the point of negligence, considering a teacher should have rudimentary reading comprehension skills). After all, he gave you guys venison summer sausage, something that was most likely locally harvested and processed-pretty much the antithesis of the canned meat described in The Jungle. A better choice would have been SPAM.
Take a tour of a packing plant. You'll never eat hotdogs again.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
Michael Pollan speculates in his books that this is the reason that processing plants do not have windows!
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
I keep hearing these things. What cold possibly go into a hotdog that is all that bad? Powders, mechanically seperated meat, the odd bug body part...
broadbill
Well-Known Member
The stories about ingredients are pretty overblown. The worst part of hotdogs the same of what is bad about hamburger; that random pieces/parts (i.e. byproducts) from the process go into their manufacture. To say that you don't eat hotdogs while munching on a hamburger shows you know little of the process, if you ask me. Hotdogs can have some additives/preservatives that you may not want to eat I guess.
I've been to a plant that makes hot dogs and the worst I can think of that they use is meat stripped from cow heads (basically the facial muscles).
I've also been to a factory where the cow head were being stripped of muscles...imagine of conveyor belt and Mexicans with boning knives lined up, pulling off a skull and removing ALL of the muscle from it (after the skulls are bare white)...and in about 15 seconds. Over and over and over again.
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
Its a disturbing mental picture, absolutely, but it doesnt speak to the idea of something "unwholesome" going into the finished product. Im actually glad that no part of the animal seems to be going to waste.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
its all about context: A big lug of cow cheeks being ground up into a meat paste to fill a hot dog skin = disturbing
Michelin star restaurant serves a special of braised cow cheeks over a parsnip puree = foodies jizzing in their pants.
Couple of months ago some friends of my went the Texas road house near by. They were celebrating the return of a couple that had just returned from a 2 year stay in Singapore for him play in a pro futball club. Apparently he had fallen in love with the local cuisine. One of the lady's at the table screams loudly at the table during dinner. Apparently there was a 3 inch(70mm) long grasshopper in her green beans and she wanted everyone to know about it. The pro futballer says I ate those twice a week in Singapore. The manager says well I would not recommend... and before the manager can say anything else the futballer tosses in his mouth and chews, and everybody freaks out again and a few lady's run to the bathroom. Whats the big deal?
http://mentalfloss.com/article/22946/5-creepy-crawlies-people-love-eat
Chapulines
http://mentalfloss.com/article/22946/5-creepy-crawlies-people-love-eat
Chapulines
Last year, I opened the lid on a fermenter bucket to find several small little maggots crawling around in the caked up krausen on the sides of the bucket on the inside and outside. I wiped them up and well as I could and then bravely drew a sample and tasted. The beer was disgusting with infection and ended up being my only dumped batch. The way I see it, is if you don't at least try the beer, you will never know if it would have been good or not.
If I bought a kit full of weevils, I am sure I'd contact the seller for a replacement.
If I bought a kit full of weevils, I am sure I'd contact the seller for a replacement.
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
Good point.
Now, what IS revolting to me is the fact that sometimes BUTANE is used to preserve processed hamburger patties.
Not too sure on the point myself, he was a really good history teacher, but a real ads a lot of the time and would sometimes have little breakdowns in class. I think he did it just to get a kick out of it
He was just reading select portions that deal with the nasty conditions in the food processing industry. No real point, just messing with the student.
I enjoyed the free food and easy class day
Cow cheeks are used in barbacoa, mmmmm. I'm with creamy, it sounds gross with all the random parts used, but its still meat and still good. Most of the parts used are delicacies to one ethnic group or another
Seamus Mitwurst
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Wednesday night in my house is beer night. The boys come over, we brew, I cook some dinner. We eat. We drink.
Last night I made chili. The meat I used was a mix of trim, spleen, heart and liver.
It was tasty. Damn tasty. (Whether the smell of Death in the house today is due to that is another thing altogether.) Parts is parts. It's not the meat in hotdogs or sausage that would make me think twice about eating them. It's the process.
(Not that I do think twice. I love sausage. I like making my own better than commercial, so I know everything about it.)
Last night we brewed a batch of brown ale.
We made it out of some grains we got for free. We got about a quarter ton that someone wanted to get rid of because they weren't going to be able to use it in time. There were a few bugs. We cycled it all through the freezer and then sealed it up airtight. I imagine we will find some more, but hell, they're just bugs.
I can imagine there being a point where I might think there are too many bugs. I can even visualize what that point is. It seems rather arbitrary.
Maybe I need to think on that and start supplementing my diet with bugs. That ought to get me over my squeamishness.
Last night I made chili. The meat I used was a mix of trim, spleen, heart and liver.
It was tasty. Damn tasty. (Whether the smell of Death in the house today is due to that is another thing altogether.) Parts is parts. It's not the meat in hotdogs or sausage that would make me think twice about eating them. It's the process.
(Not that I do think twice. I love sausage. I like making my own better than commercial, so I know everything about it.)
Last night we brewed a batch of brown ale.
We made it out of some grains we got for free. We got about a quarter ton that someone wanted to get rid of because they weren't going to be able to use it in time. There were a few bugs. We cycled it all through the freezer and then sealed it up airtight. I imagine we will find some more, but hell, they're just bugs.
I can imagine there being a point where I might think there are too many bugs. I can even visualize what that point is. It seems rather arbitrary.
Maybe I need to think on that and start supplementing my diet with bugs. That ought to get me over my squeamishness.
Tell you what doesn't belong in a hot dog is corn syrup and maltodextrin, both very common texturizing additives. It could be said that the machinery which makes regular old hotdogs would not even work correctly if these ingredients were removed. If you're picky about your sausage, you can get meat. If you want to shop off the shelf, you get "meat product". Even if it says it's beef, it might have turkey. Who knows? Who cares? It's just protein, right?
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
Oh I definitely agree that when you dont get the most healthful product when you get a hotdog as it has long been known to be something of a miracle of modern science, but people talk about hotdogs as if industrial waste and human feces go into them.
I pitched a pint jar of trub into the porter I made yesterday.
Took it outta the fridge, let it warm to room temp, swirled it ever so often to homogenize it, and noticed about 4 little bugs floating atop the liquid before I pitched. Pitched it anyways.
So there's that.
Took it outta the fridge, let it warm to room temp, swirled it ever so often to homogenize it, and noticed about 4 little bugs floating atop the liquid before I pitched. Pitched it anyways.
So there's that.
ShootsNRoots
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As a kid, I remember butchering time, usually in the fall. I'd watch as my parents and grandparents butchered several pigs and cows. They used every part they could from the livers, intestines, etc... Of course that's almost a lost art now, can't image many people know how or have the capacity to butcher their own animals.
In fact, going to the butcher shop was a big deal because the butchers meats would be evaluated by my parents and grandparents. Most of the time they considered their own meat superior to that of the butcher.
The kindergarten or first grade class trip was to the butcher shop and we watched a cow being unloaded, killed and butchered. It was simply a way of life and not much thought was given to it.
Having been exposed to Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle', in High School, I can say that it wasn't much of a surprise, and I considered it more of an exposure to the hardships of immigrants at that time and could relate to some of the working conditions/greed exposed in the book.
I think the same greed exists today but it is not exposed in such harsh manner; rather, companies take "legal stances" or present images of themselves implicitly in such a way that it is not recognized and/or not considered illegal.
Working conditions (and perhaps wages) have certainly improved for most U.S. citizens; not sure the same applies to immigrants (legal/illegal).
Anyway, butchering was a way of life perhaps not so much anymore. Finding a good meat market; there something to be said for that.
In fact, going to the butcher shop was a big deal because the butchers meats would be evaluated by my parents and grandparents. Most of the time they considered their own meat superior to that of the butcher.
The kindergarten or first grade class trip was to the butcher shop and we watched a cow being unloaded, killed and butchered. It was simply a way of life and not much thought was given to it.
Having been exposed to Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle', in High School, I can say that it wasn't much of a surprise, and I considered it more of an exposure to the hardships of immigrants at that time and could relate to some of the working conditions/greed exposed in the book.
I think the same greed exists today but it is not exposed in such harsh manner; rather, companies take "legal stances" or present images of themselves implicitly in such a way that it is not recognized and/or not considered illegal.
Working conditions (and perhaps wages) have certainly improved for most U.S. citizens; not sure the same applies to immigrants (legal/illegal).
Anyway, butchering was a way of life perhaps not so much anymore. Finding a good meat market; there something to be said for that.
Spc_Scott
Well-Known Member
Best spot ever for a bald faced. Mean little buggers.
seether254
New Member
honestly if you have a good filter in your mash tun you should be all right, and if not i hear they add some extra flavor!
maltoftheearth
Well-Known Member
Last year we shot squirrels coming out of the attic, skinned them and cooked them as squirrel au vin in a crockpot.
:rockin:
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
Every hippy bone in my body quivers with happiness when I think of eating squirrel. I cant think of too many meats in north america that are more sustainable.
I got home from work last night, looking forward to enjoying a nice homebrew out on the deck. I poured it, sat down, took a sip and set the glass on the deck's rail. Just then, a box elder bug did a kamikaze right into my full glass of IPA. I fished the bug out, but not before he let loose his stink into my beer. I had to toss it, wash the glass and pour a second one.
Maybe I need a tankard with a flip-top for times like that.
Maybe I need a tankard with a flip-top for times like that.
Squirrel and dumplings are wonderful
Edit: Your a hippie? How do you get away with Patchouli Oil in the city?
