do you ever wonder why pork is different than beef or venison?

[john keyes]

like on venison or beef you can practically eat it raw (as long as the outside is clean, and not ground with e coli) but on pork you have to be careful...

 

People are getting so wigged out now that they want to wear a tyvek suit and 3 layers of gloves when cleaning an animal

[GRIMJIM]

While I'm not a fan of "raw" meat of any kind. Though I do like it between rare and medium rare. You can get really sick from eating raw pork. Trichinosis while not usually a deadly condition is still pretty nasty. The thought of parasitic worms inside me gets my skin crawling.

I think that's why the jewish religion forbids it. It probably started out as a health issue and grew from there.

[yooper77]

While I'm not a fan of "raw" meat of any kind. Though I do like it between rare and medium rare. You can get really sick from eating raw pork. Trichinosis while not usually a deadly condition is still pretty nasty. The thought of parasitic worms inside me gets my skin crawling.

I think that's why the jewish religion forbids it. It probably started out as a health issue and grew from there.

Yep, Trichinosis is bad news.  You can also get it from wild game, such as a bear that eats a pig.

yooper77

[Skunk]

My brother once talked me into eating raw Ground Round on crackers. "Just try it, you'll like it," he claimed. I ended up getting an intestinal infection that lasted around four months. Never again will I eat any raw meat. Medium Well is about as little cooked as I'll even consider now when it comes to eating steak. Pork, Fish, and Poultry has to be very well done.

[Rex in OTZ]

the first thing is hogs will munch on carrion, seen it before, they are hell on rattle snakes too (kill & consume)
so yes they have clove hooves but that bout all

As a youngster ther was a boy in my elementry school a couple grades ahead of me that was burnt badly
they sent him off to a burn center and he had Grafted hog skin when finished

Kinda is a turn off when eating Fried Pork rinds makes one think of pork skin grafts on people so porkrinds=human rinds??

[hillbill]

yu can git trichinosis from bear meat. but im not so sure it had to eat a pig first.seems like i remember outbreaks in native americans long before they ever saw a porker from eatin bear jerky.

[GRIMJIM]

I have a friend that believe it or not is a pretty intelligent guy. Let's call him 4296.

He used to eat raw bacon as a kid and never got sick once. I don't know why.

[Oldshooter]

Could be because bacon is smoked and cured? 

[DDZ]

A bear dosn't have to eat a pig to get a worm infection(trichnosis). Any animal that eats raw meat can get trichnosis. Its the reason you should give your dog regular worm medication if its a dog that stays outside. Some dogs just love dead smelly animals. Like mine.
Pigs used to be more susceptible to worm infections, because they were fed garbage more often that contained raw meat. Legislation was passed banning feeding pigs raw meat or food garbage that contained raw meat. If pigs were not given any raw meat there is no danger of them getting a worm infection, and passing it on to humans. Pigs are raised much differantly now then they were 40 or 50 years ago. There is only a small number of people each year that get trichnosis now. If left untreated trichnosis can kill you.   
Even if I new the pig I was eating had not eaten raw meat at anytime. I would still cook it well, with no red or pink in the middle. Its also not a good idea to eat your bear steaks cooked medium either.
There was this guy I used to work with when I worked construction. We were on the way back to the yard and he had me stop at this butcher shop that he said had real good meat. He bought some loose sausage and a few steaks. After we left, I saw him unwrap the sausage. I thought he was just looking at it. I heard him say that he wished he had some salt and pepper. I looked over and he was eating the sausage. He said that he loved raw sausage. I asked him if he ever got sick from eating that. He said just once. I guess some people never learn.   

[blind ear]

I don't know for sure but I have heard a couple of chefs on the food channel say there hasn't been a documented case of trichinosis since some time in the 1920s. I won't eat raw pork though.

[wganz]

I don't know for sure but I have heard a couple of chefs on the food channel say there hasn't been a documented case of trichinosis since some time in the 1920s. I won't eat raw pork though.

Should have seen the XRay of my patient's head with that egg sac in his head from the worms he got eating undercooked pork in Mexico. All my pork is thin sliced and cooked to a dark brown on at least one side.

Like I say about smokers; Go ahead with their bad self, they're my job security.

[Empty Quiver]

I think if you research it you'll find that pork is now considered trichinosis free by the USDA. This is not wild pork I'm talking about but store bought meat, has been this way in europe for quite some time as well.

The life cycle of a trichinosis worm involves being in the gut of an animal and being in the muscle tissue of an animal. Only meat eaters are likely to encounter these situations. Strict herbavours will not eat infected meat and therefore won't have the eggs or cysts or whatever hatch in there intestines and then migrate to muscle tissue.

[cange]

I thought EVERYONE in wisconsin ate canibal sandwiches (raw ground round on baby rye with onion) I know that I've enjoyed them on several ocasions. On the pork thing, I've heard from a few chefs that pork can be served more rare than you used to be able to because of processing regilations. I don't how true it is, but thats what i've heard.


cange

[Drilling Man]

I think if you research it you'll find that pork is now considered trichinosis free by the USDA. This is not wild pork I'm talking about but store bought meat, has been this way in europe for quite some time as well.

The life cycle of a trichinosis worm involves being in the gut of an animal and being in the muscle tissue of an animal. Only meat eaters are likely to encounter these situations. Strict herbavours will not eat infected meat and therefore won't have the eggs or cysts or whatever hatch in there intestines and then migrate to muscle tissue.

  Canada also is said to be trichinosis free.

  DM

[OldSchoolRanger]

I thought EVERYONE in wisconsin ate canibal sandwiches (raw ground round on baby rye with onion) I know that I've enjoyed them on several ocasions. On the pork thing, I've heard from a few chefs that pork can be served more rare than you used to be able to because of processing regilations. I don't how true it is, but thats what i've heard.


cange

"Cannibal sandwiches" are called Steak Tartare in NYC, it was supposedly named after what the Tartars ate when they invaded Europe. Steak Tartare is served in fancy NYC restaurants with fancy prices to go along with it, as an appetizer, it is basically finely chopped, thinly sliced or minced strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits, spicing it to taste, and then chilling it, often served with onions, capers and seasonings (the latter typically incorporating fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce), sometimes with a raw egg, and often on rye bread. I tried it, and surprisingly it wasn't bad.
Regarding the trichinosis problem with pork, it was because years ago pigs were fed slops. When I was a kid, my dad told me that in NYC commercial garbage companies use to pick up left over food from restaurants, and then sell the slops to pig farms just across the river in Secaucus, NJ. In the wild pigs & bears also eat whatever they can find. It's now against the law to feed domestic pigs slops, that's the reason why nowadays you can eat pork more on the "rare" side.

[SHOOTALL]

With regard to deer there are several sicknesses you can get . Not all deer or every state has the problems but why take the chance and to be honest pulling off some gloves is easier than getting the blood and fact off when field dressing or dressing out a deer.

[45-70.gov]

swine bruce-a-losis

[.22-5-40]

It is different..GOD thought so too..LEVITICUS 11-7.

[hunt-m-up]

You generally won't see cattle and deer walking around eating their own crap like a hog will, along with carrion and a variety of other living and dead organisms.
I'll be cooking my pork very well, thank you.

[ironglow]

    I could stand corrected, but I cannot recall a hog eating it's own feces.  They will be found however,rummaging through cow manure, since cattle being ruminants, will have corn kernels occasionally pass through intact.  There would be no rreason for a hog to go through another hog's manure, anything the first hog couldn't digest, wouldn't help the second hog either
    You will not find me eating any meat but what has been thoroughly cooked, but that's just a personal preference, safety and taste wise.  That being said, I believe most ill effects coming through meat, comes from the huge slaughter & poultry processing houses, through their processes.
  When I was a youngster on the dairy farm, we used to butcher some of our own and sell some to neighboring friends & farmers. Other farmers did the same and did it with no problems.  I can recall when local pig farmers would get the garbage from behind the stores in town and feed it directly to hogs.  Soon, they were required to cook the stuff before feeding and I understand now they are not allowed to use the stuff at all; makes sense.
   Hogs are omnivore and it is known among country folk that if one is likely to fall down disabled and helpless...stay away from the hog pens.  I knew of a game warden who raised hogs and fed fresh killed deer carcases to them.  His older, more experienced neighbor warned him against developing his hogs' taste for meat too much.
       Does anyone recall that serial killer who fed his victims to his hogs and then sold his porkers to the local processor ?
    http://www.newser.com/story/13701/pig-farmer-guilty-of-butchering-women.html

[Buckskin]

 Trichinosis is a thing of the past as others have stated.  We used to raise 400 hogs at a crack all corn fed not like the old days.  Once in a while we would have a hog die in the pen and if it had any open cuts the other hogs would eat it in no time. 

I usually eat my pork and bear on the rare side, especially bear loin.  Mmmmm, makes my mouth water.  I would be a little careful if there was an open dump anywhere near where I was bear hunting.

Canibal sandwiches or tartare is excellent, but I grind my own thereby preventing bacterial contamination.  I buy a nice chunk of beef tenderloin, cut off all outer portions of the loin so anything meat that was in contact with anything is removed (use the cuttings for stir fry or something else) then grind the inner portion. It's time consuming, but damn it's soooo good.

Never got sick from eating anything raw except oysters.  I thougth that was going to kill me, 36 hours of hell, then 12 more of pergatory.  Although I still eat them from time to time...

[hunt-m-up]

    I could stand corrected, but I cannot recall a hog eating it's own feces.  They will be found however,rummaging through cow manure, since cattle being ruminants, will have corn kernels occasionally pass through intact.  There would be no rreason for a hog to go through another hog's manure, anything the first hog couldn't digest, wouldn't help the second hog either
    You will not find me eating any meat but what has been thoroughly cooked, but that's just a personal preference, safety and taste wise.  That being said, I believe most ill effects coming through meat, comes from the huge slaughter & poultry processing houses, through their processes.
  When I was a youngster on the dairy farm, we used to butcher some of our own and sell some to neighboring friends & farmers. Other farmers did the same and did it with no problems.  I can recall when local pig farmers would get the garbage from behind the stores in town and feed it directly to hogs.  Soon, they were required to cook the stuff before feeding and I understand now they are not allowed to use the stuff at all; makes sense.
   Hogs are omnivore and it is known among country folk that if one is likely to fall down disabled and helpless...stay away from the hog pens.  I knew of a game warden who raised hogs and fed fresh killed deer carcases to them.  His older, more experienced neighbor warned him against developing his hogs' taste for meat too much.
       Does anyone recall that serial killer who fed his victims to his hogs and then sold his porkers to the local processor ?
    http://www.newser.com/story/13701/pig-farmer-guilty-of-butchering-women.html

Believe me hogs on an open feed floor or confinement are rummaging through their own feces all the time(I guess what else do they have to do), and yes they'll eat a downer hog. I was simply saying like you are IG that they aren't too discriminating in their tastes and especially a wild hog could have all kinds of things going on in their system. Domestic swine are too medicated to have much for problems anymore. I would agree that a greater threat to our commercially processed beef,pork,etc. is probably the people processing it unless it comes from your local locker.

[ironglow]

Hunt em up;
  I wouldn't doubt it..we only raised a few now & then on our dairy farm  .  Of course some brood sows had a definite liking for baby pork..we had to watch them

   Do any of you guys believe this ?  There are more similar ones on youtube.com

  http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

[Bugflipper]

Ironglow, the old timers used to raise hogs 2 high. The first crate was fed. It had a wood slat floor. Some corn would fall down through the slats. But the hog on the bottom would also have to eat the feces if he wanted to live. He was not fed besides the little that the top hog would drop and of coarse the feces. This was outlawed in the 80's by the USDA, but was a common method until then for store bought meat. This and the hog's inability to sweat out contaminates is the reason I don't eat pork.

Some farms still sneak by with this method. The USDA is supposed to inspect each farm, but they don't always get around to that. A local finisher was using this method on a 100,000 hog a year operation, he was reported and subsequently shut down. He had been in business for 40 some years, this was 3 years ago. So odds are others still do it as well. The term top hog came from this method, as he was the lucky one. Now people say, I feel like the top dog, instead because they don't know what it means anymore.

[MGMorden]

My brother once talked me into eating raw Ground Round on crackers. "Just try it, you'll like it," he claimed. I ended up getting an intestinal infection that lasted around four months. Never again will I eat any raw meat. Medium Well is about as little cooked as I'll even consider now when it comes to eating steak. Pork, Fish, and Poultry has to be very well done.

FWIW, though I can't remember the exact specifics, while it's fine to eat steak raw, it's not ok to eat *ground* beef raw.  Something to do with the process introducing bacteria into the meat. 

I personally will eat beef medium-rare.  I also eat a lot of sushi raw (mostly tuna and salmon - occasionally yellowtail).  Pork has to be slow cooked for me.  I personally can't stand a pork chop whether it be baked or fried, but throw it on a slow cooker or in a crock pot and lit it simmer down for a few hours and there's nothing better.

Also, some of my best memories as a kid was barbecue time. My grandad (and later my uncle, who lived right next door) raised their own hogs.  When it came time to barbecue, we'd get a big water barrel boiling with pine sticks inside.  Kill the hog, pour on the boiling water, scrape off the hair with a knife.  Then gut and clean him.  Then it was an all day affair cooking down oak wood chips to slow cook the hog.  We still barbecue these days, but it's usually with store bought pre-cleaned hogs cooked with propane.  Still tastes great, but not quite the same.

[mcwoodduck]

While I'm not a fan of "raw" meat of any kind. Though I do like it between rare and medium rare. You can get really sick from eating raw pork. Trichinosis while not usually a deadly condition is still pretty nasty. The thought of parasitic worms inside me gets my skin crawling.

I think that's why the jewish religion forbids it. It probably started out as a health issue and grew from there.

We have a friend that is a Pro Pork Rabbi. 
He says that pork was outlawed for threse reasons.
1) it spoils and does not keep like Venison or beef. in the form of Jerkey or Biltong or what ever the middle eastern version of it is.
2) It is a dirty creature and will lay in it's own poop.  In a land where washing was not a high priority having your dinner in poop was a bad thing because fresh water was at a premium. 
3) they eat slop and the slop is what creates the worms.
4) in a desert there is not a lot of fuel to fully cook the pork and the worms become a problem
5) it takes the same amount of food to grow a domestic pig as it does a person.  While a chicken, goat, sheep, or beef does not eat the same food supply as a person and far less grain is used to grow those animals.  So you can either grow, for the same grain a pig or person.   Also any part of the animal that has the syatic nerve in it is not Kosher.  So most of the cow from the rib cage back is not kosher.
6) cow, sheep, and goat milk is used for dairy products and chickens lay eggs. But the Pigs are not milked anywhere in the world. So there are no secondary by products for the animal.  Even the leather needs to be handled differently.  High fat layers cause rot and not leather.

[ironglow]

Bugflipper;
  I never saw as large an operation as that, most of what I've seen were small, so I'm unfamiliar with it..but thanks for the added knowledge I can tuck away.

McWooduck;
  I know from a superficial study I did, that most all kosher laws had a good reason for their existence, a good reason for God to institute them.  Thanks for the elaboration.

[mcwoodduck]

Bugflipper;
  I never saw as large an operation as that, most of what I've seen were small, so I'm unfamiliar with it..but thanks for the added knowledge I can tuck away.

McWooduck;
  I know from a superficial study I did, that most all kosher laws had a good reason for their existence, a good reason for God to institute them.  Thanks for the elaboration.

No doubt.  Most of it makes sense for the time and place.
I have often asked why Christians, a relegion that has history with Jews, did not keep Kosher as well and at what point in the book did surf and turf with a fully loaded baked potato become OK. 

[Buckskin]

Bugflipper;
  I never saw as large an operation as that, most of what I've seen were small, so I'm unfamiliar with it..but thanks for the added knowledge I can tuck away.

McWooduck;
  I know from a superficial study I did, that most all kosher laws had a good reason for their existence, a good reason for God to institute them.  Thanks for the elaboration.

No doubt.  Most of it makes sense for the time and place.
I have often asked why Christians, a relegion that has history with Jews, did not keep Kosher as well and at what point in the book did surf and turf with a fully loaded baked potato become OK.

Because bacon, ribs, pork chops, steak, ham, sausage, etc is damn good and that surf & turf with loaded baked potato is making my mouth water!!!!

We used to take beef cattle to Hebron Illinois which had a Kosher beef plant.  Interesting place.  The rabbi would have to kill the animal with one swipe of his sword (or what ever they called it) across the neck or it didn't meet kosher standards...

[ironglow]

McWooduck, Buckskin;
    We must keep in m,ind that the New Covenant (New Testament) is of course, a new deal and as new direction between God and the people.  The reason Christians now indulge in non-kosher meats etc, is given by Peter in...   (Acts 11:5-10)..
         Ironglow