cooking in a crock pot

[stevemiller]

Looking for some insight on this,Ive read a couple of threads now where some advise cooking bear and cougar in a crockpot to be on the safe side.I dont cook much so I need to ask,What about the crockpot makes it safer to eat?Is it because it cooks for so long?What temp does a crockpot cook at?

[hrd2fnd]

I normally will brown the meat first then put in crock with all the trimmings, seasoning and water cover set on low then go to work.  By the time I get home everything is nice and tender and ready to eat

[RadSav]

Most Crock Pots cook at a temperature of 215 degrees regardless of which setting you have chosen between "Low" and "High".  High just uses more wattage to get there and reaches that temperature faster and holds it more consistent.  Crock Pot claims the "Warm" setting maintains 165 degrees once the pot has reached that temperature with one of the cooking settings.

To kill any trichinae present in meat it needs to reach an internal temperature of 137 degrees.  And since the guidelines account for a 13 degree variance in most thermometers it is recommended to cook to an internal temperature of 150 degrees.  If cooked fast to reach that internal temperature the external tissue just gets too hot. Without the marbling of fat found in beef wild game tends to get dry, tough and rather flavorless when cooked at this elevated temperature.  And wild game is difficult to rehydrate by allowing to relax like a fatty beef steak.  So the thought is that using a slow cooker allows the internal temperature to reach 150 without raising the external temperature beyond that which can not be rehydrated.  Thus capturing more of the natural flavor, keeping dryness to a minimum and leaving a tender, more palatable result.

Despite widespread rumors to the contrary the FDA does admit trichinae can be killed by freezing as well.  But, it takes a very good freezer capable of reaching and maintaining -10 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 days.  Some believe this breaks down the cellular structure of the meat too much leaving chance of flavorless mushy meat.  I have not found this to be true.  Perhaps if you left high fat meat at that temperature for a long period of time it may.  I vacuum pack and then freeze without a paper wrapper.  Then thaw without taking the meat out of the vacuum bag.  To me what damage is done to the meat if far less than the damage done by cooking wild game medium-well to well done.

[stevemiller]

Thanks for all this info Rad,It sounds like the best way to cook any game meat. 

[RadSav]

Thanks for all this info Rad,It sounds like the best way to cook any game meat. 

I don't know about any game meat! 

Not sure there is any better way to cook the perfect London broil or steak than on the grill, wrapped with bacon, rare to medium rare with a nice pat of butter on top   But, if you are worried about Tric then it does make medium well to well much more palatable for sure!

Another thing I found out about the slow cooker was to make sure the meat is completely thawed before putting it in the crock.

[stevemiller]

Yeah I agree with the broil and BBQ also,Thanks for the advise.

[lokidog]

Thanks for all this info Rad,It sounds like the best way to cook any game meat. 

I don't know about any game meat! 

Not sure there is any better way to cook the perfect London broil or steak than on the grill, wrapped with bacon, rare to medium rare with a nice pat of butter on top   But, if you are worried about Tric then it does make medium well to well much more palatable for sure!

Another thing I found out about the slow cooker was to make sure the meat is completely thawed before putting it in the crock.

Curious as to why this?  I always drop my frozen roasts, pheasant, duck, rabbit, etc. into the crockpot, add my ingredients and cook.  Sometimes I will do this the night before but usually not.  I've never had a problem with meat not being thoroughly cooked or tender.

[KFhunter]

you get big ice crystals in the meat shredding the structure,  if you thaw it in the fridge it'll slowly thaw and help reduce the internal shredding.  thawing it fast makes a more mushy meat.

fish really does it the worst.  Always thaw fish slowly.


now if you had a blast freezer that'd be ideal

[lokidog]

you get big ice crystals in the meat shredding the structure,  if you thaw it in the fridge it'll slowly thaw and help reduce the internal shredding.  thawing it fast makes a more mushy meat.

fish really does it the worst.  Always thaw fish slowly.


now if you had a blast freezer that'd be ideal

Never had an issue with mushy meat, well except for a lamb quarter I did in the crock once, bleh.  Who would put fish in a crock pot?

[RadSav]

Thanks for all this info Rad,It sounds like the best way to cook any game meat. 

I don't know about any game meat! 

Not sure there is any better way to cook the perfect London broil or steak than on the grill, wrapped with bacon, rare to medium rare with a nice pat of butter on top   But, if you are worried about Tric then it does make medium well to well much more palatable for sure!

Another thing I found out about the slow cooker was to make sure the meat is completely thawed before putting it in the crock.

Curious as to why this?  I always drop my frozen roasts, pheasant, duck, rabbit, etc. into the crockpot, add my ingredients and cook.  Sometimes I will do this the night before but usually not.  I've never had a problem with meat not being thoroughly cooked or tender.

I have found the frozen roasts take too long to reach the internal temperature.  When I've done them frozen I tend to get over cooked on the outside by the time I get the internal temp right.  Few things worse than a dry over cooked elk roast.  Never seem to have that problem when I cook a roast that has already been thawed.  If it's a thin cut of meat not so much as a good size elk roast.  But I do still prefer it thawed first regardless.

Timing is the key to a good crock pot piece of meat.  X pounds at X hours = perfect texture and flavor.  When single I cooked a lot of frozen meat in the crock pot out of convenience.  But timing was so dang hard to hit.  You could not really weigh it to guestimate time.  Seemed you had to guess girth and volume which almost never worked right.  Then one of the chefs at McCall's cooking school told me to stop with the frozen meat.  And also to never allow whole tissue meats to sit on warm.  After that my crock meals were actually acceptable to serve to the young ladies I invited over.

Cooking fish in a crock makes no sense to me!  Not sure I'd even try it.  I have made seafood chowder in the crock, but I always add the fish, mussels, clams and crab in at the very last.  Want rubber clams and fish...over cook them  

I like my fish ever so slightly past the point of raw.  Cooked all the way through, but just barely.  Tuna...actually still raw in the very center.  I over cooked some clam chowder one day because I fell asleep.  I think you could have chewed on that stuff for a week and still not gotten the clams broke down.  Flavor was fine for rubber clams   So I spooned all the clams out and ran them through the fine meat grinder to make it edible.  Hate to waste a good razor clam!

[KFhunter]

I didn't say to put fish in a crock pot lol - nasty

[bobcat]

I didn't say to put fish in a crock pot lol - nasty