Can I eat rotten meat and carcass providing enough cooking?

Question

I've met often with the concept, that rotten meat and carcass is inedible because of bacteria and toxins. The most harmful of it the botulinum toxin.

However, in the question Can any waterborne pathogens survive boiling? a link was mentioned to article Bacterial Food Poisoning in which it is written that:

The botulinum toxin is destroyed by boiling the food for 10 minutes.

The pathogens mentioned there also are destroyed by high temperature, so, at least theoretically, it should be safe to eat rotten meat, as long as it is cooked or baked long enough, so that the high temperature penetrate it fully and we let it work for at least 10 minutes.

So, meat baked in fire for about a hour or two, should be safe. Is my conclusion correct?

Answer 1

The conclusion is not correct. Some bacteria produce toxins which are not destroyed by heat, for example Staphylococcus. See this link for more information.

Note that this is not strictly an outdoors issue. Even at home, you should not keep fresh meat in your fridge too long before cooking it, as it gives time for bacteria to produce toxins. The bacteria will be destroyed by cooking, but not the toxins.

Answer 2

Whatever the books say, cooking to extinction still works!

Initially, boil and change the water many times.

Then cook the meat until it falls into the water. This way, you will get more protein from the meat, because you have exposed more surface area.

If you break the bones first, you will get the much higher calorie marrow into the soup.

Cooked meat pieces, should be washed, while being rubbed, daily, until the smelly slimy material has gone, and it feels mat to the touch. This halts the spread of the bacteria.

Rabbits, pheasant, deer, can be hung for 1 week, before the losses to maggots is more than the gain from the maggots. Hedgehogs, crows, pigeons, squirrels, only a couple of days, as they get putrid faster.

It may not smell nice, but you will be alive for 2600+ days.

Maggots don’t spoil the taste of the meat, they definitely improve old meat. If you hang a rabbit until the maggots have eaten well into one side, and then cook the rabbit, you will notice that the maggots eaten side, tastes fresher, more tender, and sweeter.

This is not hearsay, or book theory. I can vouch that it works, by being here to write this answer.

Answer 3

I have to ask, are you planning on eating rotten animals you find on your next backpacking trip. :) (I mean that as a light hearted question, I hope it doesn't come off otherwise).

If you want to be able to survive in the woods, you should:

• research the area you'll be hiking in so you can plan appropraitley
• exercise regularly
• carry enough food
• tell people where you're going
• learn how to use a map and compass
• take a first aid class (or a wilderness first aid class)
• Go on the trip with other experienced people

Fending off buzzards to get a hunk of rotten animal carcass really shouldn't be part of your plan. :)