Thread: What to do about bone taint

It will hold in the freezer until you get back from Australia, but it needs to be labeled so no one eats it.

cook it till its over 82 degrees Celsius and it will be fine to eat but if its not over 82 then you will be a sick chap

put it back in your mates frezzer

Chuck it as VC mentioned any cup joint the carcass retain heat knee,shoulder hip all areas to watch for, pays to open them if to hot to get fluids out of joint

Originally Posted by 2post

It will hold in the freezer until you get back from Australia, but it needs to be labeled so no one eats it.

No one lives in the house anymore. But will do.

Thanks for the advice

Originally Posted by 6mm ackley

Chuck it as VC mentioned any cup joint the carcass retain heat knee,shoulder hip all areas to watch for, pays to open them if to hot to get fluids out of joint

Will do.

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Originally Posted by Paddy79

cook it till its over 82 degrees Celsius and it will be fine to eat but if its not over 82 then you will be a sick chap

I disagree with this. The Bacteria causing 'Bone Taint' are anaerobes and will produce a toxin which will not be destroyed by heating. It is the toxin that is really dangerous. As has been said earlier 'Bone Taint' starts at the ball sockets if they aren't drained and cooled
When you hang a pig or deer, hang it by a front leg or the head. This lets the best bits hang relaxed without tension and makes better eating. If an animal can be gutted straight away and then hung in a cool draft in the shade there wont be a problem. Taint doesn't normally start straight away, so I am wondering if the gutting job wasn't clean and properly done and that is the source of the problem, you mention 'stink'- just asking

@Rushy - love your poetic contribution mate

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I disagree with this. The Bacteria causing 'Bone Taint' are anaerobes and will produce a toxin which will not be destroyed by heating. It is the toxin that is really dangerous. As has been said earlier 'Bone Taint' starts at the ball sockets if they aren't drained and cooled
When you hang a pig or deer, hang it by a front leg or the head. This lets the best bits hang relaxed without tension and makes better eating. If an animal can be gutted straight away and then hung in a cool draft in the shade there wont be a problem. Taint doesn't normally start straight away, so I am wondering if the gutting job wasn't clean and properly done and that is the source of the problem, you mention 'stink'- just asking

It was gutted straight away and they dunked it in a creek to get some of the heat out.

It was gut shot in the confusion of all the dog's running around and then shot in the shoulder.

It did stink pretty bad when I got given the frozen stuff. Hopefully the other leg is ok otherwise it's just goat for me.

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I'd be interested to hear what experienced hunters have to say about dunking meat in a creek. I'm careful to avoid anything I shoot or catch coming in to contact with water unless it is going straight in to the freezer. I never wash snapper fillets for example. Bacteria love water!

Chuck it.
Pork is considerably less safe than red meat with any gut spillage or interruptions to rapid chilling. it can harbour campylobacter, listeria and yersinia all of which are very nasty.

Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

I'd be interested to hear what experienced hunters have to say about dunking meat in a creek. I'm careful to avoid anything I shoot or catch coming in to contact with water unless it is going straight in to the freezer. I never wash snapper fillets for example. Bacteria love water!

I wasn't there otherwise I'd have insisted that we don't do that.

Originally Posted by ethos

Chuck it.
Pork is considerably less safe than red meat with any gut spillage or interruptions to rapid chilling. it can harbour campylobacter, listeria and yersinia all of which are very nasty.

Yup. Chucking the one with bone taint. The other stuff may be ok. We will see.

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Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

I'd be interested to hear what experienced hunters have to say about dunking meat in a creek. I'm careful to avoid anything I shoot or catch coming in to contact with water unless it is going straight in to the freezer. I never wash snapper fillets for example. Bacteria love water!

I avoid water for any meat (homekill mutton, game or fish). Whole fish will get a hose down before filleting but I never wash fillets - at most they get a wipe with a dry paper towel.
The one exception was we used to dunk pigs in the creek for singeing the hair off, and once we got a boar that had been feeding on a dead cow and stunk to high heaven. We dragged him out down the creek and threw him over a waterfall. Didn't help the stink much, still got lots of comments at the weigh-in!
I think in most cases a bit of water is probably okay for animals and fish that are gutted and skin still on.

It won't be a danger to anyone in the freezer - won't contaminate anything else.

Check on wikipedia- the botulism toxin is destroyed by heat. If it's well cooked (and pork always should be) then it will NOT be dangerous to eat. Just possibly inedible due to taste . That's what curry is for. (Joke) Also dont give doubtful tasting meat to non hunters girlfriends, rellys, land owners etc or you will lose support for trips away.

I agree, dont like to wash meat in water. Spreads germs into every nook and cranny. Just wipe off as best you can with grass and leaves . Then use a knife liberally to cut away ANY meat with visible gut contents.

I have a theory that after a non fatal gut shot, gut contents gets into he circulation and can be pumped all round the body by circulation if the animal takes more than a minute or two to die. Meat can still be ok to eat but needs to be frozen down early. No hanging gut shot meat I reckon. Also no mincingit up because that mixes bacteria up in a huge surface area of stuff it can grow in. It's always best to freeze any mince as soon as you mince it.

I've had the same with wild pork going off. Not your fault. Very sad but learn and better outcome next time. There are more pigs in the hills.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

I wasn't there otherwise I'd have insisted that we don't do that.



Yup. Chucking the one with bone taint. The other stuff may be ok. We will see.

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Ok so lets stop calling this problem 'Bone Taint' it's 'gut shot' meat. When this happens, don't gut the pig. Instead cut the two front legs off leaving the skin on - just pull the leg away from the body and start the cut under the leg ( lower armpit) Take the backsteaks like you would a deer - these are the eye of your chops normally. then take off the backwheels cutting around between the pelvis and back leg and popping the hip socket. Stay well away from the Arsehole that's where 'shit happens'. This leaves the carcase un-gutted and the meat clean. Skin the legs at home. If you run the knife under the skin and cut outwards when removing the legs and later when skinning there wont be any short cut-in-half pieces of hair on the meat.

personally i would chuck the whole beast out, not worth getting sick over.