Re:The World's Deadliest Thing
by foobarian on Tuesday November 23, 2021 @08:52AM
(#29317774)
I cold smoke meat so I need to be especially careful about this. The good news is, even though the spores are very hardy and can survive boiling at sea level atmospheric pressure, the botulism toxin (i.e. the chemical produced by the germs that does the actual damage) is easy to destroy by cooking over 85 degrees C.
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Re:The World's Deadliest Thing
by raisedbyninjas on Tuesday November 23, 2021 @10:16AM
(#29318760)
Are botulism spores found inside meat or just the surface? 85C in the center will overcook the meats I cook.
Not inside meat, no. I don't think it's a problem for run of the mill hot-smoking or BBQ. For cold-smoked stuff I don't dare eat it raw yet but use the meat in stews. Cold smoked pork ribs add a 3rd dimension to thick soups like pasta fagioli or split pea soup, while sausages are great fried. I don't know how to safely attempt a prosciutto or lox though :-)
cured lox is easy, it's just a salt and sugar brine (cold smoked is something entirely different). If the salinity and sugar are high enough basically nothing can grow. Salt on its own, sugar on its own don't worry very well.