Elk Meat Cooking Question

Flatlandr · Nov 2, 2005

I have a couple of friends who want to try some Elk Burger but they prefer their meats prepared rare to a very light medium rare. Anybody know if that would be a unhealthy level of doneness? Don't want to get anyone sick by not cooking the meat long enough.

Thanks,
Mark

Chef · Nov 2, 2005

Is this elk that you killed and butchered yourself or was it done at a butcher? If you did it yourself and the meat was properly cared for in the field etc etc, I wouldn't hesitate to cook burger med rare to med.

If done at a butcher, I wouldn't go below med. This is just for burger though.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

Flatlandr · Nov 2, 2005

Chef,

Yes, I killed it and properly cared for it then turned it over to a local butcher to process.

So I gotta ask, why the difference in doneness based on who did the butchering?

Mark

Bob D. · Nov 2, 2005

Flatlandr, I'd say probably because if you had somebody else do it you don't know for sure if you're getting your meat, or somebody elses, or a mixture. Even if you do get your own meat, it could become contaminated when going through the grinder. I would guess that E. Coli would be the main concern.

NickJ1980 · Nov 2, 2005

I would cook the meat through. There are parasites that not only infect the gastrovascular cavity as adults, but also have larval stages that live in the muscles (meat). There are certain parasites that can form cysts anywhere there is active blood flow, including the brain.
I've seen tapeworms (Cestodes) and roundworms (Nematodes) in elk. They are very resistant so freezing may not be enough to kill them, but cooking will. Most cattle from a feedlot have been treated for parasites, but the beef tapeworm (which can affect any ruminant) is one of the most prevalent parasites in North America and humans are the intermedite host. Here are some links if you're still not convinced.

http://www.innvista.com/health/microbes/parasite/cestode.htm

http://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/labmanua/lab22/lctape.html

http://www.sidwell.edu/us/science/vlb5/Labs/Classification_Lab/Eukarya/Animalia/Nematoda/

http://www.scientific-art.com/portfolio medicine pages/tapeworm.htm

Chef · Nov 2, 2005

Bob D hit the nail on the head.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

Flatlandr · Nov 2, 2005

Well now, guess that clears it up! No heat & serve around my grill!

Thanks again for the advice. Since we are on the subject, I would like to learn to do my own butchering. Are there any good "how to" resources out there on butchering that you all would recommend?

Mark

contender · Nov 2, 2005

bone it out, lose all the fat and whatever doesn't look like a steak grinder up

Chef · Nov 3, 2005

This video might help. It's a pretty good one.

http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/video/deerfield.wmv?lid=1038&NavPath=C151C158

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

predator · Nov 3, 2005

Chef, the other consideration is that unless you specifically tell the butcher not to, there will be beef suet mixed into the meat. Anything with beef should be cooked at least at a high enough temp to kill those lovely little critters Bob D. brought up.

And that video is great, thanks for sharing the link!

Flatlandr · Nov 3, 2005

To all who replied, Thanks. The friends I speak of wanting to try it rare are also the owner of the company for which I work for and his wife. They are great people but I sure don't need a bad meal hanging over my head!

Mark

idhunters · Nov 4, 2005

If they want to try it a little rare cook 'em a steak....won't be any problems there.

I generally won't even eat beef burger unless its well done but the steaks have to be rare to med rare.

AZWALKER · Nov 4, 2005

A way to cook your burger tender but med to med well is to cook it as slow as possible. What I do it run my grill on high for about 10 min. I get the grill nice and hot then throw the burgers on. Once the one side is nice and sizzled I flip the burgers and crank the grill all the way down. This will give the burgers time to cook on the second side and the grill time to cool off. Then I leave them on for as long as it take for the center to brown flipping once more half way through. I usually have a test burger I can cut open and check. What this does is seals in moisture. Also, make your patties nice and thin and fairly loose, if you don't they'll ball up into meatballs and won't fit on the bun right. I personally don't like to contaminate my elk meat with nasty beef burger. To me it defeats the purpose of eating such wonderful, healthy meat.

Enjoy your rewards of a good hunt!!!

Donnie