Process
Food safety that keeps you alive
Botulism, temperature, and the rules you do not get to skip when the power is out.
6 min read
The numbers
| What | Rule |
|---|---|
| Danger zone | 40–140°F — bacteria grow fast |
| Chill meat | Below 40°F within 2 hours (1 hour if the day is 90°F+) |
| Cook poultry / wild rabbit | 165°F in the thickest meat |
| Cook ground meat | 160°F |
| Cook whole venison / beef / goat | 145°F then rest, or stew past that |
| Canned meat & veg | Pressure canner only |
| High-acid fruit, pickles, jam | Water-bath is enough |
Warning. Botulism from bad home-canned low-acid food is rare and quiet and can kill you. If a lid is bulged, the jar spurts, or it smells wrong — do not taste it. Boil 10 minutes only buys you anything on food that was canned correctly and merely stored long. It does not save a spoiled jar.
No fridge
A springhouse, a creek box (crocks in flowing Laughery water, weighted, out of the flood line), a north-side root cellar, or a January mudroom will hold 35–45°F. That is a refrigerator.
In July you do not have that luxury above ground. Kill in the evening, work at night, get meat into brine, smoke, can, or the belly of the crew before dawn.
Tip. A 5-gallon bucket in a hole in the clay, shaded, with a wet cloth over a smaller inner crock, will drop several degrees by evaporation. It will not replace January, but it will save a day’s milk.
Clean enough
Hot soapy water, then a rinse, then a splash of bleach water (1 Tbsp unscented bleach per gallon) on knives and boards after raw meat. Sun-dry wooden boards. Don’t use the salad board for the deer.
Your hands are the usual problem. Wash like you mean it. Cover cuts.