Whole Pheasant frozen, ok to thaw out and cook?

Hunter21

Asking for a mate who is not on here.
He shot a pheasant a good while back as he taught it was a good looking bird but since he has found a far nicer one and wont be getting the one that was put into the freezer stuffed at all.
Question is, can he thaw the frozen bird out, leave hang. Then gut it and cook it? Or would it be un-hygienic and taste bad.
He doesn't want to see a good bird go to waste and Id agree with him.

pheasntstalker

ah me personally wouldnt ,chance eating it, how long ago was it shot? id rather stuff it ,im sure other lads might differ:):)

pugw

I'd probably chance gutting it straight away and cooking it! Wouldnt fancy letting something that's been frozen hang for a week!

Sparks

Er - it wasn't gutted before freezing?
So... you'd have to thaw it out before you could gut it, leaving all the lovely microscopic beasties in there - which aren't dead because it's only a domestic freezer, not liquid nitrogen so they're just dormant - warm up and get a good crop of pathogens going in the meat.
I wouldn't do it myself. I know it's a terrible thing to waste food, but you eat that pheasant and there's a reasonably high chance you'll waste more food from the gastic fun and games afterwards than if you just throw it out now.

pancuronium

Don't think i'd chance it myself........Shame to waste it but wouldn't chance my own health for it.......

doyle61

How about cutting the Brest and legs off the bird instead of cooking the whole carcus?? To cut the Brest off you wouldn't have to fully thaw the bird out (the insides would still be frozen) to cut them off. You would need a very good strong, sharp knife though



Ps I defenetly wouldn't hang him though unless you want to see some toilet olimpics afterwards

Antoennis

I have done it and it's fine. I have put the birds in the freezer full feather and all. Thawed them out cut the legs and breasts off them and it was lovely. I wouldn't serve them pink though like i would with fresh meat.

Hibrion

Having worked as a butcher for the best part of a decade I would warn against thawing and eating a bird that was frozen fully intact. As Sparks has pointed out, the amount of bacteria in the innards and stomach could be fatal. It only takes one nasty bacteria to kill so why risk it for a single pheasant.

Antoennis

Hibrion wrote: »

Having worked as a butcher for the best part of a decade I would warn against thawing and eating a bird that was frozen fully intact. As Sparks has pointed out, the amount of bacteria in the innards and stomach could be fatal. It only takes one nasty bacteria to kill so why risk it for a single pheasant.

In fairness can't argue with that. Don't think ill be doing it this year.

pugw

Hibrion wrote: »

Having worked as a butcher for the best part of a decade I would warn against thawing and eating a bird that was frozen fully intact. As Sparks has pointed out, the amount of bacteria in the innards and stomach could be fatal. It only takes one nasty bacteria to kill so why risk it for a single pheasant.

Just out of interest with regard to stomach bacteria would this also apply to eating mackerel that were frozen whole?

Hibrion

I can't speak for fish as I don't have as much experience. Any fish I've ever sold, save herrings and sardines, have been gutted as soon as they came into the shop.

The only thing I will say about frozen mackerel is that I wouldn't even bother eating them, since they loose most of their flavour and juices after being frozen. I've found that they aren't even much good as bait unless the are fresh.

Sparks

If you were just cutting off the legs and breasts (from the frozen bird, pre-thawing) and cooking them well past the normal safe point of 78C, you'd be minimising the risk (though if it's xmas, you could be feeding people who aren't as hale, like elderly relatives or children, which increases the risk all over again).

But I still wouldn't do it - less risk isn't the same as no risk. Maybe if I had a lot of books I wanted to read, I'd try it. Twelve hours on the toilet wouldn't be so bad then...

Sparks

Fish are always supposed to be gutted before freezing, even more so than avian/"land" meat (for want of a better term). And shellfish are even more finicky. Basically, both fish and shellfish start to go bad the moment you yank them out of the water. So if you caught the fish in the local river, carried it home and just stuck it in the freezer before even gutting it, take it out now and bury it in the back yard!

Also, if you're freezing the fish yourself, there are steps to take before doing so, even after gutting them: http://www.helpwithcooking.com/food-storage/freezing-fish.html

dev110

Have to agree with Sparks and Hibrion on this one.
I definitely wouldn't risk it for one pheasant.
As was pointed out the amount of bacteria that is lying dormant in the innards would be unbelievable and then to go and hang him and let bacteria multiply and then cook him would be a very easy way to get food poisoning.
As Hibrion said it only takes one bacteria to do harm.