Smoking mountain lion meat???

[Jayjay1976]

Beta to the max

What does that mean?

 

[Jayjay1976]

That's enough tolling for the night lol

Does this mean that your shift as a toll collector has ended for the night?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Interesting thread.
If it makes you feel better, I hunt kitty unarmed, and just eat it raw.

Man after my own heart.

 

[Jayjay1976]

JayJay: Like it or not, EVERYTHING living is in some other creature's food chain...including US.

Any meat, cooked and seasoned properly, tastes good. I've been to Korea 6-7 times...Cat? Dog? Not really a big deal. The first time eating it is really more psychological than anything else. Think about how hungry the first person must have been to eat a snail? Termites? Grubs?

Animals were domesticated to do the hard work for humans and to make them easier to catch and breed for a food source.

I can see you point about big cats to a point, but if you eat fish, hamburger, chicken or pork...cat is just another meat. You've already crossed over the line.

I've spent plenty of time in Canton province eating anything the sun shined on, including dog, donkey, horse and cat. I speak from experience when I say there is food meat and then there is sport meat. Food meat always tastes better. I'd hunt cows if I had to, they are tasty. Bear and cat? Not so much. Donkeys and horses are great work animals but lousy as food.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've spent plenty of time in Canton province eating anything the sun shined on, including dog, donkey, horse and cat. I speak from experience when I say there is food meat and then there is sport meat. Food meat always tastes better. I'd hunt cows if I had to, they are tasty. Bear and cat? Not so much. Donkeys and horses are great work animals but lousy as food.

I agree...lousy as food...but that qualifier only works when you compare it to something else and you have a choice. When there is no choice it comes down to "meat is meat" and don't pass the brocolli.

 

[S-Met]

@everyone that says any meat tastes bad: you probably have never had it prepared properly and/or by someone who knws what they are doing. Some exceptions apply, and there are sub-par specimens of any species that probably shouldn't be consumed.I have had chicken, beef and pork that are inedible.

One of the best meats I've ever had was smoked black bear. One of the worst I've had was smoked beef brisket. Difference being preparation and technique. Goat and lamb are top picks for me, but cannot just take a cow/pig recipe and sub your meat for something else.

I've never cooked/eaten mountain lion,but assume that it is lean like most game meat. I would treat similar to jackrabbit and expect it to be tough. Bone-in preferred, low and slow. Mop regularly. Maybe wrap in banana leaf to help keep it moist. I think 165 is enough to kill trichinosis, but tough connective collagens won't begin to break down until 180.

Also might consider partial smoke 2-3 hrs, pull and wrap in foil for 2-3 hrs then back on smoke for last 1-2 hrs.

As for wood: oak, hickory and maybe cherry.

 

[Zuljin]

Rabbit, squirrel, nutria, alligator, shark, turtle, crawfish, ants, crickets, and once a scorpion.

 

[Zuljin]

Oh. And a rattle snake.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Also might consider partial smoke 2-3 hrs, pull and wrap in foil for 2-3 hrs then back on smoke for last 1-2 hrs. As for wood: oak, hickory and maybe cherry.

I smoke meats too.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Rabbit, squirrel, nutria, alligator, shark, turtle, crawfish, ants, crickets, and once a scorpion.

I'm not into anything that smells or tastes fishy. I haven't had rattler. Rabbit, honey bees (are very sweet...pull the stinger out first) and blacksnake I've had.

 

[Zuljin]

Frog.

I tried water moccasin. Foul.

If it smells fishy, try a different street corner.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Good job on dumping that cat. They are decimating the elk herd in North America. I wish you had killed 50 of them.

 

[Zuljin]

my dang cat

If you smoke it it will taste good.

Appropriately humorous.

 

[GoeHaarden]

I still eat Jimmy Johns, so I'm basically a big game hunter!

On a serious note. I dont really know how lean this meat is, but I wonder if treating it more turkey would work out good? Brine, and then smoke it hot (~350F) and fast!? No water bowl.

 

[kodiakken]

Ive never eaten Cat or Dog as far as I know but I have eaten bear quite a few times.
I will do it again too. I really enjoy them in the fall when they have been out eating in grain crops.
Ken.

 

[Zuljin]

I think I ate fried cat once off the gut wagon that comes to the plant at lunch. It claimed to be fried chicken.

 

[BostonianBrewer]

Cats have high protein diets and are pretty lean, might be a tough one to get right. Keep us posted

 

[Griffin495]

No experience, but I think it'd be pretty lean and easy to dry out. I'd braise it at a high heat in your smoker. 350+

 

[HoppyDaze]

Do Jerky - super thin slices...good one day brine should do the trick.

 

[TGFV]

I would treat mountain lion like a very lean bear. Lots of bringing and regular mopping.

I've never had it, but a few people I know have and they mixed it .3/.3/.3 lion/bear/pork to get more fat involved as well as 50/50 Lion and pork.

 

[D.Freeman]

Well I finally got around to cooking my lion meat. Turned out really good. I did four small roasts and ground the trim meat into polish sausages.
I brined the roasts for about 12 hrs then dry rubbed and let rest in the fridge for about 8 hrs while the sausage smoked. Smoked at 225 For about 3 hrs then wrapped in foil and finished to final temp in the oven. Weather wasn’t great for my smoker being about 15 degrees and windy and I needed to be sure to hit temps to kill any bugs. I kinda over shot the temp and dried it out a bit but it’s still great. Sliced it thin and vacuum packed it for later. It really is a lot like pork. If I told you it was a pork tenderloin you would believe me.
The trim meat was mixed with some pork, seasoned and stuffed as normal. It also turned out great. My wife commented that I shouldn’t have made it taste so good or her brother will want me to do this every year.
While I was at it, I brined and smoked an elk roast at the same time. Pulled it out of the smoker at medium rare, rested it and let it half freeze sitting outside to cool. I sliced it super thin. This will make a great appetizer and will be a big hit at Christmas. I’ll definitely be doing more of this. With a freezer full of elk the possibilities are endless.
Thanks to everyone for their recommendations and don’t be afraid of lion meat, it’s quite tasty.

Roasts before going into the smoker. I used two different rubs is why they are different colors.

Polish sausage.

Finished product.

Ready for another day.

 

[agrazela]

I'd eat your pu…

No wait, that came out wrong. I'd swallow your saus…

I mean, um, uh...looks good to me!

 

[Confluentus]

Cougar meat is great, and does indeed resemble pork. However - and it’s a big however - you MUST cook it to 160F to ensure you kill the trichinosis spores. That is not something you want to contract. Google it.

And apologies for digging up an old ish thread, but I skimmed thru and didn’t see anything about cooking temp and wanted to throw this out there.

 

[TGFV]

Cougar meat is great, and does indeed resemble pork. However - and it’s a big however - you MUST cook it to 160F to ensure you kill the trichinosis spores. That is not something you want to contract. Google it.

And apologies for digging up an old ish thread, but I skimmed thru and didn’t see anything about cooking temp and wanted to throw this out there.

Well this was a gem of a thread I forgot about yet is fitting since we got a pair of cougars living near the two Elementary schools near my home and people are in an uproar (on either side of the debate).

As for cooking to 160f, that's right, cook until a steady internal temp of 160f throughout the meat, also just like you would with bear and pork since both also carry the same bug.