Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Disasters

Ok boys and girls and Bulwnkl I can see that the cooks represented here are all way beyond the boil water and open a can stage.
What I'd like to know is what was one( or more) of your worst cooking disasters. Don't bother to say you have never had one either because anyone who rustles pots does a monumental foul up once in a while.

I'll lead:

I had read and heard that Cajuns resished Nutria as a delcacy. I got a young fat one and cooked it. Directions being woefully short I decided to pre-cook in a pressure cooker and then barbecue. Like you would do a swamp robbit.
Cut it up and put it in there with some onion and celery. I noticed a faint off odor while steam came up. Let it pressure for about five minutes and then cooled and popped the top. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Oh My God. It stunk like a mad billy goat. I had to open all the windows and turn on the fan. Made your eyes water. After a while the smell dissapated and the meat looked good so I decided to continue. In for a penny in for a pound sort of deal. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Laid it out in a baking dish put on some bacon and barbcue sauce and ran it in the oven for a bit. When I took it out the smell wasn't bad, I guess the sauce masked it.
Laid it in serving plate and took a bite of hind leg. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> God it was horrible. You ever waided in an old swamp and smelled the odor when you pull your boot up out of that rotten mud? That is just exactly what the swamp rat tasted like. The dog tried to cover it up and even the ants would't eat it.
Decided I had been given bad information or Cajuns are a lot hungrier than I ever plan on being.


BCR

Boggy over the years there has been a number of disasters, some memerable others I just as soon forget. I usually do not stray far from my comfort zone, I cook what I know. Now and again I get creative and that is when things tend to go bad. Home made tomato sause is my nemisis, can't seem to get it right, usually scorch the stuff or some such thing. i have never really an expirence similar to yours, I wouldn't cook a possum or a raccoon. These are the only critters we have around here even close to a nutria. i tried cooking eel once it smelled good, looked good, but man I think I would rather eat a kerosene lamp wick, that thing was oily and tasted like cod liver oil.
I ground up some horse radish once, the vapors were so strong it cleared the house, every one left until I got done, mixing fresh ground horseradish with hot vinigar should be done outside. Don't have any truley memorable disasters, just a good number burnt offerings and according to my wife undercooked steaks. There was one serious event a few years back but it was not entirely my fault. I bought a pound of large prawns at our local Safeway. Prawns were in the shell heads off, so I had to clean them. At this time I was not aware these were imported and were fresh water raised. I know a lot more now. As I was cleaning them my fingers began to tingle and soon swell up, I usually have a cut or scratch or many on my hands, so as things progressed the swelling got worse and itching setin after I was done Swelling continued up my arms, around my face, breathing and talking were becomming impared. Then it started to subside, lucky me. I thought I had had an allergic reaction to shrimp. Some time later I learned that as shrimp decompose they produce a neurotoxin that produces these very symptoms it seems it can be washed or cooked away as no one else was effected. I no longer buy so called fresh prawns unless I buy them right off the boat.

Oh yeah and I stew my oysters for oysterstew, there are some who think this is wrong but they only make oyster soup.

Bullwnkl.

I can't top that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> My worst foul up was instant corn chowder on a backpacking trip. I never took un-tried food backpacking again.

BCR,

Can't say as I've had anything that came out totally inedible, but then, my Scottish blood won't allow me to throw away anything even remotely edible. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />


Boily, er... Bullwnkl, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

HOW do you "undercook" a steak?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
If it shows any signs of having been even remotely close to a heat sorce, it should be about right. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Chestnuts <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Being one of those wed toed cajuns who happens to like nutira I had never been exposed to roasted chestnuts until ran into them on a steet corner in Naples back in 1966. They were being sold by a street vendor, they were hot, sweet and just alround good. Got back to home port , Newport, RI and that October was in the local Bi-LO and what did I see but chestnuts <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> with the veggies. So crawfish bought a couple pounds but how to roast them <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> I didn't have a clue. I knew how my grandfather used to "parch" (roast) peanuts so I figured that would be the ticket. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> on a sheet pan and into a 400 deg oven they went <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> after about 15 mins the first indecation that I had done somthing very wrong happened, a muffeled thump came from my oven <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />, then another and once again <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />. I made the second mistake when I opened that oven door <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. I now know a few things about chestnuts, you must cut a slit in the shell to allow the steam to escape, they will keep exploding even after you pull them out of the oven, do not have small dogs around exploding chestnuts if one should fall to the floor and detonate just above said animal it act as an airburst and what it causes said animal to expel is a sight to behold and a when mixed with the odor of burning chessnuts will cause the hair in you nose to die, exploding chestnuts can not be removed from oven walls with "Easyoff" or any other kind of oven cleaner, expolding chestnuts can not be removed from your skin because it welds itself to that skin and lastly the surest way to make your wife laugh so hard she wets herself (if you are into that sort of stuff) is to roast chestnuts when you should be roasting nutira. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Crawfish, two things I know about Chestnuts, the first one you described very well, the second is there is an imposter called a horse chestnut, explodes just as well as the Americn Chestnut when put into an oven, microwaves work good too, and if you happen not to ruin the whole batch you will soon find you cannot eat the horse chestnut they are so bitter...I am at a loss to describe them.

Bullwnkl.

The oysters are running boys lets go catch a covey