QuestionHello Geoff,
I've enjoyed reading through your other answers, very informative. However, I
was a little confused by your answer to somebody's question about
dehydrating meat at 98 degrees Farenheit. You called it "cooking" and wrote
that it may be dangerous. Could you be more specific?
Where I am right now on the Southeast Coast of the USA, it is now and very
often above 98 degrees Farenheit outside. And often even hotter inside since
we do not use air conditioning. If I were to leave meat or fish outside of the
fridge for a few days or if I were to put them into my dehydrator at 98
degrees they would be exposed to roughly the same treatment except that in
the dehydrator they would get more airflow.
If this temperature is a problem, would you then disencourage people from
leaving meat or fish out of the fridge if they live in hot climates?
Thanks very much in advance!
-Gwen
Answer
Aajonus generally recommends not heating anything above 98 degrees Fahrenheit(37 degrees Celsius). This is perhaps a little low a figure, in hindsight. Certainly, an enzyme-rich food heated above 40 degrees Celsius(c.104 Fahrenheit) is a bad idea as that's the point above which animal enzymes quickly become denatured/deactivated.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. An enzyme from, say, an Arctic algae will thrive much better at lower temperatures, while an enzyme from a bacteria living in hot springs, will not become denatured until a much, much higher temperature is reached.
Lastly, I'm sorry if I previously gave the impression that anything cooked above 98 degrees Fahrenheit amounted to "cooking" - obviously, it's all a matter of degree, with fried foods being the worst, boiled foods being less bad than fried foods etc. - however, I do think that it's best to play safe and not have food stored for too long at temperatures higher than 40 degrees Celsius/104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hope This Helps
RPG
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