raw-al: when you make butter from cream as you said, about what percentage turns into butter and what percentage to buttermilk? i found a farm that sells unsalted raw butter, but also sells cream for cheaper per ounce so im trying to figure out which one is more economical. thanks

Hans, i get it from grass fed cows. i would imagine pancreas from any healthy animal would be beneficial so if you can get the small pancreas from lamb, that'd be great. i haven't eaten a lot of pancreas at a time yet, so i guess i'll take GS's advice to not over do it.

Van, do you just not notice any benefit from pancreas anymore because you have excellent digestion now? im thinking that my body really likes it right now so i should keep eating it. i suspect i will also not feel like i need it anymore at some point.

i tried a steamed sweet potato right before thanksgiving to see if i could tolerate them while with the family. i found that it pretty much acted like a colon cleanse (not in a good way). about 10 minutes after i ate it (only a few ounces), i got a headache and then 30 minutes later i shit it all out. it also made me itchy all over for a while. it seems my body doesn't like them

What about odd organs like lungs?

i've never had them. i would try them if i could get them though. the halal meat market where i got the goat brain had a bunch of unlabeled organs in the freezer. next time i go im going to ask what they are and probably get a few of them. i saw something that was definitely either lung or tripe...

i've heard tripe is sometimes bleached before selling it. does anyone know what a bleached and unbleached tripe should look like?

my whole foods only gets bones from grass fed beef apparently. i've asked before and they've told me all the marrow bones are grass fed. and i believe them for the most part. i just question this greenish strange ones

  I am eating maybe two or three ounces of raw pancreas at the start of each meal.  From Bison.  I must really need it, for to me it tastes great.  Really seems to help with digestion.  But it has to be one of the ugliest things out there. At least to others.

wow, i think you're on to something. the first time i tried pancreas (about a year ago) i hated it and couldn't finish it. i just got some by accident the other day and it tastes way better now to the point where im craving it. i also noticed a big lift in my digestion when eating a little at the start of a meal. thanks for bringing this up. gotta agree though, it's about the least appetizing-looking organ around.

just to interject...

i ate that goat brain yesterday! it's really some good stuff. i would describe it as having the consistency of pancreas, but it tastes really creamy and fatty. if you have ever had beef or lamb neck and found the spinal fluid, it's very similar in taste and texture. also, i noticed it smelled a little fishy (not in a bad way) and thought that was pretty interesting seeing as how DHA is high in both fish and brain. maybe that smell is DHA?

anyways, i think goat or lamb brain is pretty common at halal meat markets and it's usually relatively good quality meat. i would recommend it. i bought 6 goat brains for around $8.50 at $7.99/lb

i will say though, i still prefer marrow over brain. but i suspect that after a few more brains, i might prefer it over marrow. it's pretty damn good and i just might not be well acquainted enough with it.

i just tell them i make pemmican with it. they didn't know what pemmican was the first time, but once i explained it they seemed satisfied and somewhat interested. i told them i take it on camping trips (which isn't really a lie). anyways, they give me pounds of it for free now!

the taste of some suet is not great, but sometimes i get stuff that tastes pretty good. anyways, i've found that if you heat suet to around 100 degrees F, it tastes much better. softer and much more enjoyable. im assuming this is the consistency of suet from a freshly killed animal as cows have internal temperatures of about 104 degrees or so.

While brains are certainly paleo, their use as food is doubtful both because of the carbohydrate content and paleoman's need for clothing.
See here:http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/off-topic/brains/

while it is true that brains were occasionally used to tan hides, it's ridiculous to state that "their use as food is doubtful." leather lasts a very long time. after everyone in the group (maybe 30-40 people?) had clothing and shelter, they wouldn't keep tanning every single deer or buffalo hide. also, scavenged brains from carcasses were probably not used for tanning as the hides would have been unusable. there are also many other ways to tan hides with tannins (from bark, acorns, etc). this method renders the hides waterproof if you oil it which makes it a preferable method in many cases. brain tanning makes leather like cotton and is not waterproof at all. here's a very good description of bark tanning: http://goingferal.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/bark-tan-leather-primitive-waterproof-technology/

also, to condemn brains, liver, or any other animal food for containing carbs is really pretty silly and i think you know it. you are aware that all obligate carnivores eat liver first right? and if they could get to the brain, i would damn well bet they'd eat that too.

so, right after i made my last post, i searched for some local ethnic meat markets. bingo! i found a halal meat market! i read some reviews and apparently their goat is from local ranchers and organic! i can't be sure it's 100% grass fed (probably not) but it's safe to say it's at least partially pastured as evidenced by what most goat ranchers do around here. so, i went to the market and they had goat brain, tripe, and lots of other organs (i wasn't even sure what they were actually, ha). anyways, i bought 6 brains (they're pretty small)! im really excited about them. but i won't be eating them for a few days because i've already got a lot of stuff that's thawed out. i will definitely give you guys a rundown when i try them though. maybe some pics too!

on a related note, i picked up some free grass fed suet at whole foods and when i got home i found that they had accidentally included half a pancreas! pretty good luck i guess. anyways, that's part of the reason im not gonna thaw the brains tonight, gotta finish that pancreas.

anyways, i recommend that if you want brains, check to see if there's a halal meat market nearby. apparently they almost always have organic and most likely local animals. good luck. i'll keep yall posted

for some reason this evening meat and fat sounded disgusting to me. the only thing that sounded good was an apple. so i ate and and then felt like eating more apples but didn't have anymore. so i found some frozen dates i had in the freezer (from nearly 2 years ago when i was trying to stay alive on raw vegan, ha) and ate one but didn't feel like eating more. then i felt like eating some pecans so i ate 3 whole ones. that's probably the strangest meal i've eaten in a long time, but i feel fine and full.

it was weird because usually i dont eat that many carbs even throughout a whole two days or so. it just felt right though so i followed my instincts. i had some really fatty pork loin for lunch though so maybe my body just needed a rest from that. who the hell knows...


also, megan, kudos on eating the salamander. that's pretty adventurous

yep, i get those in my suet too. someone on here said they were glands of some kind. i eat them occaissionally but i really don't like the taste. anyone know more specifically what they are?