What do you do with bear meat?
- Thread starter Brian in Montana
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WyoDoug
Well-known member
Bear does make great sausage and anyone need some made close to Cheyenne, I got the whole setup to get the job done in a day once I buy the supplies such as casings and seal meal bags. As someone else mentioned, bear takes much less pork fat. I would go with a 90-10 percent bear to pork fat ratio. Normally with lean meat when I make sausage, I go between 20 and 30 percent.
NEWHunter
Well-known member
I had a bear that didn’t taste as good as the others I’ve had in the past. We have a local butcher shop that does excellent hot dogs, summer sausage, etc. Took it in and had it processed up and it was great as usual. I would suggest that route if you have a similar shop locally.
And if you’ll be making a couple of trips near Green Bay, drop it off at Maplewood Meats. Probably not worth driving well over a thousand miles, but maybe several hundred.
As an aside, and not looking to start an argument, but I would disagree with the comment that bear is that much fattier than deer. I trim all the fat on wild game and I’ve worked on several bears and deer, and bear might have a bit more fat, but not much.
And if you’ll be making a couple of trips near Green Bay, drop it off at Maplewood Meats. Probably not worth driving well over a thousand miles, but maybe several hundred.
As an aside, and not looking to start an argument, but I would disagree with the comment that bear is that much fattier than deer. I trim all the fat on wild game and I’ve worked on several bears and deer, and bear might have a bit more fat, but not much.
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Guy
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Breakfast sausage patties are good.
Summer sausage can be excellent.
Bear roasts, smoked slowly, and long, are good.
Bear backstraps can make amazingly wonderful "chops." Better than most deer backstrap steaks in my experience. Kinda like the best pork chops ya ever had.
I eat bear that's been eating berries at the end of summer.
But a bear that's been eating fish... Or garbage... Ummm… I hope they had a really nice hide.
Guy
Summer sausage can be excellent.
Bear roasts, smoked slowly, and long, are good.
Bear backstraps can make amazingly wonderful "chops." Better than most deer backstrap steaks in my experience. Kinda like the best pork chops ya ever had.
I eat bear that's been eating berries at the end of summer.
But a bear that's been eating fish... Or garbage... Ummm… I hope they had a really nice hide.
Guy
WyoDoug
Well-known member
I have to agree. I have only shot one bear in my lifetime and it tasted really good. However, I have also been with several hunters that hunted bear pretty regular along with elk and deer. When the skin and fat was not removed quickly, I detected a really fatty and gamy taste in the meat. When I tasted bear that was immediately skinned and quartered and the fat removed, them dang steaks were absolutely delicious. What they eat plays a great deal in the taste, but not as much as proper meat care. Most people that hunt elk, deer, and antelope have any idea how important that is in my opinion, least the ones I hunted with. This is not a hit or bait to insult anyone, it's just my experience.
thusby
Well-known member
This is one of my favorites from bear hunter magazine.
WyoDoug
Well-known member
Yup, bear stew is good. I would remove the fat though.
PaulRevere
Well-known member
Breakfast sausage!
FishN4Eyes
Well-known member
I like to make corned bear, bear pastrami, bear summer sausage and I also like to can it.
I am very leery of cooking bear for jerky, burger, steaks or anything like that due to the trichinosis concerns.
I am very leery of cooking bear for jerky, burger, steaks or anything like that due to the trichinosis concerns.
A buddy of mine goes to Alberta to hunt geese every year. They started making pastrami and it is out of this world good. I like the idea of doing it with bear!
buffybr
Well-known member
The two black bears that I shot were May/June bears from Colorado and Montana. I removed all of the fat from the meat and make steaks and roast from the choice cuts and burger from the rest.
I cooked the steaks & roasts just like I do any other wild meat, only no pink. Grilled on the BBQ, fried with butter, seasoned/marinated with Italian salad dressing and Montreal Steak seasoning. They tasted somewhere between elk and beef...Good! The burger was used in spaghetti, tacos, and anything else I would use burger in except hamburgers...that's reserved for elk.
I cooked the steaks & roasts just like I do any other wild meat, only no pink. Grilled on the BBQ, fried with butter, seasoned/marinated with Italian salad dressing and Montreal Steak seasoning. They tasted somewhere between elk and beef...Good! The burger was used in spaghetti, tacos, and anything else I would use burger in except hamburgers...that's reserved for elk.
