What do you do with bear meat?

[Brian in Montana]

I shot my first bear a few weeks ago and so far, I can't say I'm crazy about the meat. It certainly ain't elk. One of the things we tried that wasn't bad was combining a pound of deer burger with a pound of bear burger, made patties, cooked hamburgers on the grill (called them "beer burgers"). But you can only do that so many times. When I processed the bear I made a lot of burger, some steaks, some roasts, and one of her shoulders wasn't damaged too bad so I kept a blade roast.

Any ideas? What do you guys do with bear?

 

[kmott]

make some bear jerky with the burger

1tblspoon worchesterchire for each lb of meat
1/2 teaspoon mortons meat cure per lb of meat
1 1/2 table spoon per lb of meat of whatever seasonings you prefer... I like to get some sort of Cajun blend of different things and sometimes a bit of season salt. don't be afraid to experiment



mix it all up in bowl and let sit in fridge overnight.

roll out to1/4 " thick
cut into desired size strips and place on oven rack lowest setting with door cracked for 3-4 hours

 

[Dave N]

My bear made great stew.

 

[glass eye]

I have an AK coastal bear that taste like fish. Would also like to know what to do with it. I'd be afraid about making jerky or summer sausage with it because of trichinosis.

 

[JohnCushman]

Pulled BBQ bear roasts are yummy. Maybe Gerald will add in how he cooked a bear roast at the first bear hunt. That was amazing.

 

[theddguide]

I have an AK coastal bear that taste like fish. Would also like to know what to do with it. I'd be afraid about making jerky or summer sausage with it because of trichinosis.

Im also interested in what to do with bear meat and making jerky came to mind until I read this. Now im even more interested to know. Hoping to fill my first wisc bear tag this fall

 

[TheJason]

If you make jerky, you need to make certain you hit safe cooking temps for trich.

 

[Werty]

Any meat that is very gamey, I use it it stews , chilies, spaghetti sauce. Foods that have lots of seasonings and simmering.

 

[Twolftg]

I am not a great cook and am picky about flavors so about the only thing I do well with it is stew. I have a friend that's great with a grill and he smoked up a shoulder and it was phenomenal. I have slow cooked roasts with a red wine marinade that if your a red wine fan, as my friends are, they liked. I do get alot made into polish and that is one of my favorite ways to eat it. I literally ate a couple a day for weeks and never got sick of it. Oh and breakfast sausage wasnt bad either. I think there are a million ways your just got to keep trying till you find the one you like. I will say depending on the season feild care seems to matter for bear more than alot of other species. When I hunt here at home its 80+ out at times. I make a point to have it in ice within an hour. I know that's definitely not possible in many situations.

 

[jryoung]

I like braising recipes with bear. Osso bucco and braised roasts with something acidic like wine or tomato sauce or both. Since it's summer, and doesn't seem like hearty braising season I'd lean more towards meatball and kofta type items with bold spices like mint, curry, turmeric, cardamon, cloves. I made boar meatballs with an ancho broth the other day and it was awesome.

There are other good options for braising like carnitas. Big meaty bits can be browned then braised in a simple stock, then crisped up in a hot pan or even the grill. We added some braised boar to romaine hearts in the picture below with some of our sweet and soured pickled onions.

As for jerky or worry about trichinosis it's important to understand how trichinella dies which is a pretty low bar and is a factor of time and temperature. Roughly 47 minutes at 125 and 1 minute at 137.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I've never made chilli, but that has crossed my mind. Anybody have a good chilli recipe to try bear in?

 

[mtmuley]

Shoulda had the hams smoked. mtmuley

 

[WyoDoug]

I have had bear that tasted really gamey and I have had bear that was really good. I think it's a combination of what they eat and how the meat is processed. Even if you render the fat into cooking grease, I remove all the fat I can. Bear is almost more critical than other big game to get cooled down. I have not shot a bear in years, but I still enjoy the meat if I know it's been processed well. I grew up with my family telling me bear is only good for jerky and burger. Someone showed me how to clean and butcher a spring bear I shot by Montrose in Colorado and it turned out really great.

 

[jryoung]

I've never made chilli, but that has crossed my mind. Anybody have a good chilli recipe to try bear in?

Any Hank Shaw recipe when it comes to wild game will serve you well.

Venison chili

Venison chili. This may well be the best chili you'll ever make - seriously, it has won many awards - and you can use any meat.

honest-food.net

 

[WyoDoug]

I have also taken bear burger, mixed with refried beans and spices and made tacos. Turned out good. No real recipe though. I almost never use a recipe cooking so taste keeps changing as I fiddle with the cooking.

 

[Horse]

Can make brats or beer sticks. Last batch, I made jalapeno cheddar brats and jalapeno beer sticks. For the brats I cut back on the normal pork ratio since the bear is fattier than deer venison and the hi temp cheese adds moisture too. Got good reviews from friends. They had good juice but not as bad as a johnsonville. For the beer sticks, i used bear trim, that seemed higher fat than just the hind quarters. I didn't add any pork and just added the cheese. It turned out good. Wasn't too dry, but not as greasy as a store bought slimjim. Ive done summer sausage too. Its turned out good, just cut back on your pork ratio.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Bear tacos are not bad. Tried that tonight.

 

[rmyoung1]

If you have an Instant Pot, try this:

Beef Barbacoa - Instant Pot

Spice up dinner in a fraction of the time with this Beef Barbacoa in the Instant Pot! Chipotle and cumin make this perfect for tacos, burritos, enchiladas and more!

www.tasteandtellblog.com

I’ve fixed it a couple of times with my bear from AK this spring and I’ve been super impressed with the results. Makes great tacos!

 

[genesis273]

One way that I like it is and it's simple.
After removing as much fat as possible, marinade a roast with Moore's Marinade. Throw on grill. Once you turn it over, add some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, and add a little more once you turn it the second time.
Slowly grill to ensure that it's completely done. It's delicious.
Now, the bears that I've eaten are from NC agriculture fields, and mainly eat soybean and corn. Their diet does make a difference from what I've heard.

 

[Sask hunter]

Smokies!