Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping System

Bear meat question

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ryansullivan

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Walla Walla, WA
What does everyone do with their bear meat? Favorite recipes, method of cooking, etc? I’m interested in getting a bear tag next year because I see them quite a bit and I want to help keep them in check but the trichinosis thing sikes me out. Has anybody has experienced with it?
 
ryansullivan said:
Those seem to be pretty popular! Do you ever think twice about how long you’ve cooked it?
Click to expand...

Both are smoked to a temperature above the level to kill trichinosis. Brats we boil in beer and finish in the grill. The ham we went on a huge Reuben sandwich run until we ate it all.
 
I've never gotten a bear myself. I know Steve Rinella has some recipes out there. I can't remember if it was Steve or Randy (I'm thinking Steve because he actually got trichinosis one time), but one of them talked about sending their bear off to be tested before starting to eat it. If it came back negative, they'd eat it just like any other red meat. If positive, sausages, smoked hams, etc.
 
I do roasts, breakfast sausage and pepperoni sticks. The only issue with bears is the vary in taste. If you kill them when they have been eating forage and berries they are really really good. If they have have had a steady diet of recent dead animals, it hinders the flavor. Still good, but different. I have been lucky with my couple and the whole family has enjoyed them. With bears you want to make sure you get the hide off quickly and cool it. They have so much fat that the meat stays warm for quite a while.
 
I used to braise roasts and just fry the burger. It's too good to waste it on stuff that disguises the flavor, like chili or lasagna. Get the hide off as quick as you can and remove all the fat (save it and render it down for cooking with) then go nuts with it. Raw bear has a different smell- not bad, just not the same as venison or beef- but it disappears when you cook it. Hank Shaw has a good writeup on trichinosis here that every hunter should read. Personally, I don't think I'd ever send off for testing. If it came back positive, how much could you really enjoy eating it, even if you know all the worms are dead and it's perfectly safe? Sometimes it's better not to know, and just make sure you are safe.
 
Steve and his hunting partners did get Sick from undercooking.According to the story I read there is a very high percentage of Bear that have trichinosis.I buy a Bear Tag every year.Never seen one...Problem solved.:cool:
 
All of the bears I've killed have been delicious. I process bears pretty much the same way I do deer and elk.

I recommended getting a sous vide machine and following this advice from Hank Shaw..

"You can certainly make medium-rare bear meat safe using the sous vide method, but you’d need to hold the meat at 137°F for an hour or so to make sure — and then you’d want to sear it on the outside to kill any possible bacteria that survived that low temp. As for me? I like to sous vide bear at about 145°F for an hour or more, which is still a lovely tender and pink piece of meat, and is safe to eat that way."

Coincidentally, 145 seems to be the sweet spot for cleaning a head with a sous vide machine... I recommend buying a second taxidermy specific machine.
Right now amazon is running the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano for $65, that's a steal...
 
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