Bear meat?

[francois]

A friend (hunter) offered me some bear meat.

Any suggestion on what I should do with it?

I was thinking about a braise as I imagine it might be a bit tough.

[David Ross]

What cut of meat did you get? If it's stew meat, you're pretty much resigned to having to make a stew. If you've got a roast, a braise is of course the best cooking method.

I can't tell you that I'm jealous. My Mother attempted to cook a bear roast that a family friend once gave us and I think our family thought we would have to condemn the house in order to get that roasted bear smell out of the kitchen! I love most wild game, bear excepted.

[Peter the eater]

The lads around here make black bear sausages which are quite different from the venison and pork sausages, even though the recipe is essentially the same. Like all creatures, some cuts are better or at least easier to cook than others.

[MikeJ]

In one of the Narnia books, C.S. Lewis describes the meat of carnivorous bears as vile and gamey, and the meat of bears that feed on fruits and berries as sweet and mild. I don't know if he ever ate bear, but from what I understand the former description is closer to the truth.

Wonderful animals... whatever you decide to do with it, I hope at least that the meat doesn't go to waste.

[Blether]

One of the places we drop by at on off-road motorbike tours in Japan's mountains, offers various skewered meats, including bear. It's fatty and strong-flavoured. Like David Ross said, you'd want to choose your cooking method to match the cut.

[sparrowgrass]

I once served bear chops to my (now ex) husband, and his only comment was that the pork chops looked funny.

Cook it like pork, and don't leave it pink--trichinosis is possible in bear.

[budrichard]

Most wild game that someone gives you is usually not well cared for and not well butchered. This usually results in the game being inedible and the harvester can't bear (no pun) to dispose of the meat properly so friends find themslves the recipient. I will not take wild game from most individuals.

That said, what type of bear and where and when harvested?

Black bear harvested in the fall is usually excellent if the bear is quickly and properly gutted, cooled and butchered. It actually tastes like roast beef and because of the fat content, its just about impossible to overcook. The gamey/bad smell tells me that the carcass was not properly gutted and bile or intestinal tract(feces) came in contact with the meat and/or it was not chilled properly or fast enough to avoid spoilage. Nothing like hanging your bear for others to admire while it rots in the sun.

We slow cook the hams on the Weber and everyone that has come to one of our BearBQ's or Ocktobear Fests has not been dissapointed.-Dick