Tomorrow, I'm to meet with the hog hunting crew, ostensibly to, "plan" our October adventure. I'm not exactly sure what, "planning" there is to do, since we simply load up the truck with too many guns and far too much food, then point it toward the swamp, & floor it for about 11 hours. Easy as pie.

Still, we're not ones to waste the occasion of a get together, and have decided accordingly, to sup. Rummaging through the chest freezer, I came upon the last remnants of this guy:







A scant 3 years ago, he was lolling about the Talkeetnas, gorging on those berries that carpet the lower slopes. He happened upon a 154 grain Interlock, and ended up in a bag:







After a long nap in the chest freezer, I extracted him, and decided to try my hand at smoking him on the Bullet. Of course, being a particularly consistent bear, he's still in a bag:







Upon opening, everything smelled fine. I scraped off the odd splinters of mountain residue, and trimmed a few patches of discolored fat. Then I remembered that my Wife & I had recently been gifted with a bottle of Cabernet. We don't drink, and we weren't sure how we were going to re-gift it, but while cleaning up the roasts, it occurred to me that the wine would be just as good as a brine:






So, tomorrow morning will have found the 2 shoulder roasts & 1 ham roast (serendipitously all of like size) to have soaked for 24 hours. I intend to toss it on the Bullet, utilizing a few chunks of apple wood, and see what I end up with.

I haven't decided on a final meat temperature. I've seen some schools of thought 'round the internet that 155 degrees would leave it juicy. The frequent saying being to, "treat it like pork." Then again, these same people will smoke their pork butts to 195 degrees. I guess I could check them at the lower temp, & see whether my taste angel compels me to seek a higher number.

In the meantime, contingency planning is always appropriate. Should the bear fail to wow, I've whipped up a batch of Espresso Ice Cream, loaded with cappuccino chocolate bits and chocolate covered espresso beans.







Stay tuned for pics from the smoker.



FC

It's a good thing you included words with the pictures.

At a glance, I thought : "That's a bad MF'r, he done turned a bear into ice cream, that's bad ass."

Lol

So it ended up closer to 28 hours in the wine brine, & the meat smelled fine.

I started with this:







Then threw it over this:







And now it's happily perking along like this:







And it's already smelling pretty good. Now I just gotta know when to say when.

FC

Good luck.

When the remote probe showed the thickest part of the thickest piece to be at 153 degrees, I tested all 3 pieces with my pen thermometer, and it showed 157 to 160. That's about the same difference I've experienced between these thermometers in the past.

None of it felt like "butter" when I inserted the pen, so I decided to pull 1 chunk now & wrap in foil, & let the others go to higher temps. My reasoning is that no matter which one is right (higher vs. lower temp), at least I won't have ruined all the meat.

It smells good, FWIW.

FC

Looking forward to the final report!

Haven't shot a bear yet bit there are plenty where I hunt in SW VA.

Sure looks tasty!

I had a similar thought to Dave though...my page loaded slowly, so I was wondering what the ice cream maker was doing there!

Turns out, it was saving my a$$. I didn't bother taking pictures of the final product on the bear meat.

The piece I pulled at 153 degrees (ham) was mushy, greasy, and off-flavored. The two I pulled at 185 degrees were much better flavored and textured, but tough. Not pull-able, as I had hoped. Luckily, we had some venison loins in reserve to sustain us.

I'll have to think awhile to see how I'd do it differently. Likely a braise, I'm thinking.

But the ice cream was other-worldly good!

FC

Braise.

That wine would of been a great addition to braising liquid.

185 is a little low to pull of as well. I pull pork buts around 195.

If you try the smoker again, I'd rub it, get some color on it,then wrap when it's 140-150. Put some liquid or fat in the wrap and bring it up to 200 or so and let rest for at least a half hour while its still wrapped.

Nice pics!

This should work. And home made ice cream is ALWAYS a good idea.

I'll have to try the wrap next time. I haven't bothered with pork or brisket, & I've still gotten great results. I did wrap the ribs, though, doing the 3-2-1 method, and they were terrific. It's all part of the learning curve on the smoker.

I'm tossing a brisket on tomorrow evening, for Saturday's party. I'm feeling pretty confident about that one.

FC

I had a friend do up a bear hindquarter in a ground pit, he cooked it low and slow all day and it was some of the best meat I have ever eaten.

And I don't like bear meat either.