Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Bear meat?

What is it like?

Meat.

Bear Bacon?

Ones I've eaten were good. Texture is kinda like pork, with more of a beef flavor. Most of mine were feeding on acorns or coming out of cornfields in the western part of Virginia. I'm sure diet has a lot to do with flavor. It made some of the best salami I've had

My favourite North American game meat. Looks like beef, fatty like pork. Makes excellent stews, sausage. Steaks depend on the cut, as they have to be cooked well done and that’s not how I like steak.

You want a treat, take any beef stroganoff recipe and substitute bear for the beef. Awesome.

Pretty good summation Marty !

I keep the back straps & inner loins for steaks, stew meat off the best of the hinds & grind the rest for jalapeno cheddar smokies !

Got one getting into your orchard?

Maybe in Wabigoon Mike.

What Troutnut and Wannabe said. My first impression was a sweet Beef. So kinda like the best of beef and pork. As noted, steaks can be disappointing. Makes absolutely great pie crust, a good alternative to lard for your most decedent breakfast fried potatoes and eggs. I never turn down a chance to dine on it.

I tried black bear enough times to know I don't want to try it again. I do believe it is the only red meat I did not like.

Same with me my wife doesn’t mind it I’ve tried and can’t like it.

I've never put a piece of bear meat in my mouth that I didn't immediately spit out.

Only way I can tolerate it is if it's mixed with ground pork and put into sausage.

Bear doesn't necessarily need to be cooked well done. Here in Montana we can get it tested for trichinella, and high percentage of bears don't have it, so you can cook it rare.

Somebody else mentioned bear meat varying in flavor depending on what they eat. Here there are two times its at its best, right after they come out of the den in spring and start feeding on green vegetation, and early in fall when they've been eating berries. During late fall they tend to eat gut-piles from deer and elk, so can be really iffy.

Bear meat preparation-

DO NOT CUT bear meat as per any other red meat preparation.

Debone quarter.
Separate each muscle group from the deboned quarter.
Place on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet & place in freezer.

Debone quarter.
Separate each muscle group.
Place on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet & place in freezer.

Pull out the first cookie sheet of meat.

With your sharpest/fillet knife-fillet the silver skin from each piece of meat.
Cut/butterfly into steaks.

Take one piece of meat & cut it cross grain like cutting beef steak.
Take one half of the above & cut it with grain like prepping for jerky.
Fire up the grill & baste w/ butter like a beef T bone steak.

NO knives will be required to cut either of the above pieces of bear meat.

We love it here.

Why is the prep work different from other red meat?

Interesting.

I have been told that a black bear that has been living near farms will be excellent tasting

I ground up a bunch into breakfast sausage this spring. Just made a big batch of biscuits and gravy this morning for my boys with it. Fine eating!

This is correct.

Also pepper sticks!