This year I did something I never thought I’d do, I harvested a black bear from my local woods. I have a little more than 150 pounds of meat in the freezer now, including 2 of these absolutely massive hams. I’m not sure what exactly they weigh, but over 20 pounds each I’d guess. That knife is 8.5” total for reference. My question is, if you had this in your freezer, how would you go about cooking it? I am a pretty dedicated home cook but I’ve never tackled anything close to this size.
by No_Patient5797
14 Comments
I would look into finding a good braise recipe
I think you are lying about everything in this post
Try r/smoking
Try cooking slow
A smoker
I have friends who have eaten bear meat. They said it was really good in chile. So long braise or even grind it
you need to cook the shit out of bear meat to kill off all the damn parasites.
I’d clean it and portion it into roasts that I would then braise and perhaps smoke if the thicker end is as fatty as it looks to be. Bear needs to have the shit cooked out of it and braised will make it the most tender and delicious. Smoked like a pork butt on the fatty sections also can work.
I’ve only had bear in burger format, but I loved it.
Season it, smoke it, chuck in some beef stock and braise it.
I’ve only had bear in jerky form when I was a kid but I’m pretty sure I remember them saying they froze it first. Might have been for the parasites or just cuz it was Wisconsin
I dated a Russian guy that lived near a forest in St. Petersburg and his family would hunt and eat bear. He said the smell was bad and the flesh was tough so you have to soak it in vinegar overnight to remove the smell and soften the meat. Then they slow cooked it for a whole day. He also said his grandfather ate his shoe during the siege of Leningrad so I guess bear is not that crazy.
Trichinosis- this is a roundworm that is common in wild pig and bears. Almost all cases in north America are from bear.
Internal temp of 165 kills it. Careful to get a good internal reading from multiple areas on a hunk this big.
Method is variable if you cut it into primal pieces. But this full quarter would be a smoke for 20+ hrs or sous vide for 20+ hr or braise for 6 hours.
Match the herbs to whatever is found in the area that the bear could have been eating. Of it ate wild berries and tubers, go with mashed potatoes and a compote of berry.
I would assume bear is both somewhat lean, tough and extremely gamey.
Braising would be your best bet, cut the meat against the grain(through the “strings” that form the muscles).
Chop up some aromatic vegetables and get some spices/herbs to counter the gamey smell of the meat. You will want at minimum onions, garlic and black pepper. Things like cloves, chilli, cinnamon ginger, celery, carrots, paprika etc would be possible additions.
Pre heat your oven to 180°c (that’s about 350 in silly murica units).
Sear the meat in the biggest oven proof pot you that will fit in your oven, then remove the meat from the pot and put it to one side.
Add in the onions, garlic and whatever else to the same pot and cook while stirring till the onion goes slightly translucent.
Add a bit of salt, pepper and whatever herbs/spices you want and cook a little bit more.
Add the meat back in, and pour in just enough liquid to cover the meat. You can use water, but stock, wine, a non hoppy beer, tomato juice etc would be better as they impart flavor. Chinese cooking wine is traditionally used in small amounts to counter the gameyness of food, so a spash of that if you can get your hands on it would help.
When it starts to boil put the lid on slightly ajar(if you don’t have a lid a bit of aluminum foil will work) and place it in the oven.
After at least 4 hours of cooking try to pry the meat apart with 2 forks. If it’s tender it’s done, if not put it back in the oven and try again in another hour. It might take anywhere up to 10 hours, so I’d suggest doing this either overnight or early in the morning on a day off.