Bear Meat good or bad?

[woolybear]

Those of you who have eaten bear is it good?  Nephew got a nice bear today and he's hearing both ways....good and not good.
 If good what's the best way of cooking it?

[sanjay]

Bear is good, but you must be on top of it.

First, the fat goes rancid quick. Trim it, the day of the kill, and rid such.

The backstrap is a bit more tendenous than a deer. Sous Vide for hours, then a flash fry. A Quad loin cut is excellent, inner loin and outer loin bone in.

Meat sauce, Mincemeat, and Seasoned Ground out of the Ball Blue Book is safe, and sound.

Summer sausage with pork fat back.

[feather]

It's VERY good, very rich like pork since it is related to pigs. Since it can have trignosis, it should be cooked over 160 to 170 deg F, so no rare steaks but you won't miss it, it is tender and rich, delicious. I still have a roast and some steaks in the freezer. Don't waste it, enjoy it.

[Deleted]

We freeze completely trimmed and boneless, grind as needed. The best chili....James

[mollymckee]

I thought it was terrible, but I don't think our neighbors butchered it correctly.

[woolybear]

Thanks for the responses and ideas. I sent them on to nephew and his wife.

[Deleted]

Be very careful skinning and working around the scent glands, can ruin the meat easily. Done right, bear meat should not be strong if handled right and trimmed well. Except maybe, an old boar....James

[Deleted]

A bear on fish nope
A bear on berries yes

So it's seasonal here

[merks]

I've had it a few times, I heard others say it can be bad depending on what they eat. The only time it was bad
was when it was not processed right. All the other times I thought it was amazing. I use it in most beef recipes,
but as stated above make sure it is fully cooked.

[deke01]

The only way I've had bear was as chili and a highly spiced jerky. In both cases it was good and I wouldn't have known what it was had the hunter/butcher not told us.

In the 90s, at work we would have a pot luck every Friday and people brought in all sots of out of the ordinary foods. One of the guys was a retired Navy pilot who loved to hunt and butcher. He kept us supplied with deer, elk, coon chili, bear chili. He swore one of them was armadillo but that was just to aggravate the squeamish among us. There was another guy who was a deep water fisherman and kept us in tuna, dolphin, and bluefish. I went a couple of years without buying any red meat because of their bounty.


The hunter had a deal with a local corn farmer. There was no limit or season on nuisance deer, so the hunter was getting 1 or 2 corn fed deer a week pretty much year round. Everyone at work who would take it got a freezer full of meat.

[Deleted]

When I worked for the city I took jerky for lunch, everyone always wanted to try it so I was making lots of it. I was always telling them how many raccoons I killed in the pear orchard. When I had them all hooked, I told them. Just had to watch their faces....James