Bear Steak

[blissful]

Lucky us! We are fans of venison, deer usually. This year DH went on a bear hunt and got one this last week.

We are having bear steak tonight. Frying up onions and mushrooms, then grilling the bear steaks until cooked through to 170 degrees F. We've never had it before, wish us luck!

The rest is being made into sausage, sausage sticks, some roasts. Interesting times ahead!

 

[DiverDoug]

My dad told me that he ate bear once; he said it was quite tough, but like a lot of things, I guess it's the way you cook it. I wouldn't think that bear was good to eat being a top level predator, but hey, I'd try anything once!

Will be keen to hear how it turns out!

 

[blissful]

Oh wow it was delicious. It could be cut with a fork across the grain. It was the tenderloin. No gamey taste, tender, like a finely marbled steak. It looks like beef too.
It was fresh and refrigerated not frozen.

Reminded me more of beef than of venison. DH said it tasted more like beef than pork. I cooked it to an internal 175 degrees and thought it would be tough and it was not. I'll eat it again whenever I have the chance!

Fantastic, I'll have to try this again when we get the roasts back from the processor.

(I know bears are part of the pig family but the meat was definitely red and bloody.)

 

[Dawgluver]

Interesting, thanks, Blissful! Have never tried bear. Other than running into them on occasion, they were alive. Then I had to grab a couple garbage can lids and bang them together.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you. Sometimes you don't even get in the woods.

 

[taxlady]

Oh wow it was delicious. It could be cut with a fork across the grain. It was the tenderloin. No gamey taste, tender, like a finely marbled steak. It looks like beef too.
It was fresh and refrigerated not frozen.

Reminded me more of beef than of venison. DH said it tasted more like beef than pork. I cooked it to an internal 175 degrees and thought it would be tough and it was not. I'll eat it again whenever I have the chance!

Fantastic, I'll have to try this again when we get the roasts back from the processor.

(I know bears are part of the pig family but the meat was definitely red and bloody.)

I'm glad to read that you enjoyed it. I have eaten bear and it was very tasty.

Bear is not in the pig family. Bears are in the family "ursidae" in the order "carnivora" and pigs are in the family "suidae" in the order "artiodactyla".

But you do have to cook bear the way we used to have to cook pork. Bear often has trichina.

 

[taxlady]

My dad told me that he ate bear once; he said it was quite tough, but like a lot of things, I guess it's the way you cook it. I wouldn't think that bear was good to eat being a top level predator, but hey, I'd try anything once!

Will be keen to hear how it turns out!

Yeah, top level predator, that's why I don't eat bear anymore. You would think it would have some funky flavours, but it was delicious.

 

[RPCookin]

My dad told me that he ate bear once; he said it was quite tough, but like a lot of things, I guess it's the way you cook it. I wouldn't think that bear was good to eat being a top level predator, but hey, I'd try anything once!

Will be keen to hear how it turns out!

Actually bears (except polar bears) are omnivorous and eat more roots and berries than meat. They usually only eat meat when it can be obtained with little effort. They don't generally hunt, just take what comes their way by chance. Their long front claws are designed for digging for roots and burrowing animals, and tearing rotten wood apart for the insects and grubs they can find, not for making attacks on prey.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I had bear one time and found it to be very good tasting. I was expecting something that tasted like pork, because the bear is an omnivore. But like the others have said, the meat was red, and rich in flavor, like very good beef. And yes, I did cook it to about 155 degrees, knowing that their lifestyle might cause them to be host to parasites. Even then, it was very tasty, like a good beef heart, and tender as well. Oh, and the parasite that causes trichinosis is killed at temps of about 137. cook it to 145 and you'll be fine.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Kayelle]

Personally, I won't eat wild animals that aren't raised for food, although I understand why other people do, and some people must. It's just a moral thing with me, so I don't.

 

[taxlady]

I would rather eat a wild animal that had a good, wild life until it died than chicken or pork that was kept in overcrowded or too small cages. Everyone should think about it and make up their own minds.

 

[salt and pepper]

Personally, I won't eat wild animals that aren't raised for food, although I understand why other people do, and some people must. It's just a moral thing with me, so I don't.

Spoken like a real Californian, No offence Kayelle but this is not a good subject. , lov ya, Joey

 

[Kayelle]

Love you too Joey, honest. It's just a personal choice, for all of us.

 

[blissful]

I'll report back when we get the bear sausage, sticks, and roasts, on how they turned out.

We were so lucky to get a bear tag. They are as rare as hen's teeth.