How to cook bear steaks?

[HuntNFish]

I traded 4 of my Elk steaks for 4 bear steaks this evening with a friend.  He gave me some tips, but nothing sounded tasty.  Any suggestions or recommendations on how to cook bear steaks.  They were cut from a roast.  Thanks.

Brian

[NWBREW]

I would trade them for elk steaks.  Sorry, never really cared for bear steaks but I'm sure it is how I prepared them.

[alwinearcher]

HAHAHA!
I dont know if I would call him a friend after that business transaction.
I can see a bumper sticker coming out of this

"Friends dont let friends eat bear steaks" 

[hrd2fnd]

 

I would trade them for elk steaks.  Sorry, never really cared for bear steaks but I'm sure it is how I prepared them.

 

[Jekemi]

Bear is a meat best left in the primal cut; top round, shoulder, shank, botton round, etc. It does not lend itself well to the grilling process. In general steaks should be aged a bit to reduce moisture content,  seasoned well, and grilled over a very hot fire to a medium-rare This caramelizes the sugars and concentrate the flavors. Since bear meat has little fat and its flavor tends to be stronger than other game meats grilling steaks is not the best method of cooking.

Braising meat: I would season the steaks and dust in flour. Brown them well, over high heat in oil and remove from the pan. Immediately add aromatic vegetables such as carrots, celery, and onions and brown them a little. Add red wide to deglaze the pan and return the steaks to the pan. Season with a bay leaf and add additional beef stock. Cover the pot and braise for up to 2 hours until the meat is falling-apart tender. Thicken the sauce with a medium roux, adjust the seasoning, and finish the sauce by whisking in a couple tablespoons of butter. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, crusty french bread, and a sturdy red wine or dark ale. This way you will enjoy the bear meat rather than curse it. For more great wild game recipes go to my site: www.wildgamefeast.blogspot.com

[ICEMAN]

We love bear steaks in this house.

Here is a simple way to enjoy your bear steak. Get everything else for dinner ready to serve. Trim your steaks of all fat or sinew. You may end up with a bunch of smaller medallions of meat rather than a large steak, this is normal.  Get your skillet hot, coat with enough quality olive oil that you can roll it around in the pan. Pan fry your bear steak in the oil with some black pepper until lightly browned at the edges. Watch the smaller pieces and pull these earlier than your larger pieces. Cut one open to view inside, remove from the heat just as the last pink is starting to fade....

Enjoy.


Elk is great, but bear is also great, don't let the guys who cant cook spoil it for you!   

[billythekidrock]

I traded 4 of my Elk steaks for 4 bear steaks this evening with a friend.  He gave me some tips, but nothing sounded tasty.  Any suggestions or recommendations on how to cook bear steaks.  They were cut from a roast.  Thanks.

Brian

I agree with Iceman.
But it also depends on how thick the steaks are. If they are thick then throw them in the slow cooker.
I eat a lot of bear meat and the slow cooker is my favorite way to cook it. Bear has great flavor, but it often too chewey if not cooked right.

[ICEMAN]

Thanks Willy, I forgot to add that we do cut our bear to about 5/8" thick.... Very tru that  larger pieces can be tougher... Occasionally I use the meat mallet to thin a steak or two if they seem to tall...

[rasbo]

pound the steak,season it the way you like it...dust in flour,then fry like chicken..Drain oil and add cream of mushroom soup to the pan,sprinkle with some paprika,cover and simmer till tender..Garlic mashed and green beans ummm umm good

[jackmaster]

the simplest way to cook bear, deer and elk is to take a gallon size ziplock bag and put your steaks in there and add enough pancake mix to give a good coating add johnys, montreal steak seasoning and fresh chopped garlic zip it closed and shake til its covered good set that aside, fry up a pound or so of bacon, drain off grease in to a bowl, put a good scoop of butter in the pan let it melt and add a couple table spoons off bacon grease start adding cuts of meat, let them cook on medium heat until the blood turns a light pink and then flip for about 2 to 3 minutes and then its done, in the meantime i always fry up some taters the same way i do my meat, you will want to eat the bear meat when it is piping hot, the best combo is a bite of bacon a bite of taters and a bite of meat at the same time, its unbelievable my family has cooked all wild meat this way for ever, if the meat is old and tougher pound it out and soak in milk for 24 hours and cook as recomended

[bearpaw]

No matter what anyone tells you, COOK IT WELL DONE   

Bear can carry trichenosis (spelling?) which a University of Montana study found 14% of the bear they checked were infected. I remember a guy in Ione, WA took some jerky that was not cooked well enough to work and about a dozen people were infected.

It's always nice to try something new, like any meat, bear can be good. I like a roast slow cooked with lots of seasoning (including garlic and onions) for about 6 hours.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Chops.  Not steaks.   

-Steve

[dirty24d]

How do you guys feel about bear burger? Or ground in butchers terms?

My wife and 18 month old daughter love ground venison, in the form of meatballs, hamburger helper, and chili meat.  But they wont touch the chops. 

I'm confident i'm gonna get my first bear this year and was debating on how to have my meat done up. I'm leaning towards gettting the majority back in ground and only a few choice chops back since it seems to best fit my families needs. But i've never had ground bear ...  Thoughts???

[junkyard]

Ground bear is awesome. We use it in spaghetti, chili, etc.

[Jekemi]

There have only been six recorded cases of Trichnosis in the last 27 years with the most recent being in 2007 when a hunter got thricnosis from eating raw cougar meat. People rarely get trichnosis from pig meat since it became illegal to feed pigs garbage. They can only be fed "pig food."

[shedcrazy]

In the oven

[JackOfAllTrades]

Roasts and smoke cured hams. Chops thin fried with seasonings- Especially garlic.  Ground, mixed with ground beef.

-Steve

[runamuk]

There have only been six recorded cases of Trichnosis in the last 27 years with the most recent being in 2007 when a hunter got thricnosis from eating raw cougar meat. People rarely get trichnosis from pig meat since it became illegal to feed pigs garbage. They can only be fed "pig food."

trichinosis is a parasite that they get from eating meat so it is only in carnivores and omnivores not herbivores.  Pigs dont get trichinosis since they outlawed feeding them carcasses and yes pigs will happily gobble up carcasses and offal and get nice and plump doing it, when I was a kid "dairy calf" day we werent allowed at the neighbors, mom didnt really want us seeing the hogs eating dead calves

[bearpaw]

There have only been six recorded cases of Trichnosis in the last 27 years with the most recent being in 2007 when a hunter got thricnosis from eating raw cougar meat. People rarely get trichnosis from pig meat since it became illegal to feed pigs garbage. They can only be fed "pig food."

I don't know if it's recorded or not. But the local story was more than that many people caught it from the one guys jerky.

Cook your meat well done and you don't have any worries....


See the info below, 88 cases annually.   http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000671.htm

Editorial Note: Although the incidence of trichinosis has decreased markedly from 300 to 400 cases reported annually in the late 1940s (1) to a mean of 88 cases reported annually over the past 5 years, trichinosis remains a public health problem in the United States. The outbreaks presented here highlight interesting aspects of the epidemiology and control of trichinosis. A large number of the cases reported each year occur in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, a finding that has been associated with the high concentration of ethnic groups in those regions whose culinary preferences include raw pork (1). In addition, recent studies suggest that swine from these regions may be more highly infected than those of other regions. Surveys of selected slaughterhouses in the New England and Middle Atlantic states found infection rates of 0.73% and 0.58%, respectively (2,3), surpassing the estimated national average rate of 0.1% (4). These findings were attributed to certain swine-management practices (garbage feeding, rat infestation ((5)), and cannibalism) by small and/or part-time hog producers common to these regions. In light of the culinary preferences of the resident ethnic groups of these areas, the relative importance of these findings needs further investigation.


Everything you may ever want to know about Trichinosis: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5206a1.htm

(Part of the story)

During 1997--2001, a total of 18 states reported 72 cases of trichinellosis to CDC, including nine outbreaks involving >2 persons. States in the Midwest and Mountain West accounted for 63 (88%) cases, of which 50 (69%) were reported from five states: California (21), Ohio (nine), Illinois (seven), Montana (seven), and Alaska (six) (Table 1). The nine common-source outbreaks occurred in these five states and accounted for 33 (46%) cases (Table 2). Of the 72 cases, 52 (72%) occurred among males. The median age of patients was 45 years (range: 3--81 years) (Figure 1).

During 1997--2001, a total of 55 (76%) of the 72 patients had at least one common sign or symptom of trichinellosis; 46 (64%) had myalgia, 39 (54%) had eosinophilia, 33 (46%) had fever, and 22 (31%) had periorbital edema. A total of 40 (56%) patients reported more than one sign or symptom. Of the 17 patients who did not report signs or symptoms, one was a girl aged 3 years with a positive Trichinella antibody titre but no eosinophilia, fever, or periorbital edema; myalgia could not be assessed. The signs and symptoms of the remaining 16 patients were unknown. For the 24 patients for whom the dates of consumption of the implicated meat and the onset of symptoms were available, the median incubation period was 13 days (range: 1--50 days).

Of the 72 patients, 54 (75%) had serologic testing performed; 50 (93%) were seropositive for Trichinella antibodies. Muscle biopsies were performed on four (6%) patients; all were positive.

The source of infection was known or suspected for 57 (79%) patients. Pork products were associated with 22 (39%) cases: 12 with commercial pork, nine with home-raised or direct-from-farm swine, and one with a wild boar. Of the 12 cases associated with commercial pork, eight were linked to U.S. commercial pork, and four were linked to pork obtained in Egypt, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. Nonpork products were associated with 30 (53%) cases: 29 with bear meat and one with cougar meat. The source of infection was unknown for 20 (35%) cases; these included five cases that were associated with both pork and nonpork products. Because a single type of meat could not be implicated, each patient was classified as having an unknown source of infection. None of the meats consumed by these five patients were examined for larvae (Table 3).

During 1997--2001, implicated meat was examined for Trichinella larvae in 34 cases, which included cases from seven of the nine common-source outbreaks. Larvae were present in meat associated with 32 of the 34 cases, including all seven of the outbreaks for which meat was examined. These outbreaks accounted for 29 of the 32 cases. Five outbreaks were linked to larvae-positive bear meat (Montana 1997, five cases; Ohio 1998, eight cases; Alaska 2000, four cases; California 2001, two cases; and California 2001, two cases). Two outbreaks were linked to larvae-positive meat from home-raised swine (California 2001, six cases; California 2001, two cases). Three isolated cases also were associated with larvae-positive meat: two with bear and one with cougar.

The method of cooking the meat was identified in 38 (53%) of 72 cases: uncooked, 20 cases; open fire roasted or barbequed, 14 cases; fried, 13 cases; stewed, six cases; baked, two cases; and microwaved, one case. Certain cases were associated with multiple cooking methods.

The source of the meat was identified in 55 (76%) of 72 cases. Meat was purchased commercially in 12 cases: supermarket, nine cases; butcher shop, one case; restaurant, one case; and a county fair, one case. Meat was obtained noncommercially in 41 cases: directly from a farm or from a home-raised animal, nine cases (all pork); and hunted or trapped, 32 cases (29 bear meat, one cougar meat, one wild boar meat, and one moose/quail/pheasant meat). The meat was consumed in another country in four cases: two in Yugoslavia (pork) and one each in Egypt (pork) and Vietnam (pork).

Of the nine trichinellosis outbreaks, five were associated with bear meat, two with home-raised swine, and two with commercial pork. In December 1997, an outbreak of five cases in Montana was associated with bear jerky. In October--December 1998, an outbreak of eight cases in Ohio was associated with meat from a bear killed in northern Ontario, Canada, in March 1998 and transported back to the United States. The meat was prepared as a roast, a spaghetti dish, and hamburgers and eaten on October 13, 1998, at a church barbeque. The hunter tested positive for Trichinella by muscle biopsy. Another member of the outbreak tested positive by enzyme immunoassay and bentonite flocculation antibody tests. The remaining six cases were linked epidemiologically through the church barbeque. In August--September 2000, an outbreak of four cases in Alaska was associated with steaks from a bear killed in Alaska in August 2000 and fried on a camp stove. In August 2001, an outbreak of two cases in California was associated with "medium-rare" barbequed meat from a bear killed in Alaska in June 2001. In November 2001, an outbreak of two cases in California was associated with uncooked bear meat. Of the two outbreaks associated with home-raised swine, one was associated with uncooked pork (California, May 2001, two cases), and the other was associated with a combination of fried, barbequed, stewed, and uncooked pork (California, May--June 2001, six cases). Of the two outbreaks associated with commercial pork, one was associated with homemade pork sausage and jerky (Illinois, March--May 1999, two cases), and the other was associated with sausage and smoked pork consumed in Yugoslavia (Illinois, January 2000, two cases).

In previous years, seasonal peaks in trichinellosis in the United States were observed in December and January, corresponding to consumption of homemade pork sausage during the Christmas holidays (6). However, during 1997--2001, no such pattern was observed for patients with known dates of illness onset in which commercial pork products were the only implicated meats (Figure 2). For cases in which noncommercial pork products were the only implicated meats, seasonal peaks occurred in May and June and were associated with home-raised swine (Figure 3). For cases in which nonpork products were the only implicated meats, seasonal peaks occurred during August--September and November--December and were associated with bear meat (Figure 4).

[lewy]

I just cubed some of mine up the other day and threw it in a crock pot, it was probably the best stew ive ever had. (I used backstrap meat)

[quadrafire]

Everything you may ever want to know about Trichinosis: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5206a1.htm

Thanks for posting that ----Interesting reading--- If I ever kill a bear it will be cooked to at least 160. I had heard about an incident with cougar jerky infecting a bunch of folks.
Looks like in pork freezing kills the larvae, but may not in bear.

[HuntNFish]

Thanks for the cooking tips and advise.  Either way I prepare it, I am going to be  some good tasting bear.

[billythekidrock]

How do you guys feel about bear burger? Or ground in butchers terms?

My wife and 18 month old daughter love ground venison, in the form of meatballs, hamburger helper, and chili meat.  But they wont touch the chops. 

I'm confident i'm gonna get my first bear this year and was debating on how to have my meat done up. I'm leaning towards gettting the majority back in ground and only a few choice chops back since it seems to best fit my families needs. But i've never had ground bear ...  Thoughts???

I throw bear meat in my deer/elk burger all the time.

[bearhunter99]

Make sure you use a meat thermometer when you cook it.  Bear meat remains a dark red color even when well done.  The first bear steaks I ever cooked I turned into slabs of concrete wating for them to turn "light pink"

[dirty24d]

Make sure you use a meat thermometer when you cook it.  Bear meat remains a dark red color even when well done.  The first bear steaks I ever cooked I turned into slabs of concrete wating for them to turn "light pink"

lol  good call.!!   

[CementFinisher]

Sorry to jack the tread but i had some of my bear made up into summer sausage and after i take a roll out of the freezer it will turn slimy or mold within 5-6 days, never experienced this with deer, is it normal?

[ICEMAN]

Sorry to jack the tread but i had some of my bear made up into summer sausage and after i take a roll out of the freezer it will turn slimy or mold within 5-6 days, never experienced this with deer, is it normal?

Not normal in my opinion....  Moldy in the fridge? Yuck.

[Ray]

I like to bake them. Several good ideas on this topic.