Hunting Washington Forum

Community => Butchering, Cooking, Recipes => Topic started by: n_mathews13 on September 10, 2015, 05:48:05 PM

Title: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on September 10, 2015, 05:48:05 PM: This is the first time Iv saved the fat. What do you do /use it for?
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: JJB11B on September 10, 2015, 05:49:17 PM: I prefer Dapper Dan to bear grease
DISCLAIMER, That is a reference to Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: JimmyHoffa on September 10, 2015, 05:54:14 PM: Render it down for cleaning then you can use it like lard. If you got the fat around the kidneys, it is designed for higher temps than most other fats. Then if you make something like a pastry it will keep the shape of the air bubbles when larger leading to lighter/flakier crusts.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: XAFSSGT on September 10, 2015, 06:14:19 PM: I've heard of people using it to seal their boots, and other leather.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: pd on September 10, 2015, 06:55:44 PM: I am sure that my family is not the only one with bear grease stories!

I have an uncle who insists that the only use for bear grease is to seal worthless boots: Lather them up, then throw away.

I have a very close relative who tells the story of stopping by Grandmother's house after school, and eating bear grease sugar cookies. Said relative's Mother insists that this never, ever happened. Grandmother is long gone, and cannot comment.

Put just these two stories together, and what do you have? In the old days, many people rendered bear fat, and used it for shoe sealing, cooking, and even soap making. Bear fat is smelly (both rendering and later use), and is the sign of deep poverty. It is no wonder folks prefer to forget about those hard times, even if they have to bend the truth to deny past facts.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: huntnnw on September 10, 2015, 07:03:41 PM: My wife renders it down and makes soap
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: Blacktail135 on September 10, 2015, 08:20:33 PM: If it's from a bear that been feeding heavily on berries try eating it. I did. It was delicious but, rich. I cut mine up in to 1/2-3/4" cubes and fried it in a cast iron skillet until the points were a little crispy. I tried this after reading a book called Across The Olympic Mountains. The Press Expedition. The book was about the first *censored*s that crossed the Olympic Mountains. Great book. They were starving when they came across a bear. They immediately fried the fat, ate it, drank the grease then ate the meat. I was surpised at the taste.

On a side note........DO NOT EAT a bear that has been eating salmon! I tried that too. Had always heard not to but all those that had told me that had actually never tried it themselves. I went and shot a salmon eating bear, gave it a real good bath with dish soap (figured that rotten meat in the fur and paws may have tainted previous folks attempt at eating fish eating bear), rinsed him real good with river water (using a 5 gallon bucket), carefully took the hide off, carefully took the meat off then took him home and tried to eat him..............NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!NASTYNASTYNASTY!
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on September 14, 2015, 06:20:59 PM: Any recombination on how to melt it down. Never tried before
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: 2labs on September 14, 2015, 06:54:57 PM: Let it sour a bit and then throw it at people.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: cookingdaily on September 14, 2015, 06:56:31 PM: Google how to render bear fat it will pull it up
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on September 14, 2015, 07:04:34 PM: I did, sounded like a few different ways to do it. Wondered what was best.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: JJB11B on September 14, 2015, 07:11:40 PM: Tell people that you not only eat bear meat but that you also love it, and most will grimace and postulate second-hand opinions about how bear is not only inedible, but also disease-ridden. Cooking bear, the uninformed will righteously tell you, not only results in a bad meal, but also causes everything from severe nausea to death. Mention that you also render bear fat for cooking, and you can almost see their brain seize up. It’s actually quite entertaining—not unlike telling a redneck that Toby Keith votes Democrat.

Ask these folks if they’ve actually tried bear and most will lower their eyes, kick the dirt a few times, and start sputtering excuses like “No, but I have this friend…”

So yes, I eat bear and ain’t afraid to evangelize about it. I have also started rendering the fat, which was thick and slick on this acorn-eating sow I killed with Steve Jones in New Mexico last fall. The resulting hard, white lard is a great medium for frying. To me, nothing beats onions and potatoes poached in bear fat—except maybe chicken thighs dusted with seasoned flour. I’ve also been told bear fat makes a great biscuit, which is what I’m reserving the last half-pint that’s in my fridge for, though I may sneak a spoonful out from time to time for fried eggs and hash browns.

Rendering bear fat is an easy affair, but it does take several hours. Luckily, this is mostly unattended cooking, requiring just a stir every now and then to keep the pieces from sticking to the pan. Several experienced bear hunters have told me you should do this outdoors if possible, as bear fat can produce an unpleasant odor. That wasn’t the case with my bear, but consider yourself forewarned—especially if you have a spouse or significant other who’s not exactly understanding of your kitchen experiments.

(Note: this is the same process used for rendering pork, duck or goose fat. If you kill a deer that has hard, white back fat, I’d also encourage you to try rendering that as well, despite contrary opinion that deer fat isn’t edible.)

Rendering Bear Fat

1. Clean the fat thoroughly, removing any stray hair and cutting away as much meat as possible.

2. Cut the fat into 1-inch squares and add to a deep stockpot. (The deeper the pot the better, as the grease may splatter.)

3. Set the pot over low to medium heat and stir regularly for the first few minutes to keep the fat from sticking. (A bit of water added to the pot can also help prevent scorching.) You want the fat to sputter, but not sizzle and turn brown, so keep the heat low.

4. Let the fat render and moisture evaporate. Depending on the amount of fat, this could take several hours or all day. Be sure to stir a few times every hour.

5. When the fat is completely liquefied and has stopped sputtering, you’re finished. There will be a few hard bits of fat—the cracklings—that will need to be filtered out.

6. Line a fine-meshed sieve with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl or large measuring cup. Slowly pour the rendered fat through the sieve to filter out the cracklings and impurities.

7. Transfer the fat to Mason jars, seal, and refrigerate. Bear fat should last several months in the fridge or even longer if frozen.

I copy and pasted this off Field and Stream
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on September 14, 2015, 09:12:49 PM: What about a crockpot ?
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: huntnnw on September 14, 2015, 09:29:39 PM: A better way is to run it thru a grinder then put on a stove top on low for hours stirring occasionally
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on September 18, 2015, 05:53:08 AM: Got one jar. Thought maybe I'd start out just doing a little bit.
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: n_mathews13 on October 01, 2015, 06:25:43 AM: Finally got around to haven some cookies made from it. Taste good
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: Special T on October 01, 2015, 11:06:20 AM: My wife has made soap from deer elk and bear fat. She chopps the fat into small chunks and puts in the crock pot on low in the garage. She ladels out the fat athrough a strainer into plastic zip lock containers then freezes them into blocks and labels them for when she is making soap. I have recieved fat from a few members here in the past and it keeps the 3 crock pots going 24/7 for a month.
I find it humorus how many bunny huggers are interested in the soap that nor

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Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: Special T on October 01, 2015, 11:24:33 AM: Normally would get pissy about hunting. The different kinds of fat have different properties. Combine the "naturalness" of the fats and scents and it seemed to be an interesting into to talking about hunting.

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Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: JJB11B on October 01, 2015, 05:46:19 PM: I wonder if there is a way to extract scent from say Sage or Pine to add to the fat to make soaps or candles?
Title: Re: Bear fat
Post by: Special T on October 02, 2015, 10:13:47 AM: You either buy the extract oils or add the actual plant depending on what your trying to do. My wife makes an unsented and sented "Hunters bar" that I use. She has put lavender booms in the soap so we may have to try cedar and or pine needles

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