Bear ham

[Angry Perch]

Note to self... 

[nwwanderer]

Low cook temps, 131, is like running your gas tank down to half a cup.  Any head wind or cool spots trips you up.  160 is a great number, used to be 180.

[Angry Perch]

160 is just a bit too far for my taste. I'm completely safe at 145, and get a more palatable piece of meat. I remember the 180 days. Pork chops sucked! It nice that trich in pork is a thing of the past, and a guy can enjoy a medium rare pork chop!

[Bigshooter]

160 is just a bit too far for my taste. I'm completely safe at 145, and get a more palatable piece of meat. I remember the 180 days. Pork chops sucked! It nice that trich in pork is a thing of the past, and a guy can enjoy a medium rare pork chop!

I'm pretty sure pork was 160 and now is 145.  Except ground needs to be 160.  Trich dies at like 137 or 138.

[Angry Perch]

160 is just a bit too far for my taste. I'm completely safe at 145, and get a more palatable piece of meat. I remember the 180 days. Pork chops sucked! It nice that trich in pork is a thing of the past, and a guy can enjoy a medium rare pork chop!

I'm pretty sure pork was 160 and now is 145.  Except ground needs to be 160.  Trich dies at like 137 or 138.

I might be mixing up my pig and my turkey. But either one sucks at 180!

[JDHasty]

Smoked bear ham can be used in place of corned beef.  Either picniks or rear quarters end up tasting the same. 

[HellsBelle]

That looks amazing! And makes absolute sense,with the pork flavor of bear! Nicely done!

[92xj]

Made a bone in ham from my bear. Brined for 2 weeks, rinsed, tied and dried in the fridge for 4 days, then 1 1/2 hours cold smoke, and low and slow on the Weber with some chunks of cherry. Made a sauce with my neighbor's homemade blackberry jam with shallot, ginger and a sprig of rosemary. It turned out amazing. Thanks to merkaba93 for the sauce tips.

What was your brine recipe, if you don't mind sharing.

I'm thawing a rear leg right now to start the ham process

[Angry Perch]

Made a bone in ham from my bear. Brined for 2 weeks, rinsed, tied and dried in the fridge for 4 days, then 1 1/2 hours cold smoke, and low and slow on the Weber with some chunks of cherry. Made a sauce with my neighbor's homemade blackberry jam with shallot, ginger and a sprig of rosemary. It turned out amazing. Thanks to merkaba93 for the sauce tips.

What was your brine recipe, if you don't mind sharing.

I'm thawing a rear leg right now to start the ham process

Here are my notes. I do everything by weight, and did an EQ (equilibrium) brine. This just means it's the exact concentration of salt you'll get in the final product, and it can't get saltier if brined for a longer time. That being said, this brine was a little salty, so next time I'll back off to ~3%.

The weight used to calculate the cure is based on the total of the meat and the water.

3% salt =  (meat + water) x .03
.3% cure #1  = (meat + water) x .003
2.5% brown sugar  =  (meat + water) x .025

I didn't weigh out the other flavors.

I cold smoked it for 1.5 hors, then did it low and slow on the weber with some cherry chunks to ~155 degrees.
Not sure the cold smoke was necessary.

[h20hunter]

Call to any spring bear hunters near me.....please kill a bear and let me make a ham for you.  All I ask is to keep a pound or so for me.