Question about cooking bear

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I looked up trichinosis to see what the current level of concern should be. I have had pork which could be  considered undercooked by modern USA standards, it was great.

 

According to CDC, most contemporary cases of trichinosis can be traced to undercooked game meat, mostly bear.

 

I have been wondering whether folks who cook game meats pay attention to the cooking temperatures?

[J-BAR #18287]

The ones who don’t want to get sick do!

 

 

If you get it to 165 F you are good to consume.  Bacteria as well as parasites.

 

Meat thermometers are your best friends.

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

7 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

The ones who don’t want to get sick do!

 

 

If you get it to 165 F you are good to consume.  Bacteria as well as parasites.

 

Meat thermometers are your best friends.

Amen, Brother!  I keep seeing articles by people who obviously cut class in Micro-biology that say game meat should not be cooked any more done than medium rare because it will get tough and loose its flavor.  I have not found this to be true with whitetail or mule deer, moose or prong horn (you do have to pay attention to your cooking technique).  I haven't tried caribou or bear yet.

 

Duffield

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I eat a lot of game meat(antelope, deer, elk, feral hogs and moose when I can get one.) and have for all of my 78 years. Over the years my cooking philosophy has changed a lot. My mother used to cook our venison well, well done and it turned out like jerky! I grind a lot of burger & breakfast sausage and that gets cooked well. I make a lot of stew and the meat is browned and then goes into the pressure cooker with all the other fixins. Backstrap, loin and steak are usually done 2 ways. One is to tenderize and use a coating and chicken fry. The other is to wrap the filet with bacon and cook over a 500 degree grill about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side. Still pink in the center. This is one of the tastiest ways to cook almost any wild game , except feral hog. The hogs get ground into sausage cut into chops for the BBQ and the hams smoked.

 

I've eaten bear several times and I mostly make jerky out of it. Black bear just doesn't seem to have the flavor of the other game meat.

 

If OLG reads this, he can testify to the quality of my fixins!

 

I have never had any problems with trichinosis and I have eaten literally 100,s of game animals.

[Sedalia Dave]

You are most likely to catch trichinosis from eating the meat of wild carnivores or domestic animals that have been fed meat scraps and/or meat byproducts.

 

Killing the organisms responsible for trichinosis and other food borne illnesses is all about time and temperature. Because most people are not very intelligent, very few use a thermometer, and even fewer use a accurate thermometer; years ago the USDA over simplified everything by setting the cooking temperature at 165 degrees. This was to ensure that probability of under cooked food making someone ill was all but eliminated. In the last few years science is finally starting to actually be used and the cooking temps of meats has been adjusted. However many publications refuse to change because of the potential for liability.  

 

For reference, a temperature of 165 degrees kills 99.9% of everything harmful in less than 10 seconds. At 145 degrees it takes about 3 minutes to achieve the same results.. 

 

Time vs temperature is why you can cook meats via the Sous Vide method at 130 degrees. It works and is safe because the temperature is held very constant for a long time. 

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

15 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

The ones who don’t want to get sick do!

 

 

If you get it to 165 F you are good to consume.  Bacteria as well as parasites.

 

Meat thermometers are your best friends.

If I had to eat game meat cooked at 165, I would forego all game meat. What’s the point of eating anything that overcooked? I’d rather live life as a vegetarian. Luckily this is not the case. SD is spot on with the science. Well said 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

I see no reason to Kill and Eat Bear.  Any Bear.  Besides it smells yucky and tastes yucky.  Unless your starving, killing and eating Bear is just dumb.

[Cat Brules]

Killing and eating a bear becomes important if it was trying to kill and eat you first.

 

Cat Brules

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

3 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

I eat a lot of game meat(antelope, deer, elk, feral hogs and moose when I can get one.) and have for all of my 78 years. Over the years my cooking philosophy has changed a lot. My mother used to cook our venison well, well done and it turned out like jerky! I grind a lot of burger & breakfast sausage and that gets cooked well. I make a lot of stew and the meat is browned and then goes into the pressure cooker with all the other fixins. Backstrap, loin and steak are usually done 2 ways. One is to tenderize and use a coating and chicken fry. The other is to wrap the filet with bacon and cook over a 500 degree grill about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side. Still pink in the center. This is one of the tastiest ways to cook almost any wild game , except feral hog. The hogs get ground into sausage cut into chops for the BBQ and the hams smoked.

 

I've eaten bear several times and I mostly make jerky out of it. Black bear just doesn't seem to have the flavor of the other game meat.

 

If OLG reads this, he can testify to the quality of my fixins!

 

I have never had any problems with trichinosis and I have eaten literally 100,s of game animals.

 

He makes the very best venison I have ever had.

Folks need to follow his recipe. 

OLG 

 

[J-BAR #18287]

Link to chart of safe cooking temperatures.  165 F is the recommendation for poultry because it is most likely to be contaminated with fecal material.  It’s also the highest temperature recommendation, other meats can safely be cooked at lower temperatures.  Measuring temperature with a thermometer eliminates risk.

 

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/safe-minimum-internal-temperature-chart/ct_index

 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

It is important is to buy a good instant read digital thermometer and learn how to use it. Most important is when probing meat like steaks, you need to insert probe into the edge and not the top or bottom. Keep the probe as close to the center of meat as possible. This way you are reading the internal temp and not the outside.

 

You should check its accuracy 3 or 4 times a year.  https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/testing-thermometers-accuracy/ How to Check the Accuracy of Your Kitchen Thermometer

 

Good ones can be had for less than $20.00.   ThermoPro TP-15 Instant Read Thermometer

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Cooking BEAR.

I read that too fast.

I thought it said cooking BEER and thought, "Does he mean cooking with beer?" -- and remembered meats marinaded in beer, pancakes made with beer, soup beans made with beer, I remembered beer batter fish, then I re-read it and realized ...

... uh-oh ...

... slow down, fella, hurry up is brother to mess it up!

(I was yet a beardless youth when dear old Dad tried to teach me that hurry up is brother to mess it up.  It's plainly amazing how often I've proven him right!)

[Pat Riot]

If you buy a thermometer look at the comments when researching and look for one that gets high marks for accuracy or compare one you have to a known good one. I purchased a couple that were 10-15 degrees off. The one I have now is 5 degrees too high. I know that so I can work around it. 
 

Amazon has a great variety of meat thermometers. 

Oops, almost forgot. Water boils at 212 at sea level.  Stick your thermometer in a pot of water that has just started to boil and that will let you know how close your thermometer might be. It ain’t perfect but it’s a decent reference point. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

8 minutes ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

Cooking BEAR.

I read that too fast.

I thought it said cooking BEER and thought, "Does he mean cooking with beer?" -- and remembered meats marinaded in beer, pancakes made with beer, soup beans made with beer, I remembered beer batter fish, then I re-read it and realized ...

... uh-oh ...

... slow down, fella, hurry up is brother to mess it up!

(I was yet a beardless youth when dear old Dad tried to teach me that hurry up is brother to mess it up.  It's plainly amazing how often I've proven him right!)

I understand.  And considering that I communicate with people who do not speak English, it happens a lot and I think before proceeding.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Believe me, Marshal, I can get in trouble just sitting in my easy chair!   

I suffer a terrible condition, it's called Hoof in Mouth, and it plagues me at the worst possible times! 

Kind of like mistaking an ursine for a beverage, or vice versa ... I one time meant to tell my Spanish teacher, "More or less," (mas o menos) and it came out "Month or hands (mes o manos) ..."

Not only can I commit a faux pas in multiple languages, as a ham radio operator, I can make mistakes at the speed of light! 

 

[Ozark Huckleberry]

Step 1: Make sure bear is dead.

 

Step 2: Make damned sure bear is dead.

[Silver Creek Jack]

19 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

I eat a lot of game meat(antelope, deer, elk, feral hogs and moose when I can get one.) and have for all of my 78 years. Over the years my cooking philosophy has changed a lot. My mother used to cook our venison well, well done and it turned out like jerky! I grind a lot of burger & breakfast sausage and that gets cooked well. I make a lot of stew and the meat is browned and then goes into the pressure cooker with all the other fixins. Backstrap, loin and steak are usually done 2 ways. One is to tenderize and use a coating and chicken fry. The other is to wrap the filet with bacon and cook over a 500 degree grill about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side. Still pink in the center. This is one of the tastiest ways to cook almost any wild game , except feral hog. The hogs get ground into sausage cut into chops for the BBQ and the hams smoked.

 

I've eaten bear several times and I mostly make jerky out of it. Black bear just doesn't seem to have the flavor of the other game meat.

 

If OLG reads this, he can testify to the quality of my fixins!

 

I have never had any problems with trichinosis and I have eaten literally 100,s of game animals.

This x 1000!!  SCJ

[Noz]

Making the bear dead does not improve taste or tenderness.

 

My first bear hunt,I stopped at a bait shop that had several locals telling lies.  They asked where I was fishing.  I told them I was bear hunting.  They asked with incredulity, WHY/????

They were of the opinion that a black bear smells bad, tastes bad, is generally tough. Two weeks later I agreed with them on all points.

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I just don't think I could bear it!

[Ozark Huckleberry]

1 hour ago, Noz said:

Making the bear dead does not improve taste or tenderness.

 

 

But it sure makes it easier to get ‘em in the pot. 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Cooking Bear is my Indian name. 
 

 

Note: Cooking bare is a bad idea. Splatters etc.

[Dutch Wheeler]

Boy, I sure misunderstood what this post was all about! 

[Steel-eye Steve SASS #40674]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5ZKJ0Vozc

[Michigan Slim]

I had a bear roast once that was truly excellent. The last time I had some though I slipped it to my dog. It kept her busy longer than her last rawhide chew did. One happy dog.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I don't deliberately go out after bear and will pass them up if at all possible.

I've cleaned and eaten bear, from the wild; not feeding in a dump.

My hunting partner instructed to cut off all the fat and cook it with bacon or bacon grease.

Not bad, but when I've had to take one now, I usually turn it into bear-burger and use it mixed with pork burger in spaghetti sauce or Chili Con Carne.

First browned, then Well Cooked and simmered!

I've encountered parasites in bear, moose and deer.

Don't need any live ones in me.

Well cooked, they just add flavour !!

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

It's been a long time since I've eaten bear.

 

If I'm lucky, it'll be a long time 'til I do it again.  

 

I used to literally buy a bear tag as insurance against bear encounters while deer hunting.  Never saw a bear if I had a tag; if I didn't, the danged things would be a bit more than a nuisance.  

[Pat Riot]

I have eaten bear twice in my life. I was a kid. I remember it being like roast beef but greasier and gamier. 

[Steel-eye Steve SASS #40674]

As someone who has enjoyed bear meat I will add this: https://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/