It’s not often you get to taste bear meat, but when the neighbors are nice enough to share a few roasts, tasting will be had!
There are fears around bear meat that it can cause food borne illnesses if not cooked properly, so most people simply stay away from it. It’s true, but as true as eating raw pork or chicken. Bears are carriers of trichinella spiralis and toxoplasma gondii, which are parasite that cause trichinosis and toxoplasmosis, neither of which anyone wants to flirt with.
Because of this, some would say that sitting down to a bear dinner, could be your last. Scary, right? Well, the same could be said for just about any meat that isn’t cooked to the proper temperature – raw chicken anyone? As important as it is to cook chicken and pork to the right internal temperature, wild game too has to be cooked right.
For bear, that internal temperature is 160⁰ F, which means you need to have a thermometer to be able to ensure the meat is cooked properly. Most recipes would have you cook bear meat at 375⁰ F for 20-25 minutes per pound, but any recipe adjustment should always be measured on that internal temperature of 160⁰ F; basically, you don’t want to see any pink meat when you slice into the bear.
The other important thing to know about bear, is what it was eating when it was killed. Now, this is hard to know if you’re gifted with meat and the hunter doesn’t want to share the location he got the bear, but most proper (and proud) hunters will let you know exactly where they got the bear down. The reason this is important is because if the bear was feasting on city trash, it’ll taste like trash.
However, if the hunter hunted away from town and was able to track down the bear’s feces to see what it was eating – hopefully tons of berries – you’ll get a much tastier bear. This is true for most wild game, actually. If you get a grouse and find that his gullet is filled with berries, the meat will have a sweeter taste, and if it’s filled with greens, he may have more of a sage taste.
The bear meat we got was put down in the high country and we had the perfect slow-cooker recipe to ensure it was cooked properly. Grab your Dutch oven and let’s get started!
Bear Roast Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5-6 lbs Bear Meat Round or Shoulder
- 2 tbsp Bacon Grease
- To Taste dash Salt + Pepper
- 2 large Onions Diced
- 3 cloves Garlic Diced
- 3 stalks Celery Chopped, with Leaves
- 2 Carrots Chopped
- handful Potatoes
- 4 tbsp Fresh Parsley Chopped
- 3 Cloves
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 c Beef Broth
- 1 c Red Wine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220⁰ F.
- Put the bacon fat in the Dutch oven and heat until it melts. Add the bear roast and brown it on all sides.
- Season the roast with salt and pepper, and then add all of the diced veggies and herbs. I don’t specify the amount of potatoes, because it depends how much you want to eat and what size you’re using – just go with what your gut tells ya.
- Stir in the liquids, and then cover the Dutch oven with a lid.
- Place the Dutch oven in the oven, and cook for 7-8 hours at the low temperature. Don’t peek at it as it cooks.
- At the 7 hour mark, check to see what the internal temperature is, remembering that you want it to be 160⁰ F. If it’s not quite to the right temperature, stick it back in the oven until it does reach 160⁰ F.
- When done, strain the juices, remove any fat from the meat, and serve it up. Or, if you want gravy, use the juices to whip up a quick batch.
Can this recipe be made in a crock pot?
Absolutely, use the same timing, just make sure in the end the internal temperature of the meat is 160⁰ F.
I have cooked a bear roast in crock pot. Mine came out like a stew. I cleaned it for about 3 days using water and vinegar letting it sit over night. I put onions, potatoes, carrots and celery in the mix with salt, pepper, accent. I made a nice broth using Ranch Dressing powder with water until it got thick. I put the crock pot on 325 and let it go over night. I got up around 5 that morning and the house smelled beautiful. It was my first time and my family loved it! I have another one I am doing this Christmas using buttermilk as a marinate along with water and vinegar as I clean the wild out. I am going to use Burgundy wine in my broth this time. Wish me luck!
Do you need to soak the bear meat in anything before cooking?
We use black cherry juice instead of red wine. Holy Cow! It was heavenly. Best bear roast recipe I’ve tried. Thank you.
Oh goodness, black cherry juice sounds amazing! I’ll have to try that next time. So glad you like it!
I tried this recipe for the first time today. My husband wasn’t very happy with me this morning as I was preparing the ingredients and putting them in out Dutch oven instead of the crockpot. I assured him it would be fine. At lunch, he couldn’t stop remarking how good the roast was and that this recipe was a “keeper!”
What I didn’t heart to tell him was that I goofed up when I put the ingredients together this morning. I actually used red wine vinegar instead of red wine. It didn’t affect the taste of the meat and you could only taste a hint of it in the broth but both our son and daughter-in-law loved the recipe too. So the next time I make a bear roast, I will use a half cup of each and see how it tastes. lol
Delicious! From Wisconsin