Bear sausage ....Smoke or Summer???

mikeihuntr

I’m planning on processing some bear meat and any recipes would be great!! I have about 15lbs. And was thinking either smoked sausage or summer sausage!! Any ideas and recommendations would be great… I also have a bunch of venison meat if that helps?? Thanks

deplorablenc1

I have made bear kielbasa and summer sausage. I have used the same ratio 70/30 with the 30 being pork shoulder. My opinion is literally anything mixed with pork then smoked is going to be good no matter the seasoning you use!

mikeihuntr

deplorablenc1 thanks for input… I’ve been thinking the same!!!

Jonathon

mikeihuntr Here are a few posts that people Bear Pepperoni, Breakfast Sausage and I think there was something about Bear in the Gator Sausage as well but I dont see it now!

rhjbarney

mikeihuntr i had a friend give me some bear meat . I never had it before but heard that it was greasy so i decided what better to do with greasey meat than to make a batch of smoked pepperoni snack STICKS. Turned out delicious. Gave my friend some and he told me if he gets another one next year we where going to make it all pepperoni sticks. Still waiting for the bear.

ramt600

mikeihuntr I have made lots of bear summer sausage. One of our favorites. Always mixed 30% pork butt in. Seems to be a great fat/meat mix. Also our family loves bear burgers, 10% pork fat mixed in. Have also mixed bear with elk and deer with great results.

Big Game

Bears can differ, and you could cook up a bit and see how it tastes to you. Definitely get off all the bear fat. I got a good, tasty bear, and made a great batch of summer sausage, using pork fatback.

Jonathon

Big Game that’s a good profile pic you have there!

Big Game

Jonathon Hey thanks! I am not yet a bear hunter, but I do hunt bear. We are overrun in California with black bears, and very few people hunt them. Contrary to widespread belief, bear meat can be delicious.

Jonathon

Big Game Yeah, when I was in our CS department I used to talk to a guy from Michigan all the time who said that bear sausage was his favorite thing to make and I’ve heard others say it as well. I also talked to a well known hunting TV personality who said his all-time favorite meat was Mountain Lion! He has some reserved for me the next time her goes.

Big Game

I was chatting with a guy in the Upper Peninsula, who was quite surprised to be talking with a Californian who hunts. Like me, he had recently taken a bear. He shared the meat with his friends, and they all went and bought bear tags. In discussing the bad reputation that bear meat has, he pointed out that back in the old days the local dumps were not fenced, and so the bears in the area were of course all eating at the dump. For anyone who is “on the fence” about eating bear, I would recommend this very balanced post by Hank Shaw. https://honest-food.net/pelmeni-and-the-eating-of-bears/

Jonathon

Big Game Yeah, I’ve heard Steve Rinella talk about what a bear is eating is a huge factor in how they taste. It makes sense, grass-fed vs corn fed beef makes a difference (I prefer corn fed) but it sounds like it matters even more with bears and maybe other predators as well.

processhead

Anyone have firsthand knowledge on the prevalence of trichinosis in bear meat and how to handle it while processing?

Big Game

I am just a hunter, but this is what I have understood. There was a study many years ago that estimated that 13% of black bears in California carry the parasite. For that matter, wild pigs can carry trich too. It is not something to be messed with. I did bear summer sausage last year, and cooked to IT of 160. Unless you do anything other than cook the meat to 160 degrees per CDC guidelines, you could have some risk. Do your own research, I would not take anyone’s word that their process is safe.

Here is the CDC on trich. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/hunters.html#:~:text=How can I prevent trichinellosis,of doneness for game meat

Steve Rinella and his crew got it on a black bear hunt. He talks about it on a MeatEater video, which is on YouTube. Hank Shaw also has a great blog post: https://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/

As for uncooked bear meat products like salami, is more complicated and I don’t yet understand how/if that could be done safely.

processhead

Thanks for sharing the links. They are both good articles for anyone considering processing their own bear or wild hog.

Mike Sample

I have eaten several back bear. I simply cook everything to an IT of 160. For me, anything less is just not worth the possibilities, BUT… As Rinella talks about on his show, getting trich is not that “bad” (I know, define bad). It just needs treated, then you’re a lifetime carrier. He stated he has no lasting side effects.

Jonathon

mike SAMPLE Its a good way to prevent being a victim to cannibalism I guess? For Monty Python fans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ZLNBXLcOQ

Mike Sample

Jonathon So true, Rinella brings that up, saying something like, really, the only ones negatively affected by his contracting would be zombies that ultimately feast on him during the apocalypses.
Love the Monty Python reference, who can’t use a little Monty in their everyday life!

deanlorensen

Dang, If I wasn’t so busy last night I would have taken pictures. A buddy killed a monster black bear (539lb hanging/10+ ft long) in September and took it to a locker to be processed. the butcher cut deboned the back legs and netted them. My buddy brought them over to have me make pastrami out of them. I did it but I wasn’t overly impressed with the final product. The meat didn’t seem to take the flavor like I wanted and the butcher didn’t do the greatest job on the cutting. I’m sure the butcher was thinking he was gonna crock pot the roasts and it wouldn’t matter; tons of tendons left and a little odd piece of meat that just fell apart when I un-netted to slice.

Big Game

That sucks. What an amazing bear he got. I killed a bear and didn’t have a local butcher so I went to Yelp. Initially the guy insisted that he could only give me cooked product because of trich danger. I told him to give it back fresh and put a sticker on it, like you get on every package of meat you ever buy. I wasn’t impressed with his Italian sausage. I wish I had butchered it and made sausage myself. Lesson learned, never again.