I have a small bear all cut up and ready in the freezer. It is my first bear, so don't have any experience on how to prepare it. I can cook venison any day , but , I understand bear is a different animal , so to speak. What are your favorites dishes with bear? By the way, I rendered all the fat I could , and used some already to make pastries.
That is what taste good. I leave some fat on all cuts and the extra fat I render down and fry steaks in it. Use bear fat where ever lard shorting or oil is called for. Mix it with venison when making burger. Its whitetail that remove every bit of fat that stuff is what makes venison taste not so good.
This fall bear i am taking extra containers to collect bear fat that other hunters toss.
May be too late now as you may not have saved them . The bear ribs are my all time favorite . We cut them up small enough to put in our Instant Pot. Cook around 1 hour. Take out and place on aluminum foil . Add a dab of your favorite barbeque sauce and place on pre heated grill. I cook that way a little while and then slide them off foil on to grill ,to slightly brown them. Awesome eating !
"May be too late now as you may not have saved them". Guess what! I saved them! As I started butchering, I took a god look at them and though, mmmm... those look good ... My wife makes awesome ribs, next time I'll give her these to prepare.
Use a meat thermometer to ensure you get it hot enough. Rare like an elk or deer steak likely won't cut it. Beyond that every way we've cooked bear turned out great, we don't do anything different than other game meat. I made some bear and oryx parmesan the other night. Cut like steaks, dip in egg, then cheese/bread crumbs, sear, then cook in oven with spaghetti sauce, fresh mozzarella and additional cheese. Yum! We thought the bear was actually better than the oryx, and that's really saying something.
One of the top 5 meals I’ve had in my life, not just game meals, was a bear pot roast in a Dutch oven. Incredible. That was a fall bear eating berries and acorns.