capoeirajosh Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Hey, everyone! I have a meat question for ya. Here's how it went down with my bear. Shot the bear at around 8 a.m. Didn't get to the bear until 3 p.m. Bear was in a nice shady spot and the weather was in the high 50's low 60's. Got the bear back to the cooler by 6 p.m. Processed the back straps right when I got home at around 9 or 10 p.m. The rest of the meat stayed on ice in my cooler until about 3 p.m. the next day, due to work. Got done processing the whole rest of the bear by 1 a.m. Meat goes into the freezer. The next morning at around 10 a.m. I go into the freezer to grab the hide and skull to head to game and fish and notice that some of the meat wasn't frozen, yet had been in the freezer all night. Now that the hide is out, all of the meat is rock solid frozen. My question is, do you think the meat is still fine even though it wasn't frozen solid, but in the freezer? Is there anything I should look out for to tell if the meat is bad? Thanks in advance! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capoeirajosh Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Probably fine, cook it well done, Green Chili Bear Stew... yummmm... Congrats again Josh... Nice!! That sounds awesome! I made some up last night. Just pan fried some in some butter and through it in a bearrito! Not too bad. Tasted like beef for the most part. A bit chewy, but good. I can't wait to try out the stews and roasts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deercrazy Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Sounds to me like you should be fine with the meat. Like stated, cook well and enjoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Should be fine. You can always rely on the old sniff test. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThomC Report post Posted October 9, 2015 In the last episode of the Edge of Alaska a woman killed a bear. She showed the worms trichinosis. No problem. Her neighbors had a barbeque. Cook well, add spices, serve to your neighbors, in-laws, ex's, Obama, G&F commissioners wild meat banquet, etc. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capoeirajosh Report post Posted October 10, 2015 Dry season a chunk of Bear meat, pepper, chili powder, onion/garlic powder... Sear in frying pan with butter/olive oil mix till outside is blackened... place in crock-pot with... one can of whole black beans one can of pinto beans two cans of tomitillos can can of diced tomatoes chopped fine onion more black pepper, chili powder, bay leaves and a spoonfull of instant coffee... Green chilis... add salt when meat is fully cooked(salt tends to toughen meat)... Pacifico's!!! The meat will fall part and is perfect wrapped in a tortilla or served with rice/roasted potatoes... Enjoy... Holy moly that sounds amazing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lonne Report post Posted October 10, 2015 Meat is probably ok, but you can definitely always use the smell test like someone said or if it starts looking real funny :-) Ideally you want to keep the meat below 42-43 degrees, to age it, they say, but it never fails I've had meat out in 50-60 degree temps when get to it and still gotta do the gutting & skinning. In that condition as long as you gutted it ASAP, you'd probably know if the meat was spoiled. Sounds like you got it on ice as soon as you could, and it's ok for the meat to age in whole larger cuts vs smaller. Smaller & hamburger is where it will rot fast. Bigger, larger roasts tend to stay good for awhile and/or the rot starts from the outside in, I think. Will let someone who knows better chime in but you're probably good to go. Lonne 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capoeirajosh Report post Posted October 10, 2015 Thanks for the info everyone. Should I always use a meat thermometer when cooking bear, say on the grill or in a pan to make sure the temp gets to 170? Or do you just need to make sure that it is cooked all the way through? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lonne Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Hey Josh, since I'm cooking up my first bear too, here's some of the research I found. I think the general advice by the govt is to burn it, and you'll be safe. LOL. Easiest way for them to avoid any kind of liability and they can say "I told you so!" This is an interesting read: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/wild-chef/2012/12/meat-week-how-smoke-black-bear-ham Particularly this part: from Double D wrote 2 years 10 months ago I appreciate your questions about trichinae, but stick to my 155 degree suggestion, which it what most information on smoking ham suggests. Here's some more information from the USDA sheet on trichinae: "Cooking - Commercial preparation of pork products by cooking requires that meat be heated to internal temperatures which have been shown to inactivate trichinae. For example, Trichinella spiralis is killed in 47 minutes at 52° C (125.6° F), in 6 minutes at 55° C (131° F), and in < 1 minute at 60° C (140° F). The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations for processed pork products reflects experimental data, and requires pork to be cooked for 2 hours at 52.2° C (126° F), for 15 minutes at 55.6° C (132° F), and for 1 minute at 60° C (140° F). The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that consumers of fresh pork cook the product to an internal temperature of 71° C or 160° F. Although this is considerably higher than temperatures at which trichinae are killed (about 55° C or 131° F), it allows for different methods of cooking which do not always result in even distribution of temperature throughout the meat." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lonne Report post Posted October 11, 2015 And looks like that comes from: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/trichinae/docs/fact_sheet.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lonne Report post Posted October 13, 2015 oneshot thanks I' m gonna try this too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
