i need a recipe for black bear meatloaf
Question:
does anyone out there know a recipe for black bear meat loaf i need to have one by saturday for my hunting clubs game dinner . i really don’t have a clue if bear meat needs any specila treatment thanks for any help
Response:
>does anyone out there know a recipe for black bear meat loaf i need to
have one by saturday for my hunting clubs game dinner . i really don’t >have a clue if bear meat needs any specila treatment
thanks for any help As far as meat loaf goes, we just make it the same as beef meat loaf using beef fat to make it stick together. With bear, as with any carnivore, you must treat the meat as if it carried trichinae. This is how all pork is now treated in the US. If you call your local USDA office and ask them to send you copies of how pork is treated they will be happy to do it. It is estimated that in some areas 10% of the bears carry trichinae. The guy at the USDA I talked a few years ago said that there had been no reported cases of trichinosis in the US from commercially raised pork since these treatment guidelines were adopted. Basically there are two ways, heat and cold. It is a matter of size, time and temperature with both methods. If you leave it in your home freezer long enough in small enough pieces that should be sufficient provided your home freezer goes now to the minimum requirements. If your freezer will not go down that low or if you are in a hurry to eat your bear (the home freezer method takes 20 to 30 days) you can cook the bear well done and that will kill any trichinae. I believe that the internal temperature of the meat must be at least 144 degrees F to kill any trichinae instantly. It can be a lower temperature for a longer duration to kill the worm also. All this is spelled out in the USDA guidelines. There are tables with temperature, required time duration at said temperature, and the maximum thickness of the meat portions allowed at that time and temperature. The tables are both for the cold and heat method of treatment. If you want to be certain, just treat the bear 50% longer than required by the cold method and then cook it well done too. That way you will be certain of killing any little critters in there. Trichinosis is very serious but is easily prevented. I would suggest that you talk to the USDA before preparing any of the meat. Also there are some states that will test the meat for you to make certain that it is free from trichinae. Generally you send the tongue in. I don’t know what state you live in, but you might want to give your wildlife department a call and see if they do anything like that. Jim
Response:
> does anyone out there know a recipe for black bear meat loaf i need to > have one by saturday for my hunting clubs game dinner . i really don’t > have a clue if bear meat needs any specila treatment > thanks for any help
Danny, Here is a conversation I had with the Elitist last year after I harvested a Black Bear. I know it’s not the recipe your after, but none the less important info.. Jist is, cook it good and/or freeze it for a month or so. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to pass on a pretty nasty parasite. I believe the Elitist’s position still stands but I copied him on this Mike in Oregon Original text >Elitist, >I have a quick question for you. I harvested a black bear over the weekend >and I wondered if the meat would be free of Triganosis (sp) after being >made into jerkey via the salt brine and dehydrator method. I don’t fully >know what triganosis is, but have heard that about 3% of the black bear >population has it.
That’s "trichinosis." The trichinia organism is a serious parasite, and affects humans. It’s Trichinella spiralis, a nematode (roundworm) that’s found in bears, pigs, rats, and humans (if they eat the infected flesh of other animals). When infected meat is eaten without proper cooking, the cysts (dormant in the meat) will dissolve, the parasite matures, and the larvae enter the body. Symptoms of trichinosis include fatigue, muscle aches, and general debility, and sever infestation can be fatal. Trichnosis is rare in commercial pork, though it didn’t used to be: pork nowadays is frozen for a month or so before sale (which kills the parasite) and it also is destroyed by thorough cooking. Back in my youth pigs used to be fed on garbage, and this often spread the parasite from one organism to the other, and the cessation of the practice has helped curb its spread. Nowadays nearly all cases stem from home-raised and cured pork. I would be very, very leery of bear meat, and would treat it like pork: freeze it for at least a month at temperature around -20 degrees F; and cook it throughly before eating. Jerky is risky: it’s not cooked, really, and the drying process may not kill the cysts. I would think that if you made jerky from **frozen** meat you’d be OK, though. If in doubt, have the local health department give you an evaluation. Bears carry trichinosis because so many of them scavenge garbage, they may pick it up. They can also get it from carrion, and so even a bear that is harvested far from civilization may carry it. Play it safe: use only well-cooked bear meat in your recipes, just like you would for pork. Forego jerky, it may be asking for trouble. If a genuine certified meat inspector says your bear is trichinosis free, freeze it anyway before making it into jerky. The Elitist Elitist, Thanks a lot for the info.. It was exactly what I was after. I believe I will freeze the meat for a month or two as you suggest. I think I will go ahead and jerkey some of it, but I think I will let it soak in the brine longer than normal and turn the dehydrator up as high as it will go (175F or so). Between the freezing, brine, and high heat drying it should be fine. Thanks a lot, Mike in Oregon
