Recommendation

NEWHunter

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Messages
103
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Looks great. Next level right there. I put all my turkeys (smoked) in to pot pies but have never gone the extra mile on the bear fat.
 

Bärenjäger

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 17, 2020
Messages
138
I second the bear fat! Great for frying as well. I made both wild turkey and venison schnitzel fried in the bear oil a few weeks ago. Kids from 1-10 all loved it and thought it was cool that they were eating three different animals in the same meal.

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Sawfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
226
Location
Peoples Republik of Kalifornia
When I hunted bear in Northern California all of the bear guides were under strict orders from their wives to save every drop of bear fat. They swore that it made the lightest tastiest pastries and breads they had ever made. From what I tasted, I believe they were correct.
 
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rclouse79

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,884
Any red potatoes in there? They’re a favorite in the pie at our house. We dice them up small and pretty much boil them through before mixing in.
I have made it a few times and have mixed the veggies up. I have half a turkey breast left. I will try some red potatoes on my last batch. Thanks for the tip.
 

Santa

FNG
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
50
All due respect man...but you cannot post a delicious pic like that and not share the recipe! :cool:Looks amazing! Rendering bear fat is definitely on my mountain man bucket list. Gotta find time to hunt black bear at some point. Thanks for sharing.
 
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rclouse79

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,884
All due respect man...but you cannot post a delicious pic like that and not share the recipe! :cool:Looks amazing! Rendering bear fat is definitely on my mountain man bucket list. Gotta find time to hunt black bear at some point. Thanks for sharing.
I wish I could say it was a secret family recipe passed down from my grandma, but sadly I just found it on the google machine. Type in “dads leftover turkey pot pie”. The recipe calls for a store bought crust, but I made my own. Mixed half a cup of bear grease from the fridge into two cups of flour with a fork. Added a tsp of salt and sugar and an egg then almost 2/3 cup of water (until you get the right consistency.
 
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rclouse79

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,884
You can see from the pic I got almost 3 mason jars from my spring bear. I am wondering how much you would get in the fall. I bet a lot.
 
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rclouse79

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,884
So how does one render bear fat?
This was the first year I have done it, and found some good info online. I spent quite a bit of time trimming it and making sure everything was clean. I put I tiny bit of water in the bottom of the pot and started adding small cubes. As they heat up you start getting a lot of oil in the pot. Within a short amount of time it is a bubbling pot of mostly liquid. I adjusted the heat so it would just barely simmer. I let it go for a couple hours. I am not sure if I could have got more oil if I had let it go longer. I saw one guy on YouTube did it in a crockpot for most of the day and his oil turned out a lot darker than mine. When you are done each cube is a tiny crispy nugget that looks like a pork rind. I salted and peppered all of those after I strained them out. I always use my three year old as the ultimate tester, since she doesn’t have any preconceived notions about what is good or gross. She gave them two tiny thumbs up, although that might not mean much considering I have caught her eating boogers before. They were too rich for any serious snacking and I ended up tossing most of them. In hind sight I wish I had frozen them for my dog. I put all the jars of oil in the fridge and they turn a nice solid white. I did several tests where I would make fried potatoes with it and not tell my family. I got more compliments than normal on the dinners where I used the bear fat.
 

Sawfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
226
Location
Peoples Republik of Kalifornia
The best dishes often have no recipes. Render Bear fat the same way that you would render pork lard. Place clean pieces of fat in a cast iron dutch oven. Cook over medium high heat until the fat in completely melted. Strain into clean wide mouth vars and refrigerate.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Messages
905
Location
Broomfield, CO
Is there any special handling of the fat recommended in the field if on a backcountry hunt? Leave attached to meat? Separate? Same tolerance to temps/hanging in the field for a few days as meat?
 
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rclouse79

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,884
Is there any special handling of the fat recommended in the field if on a backcountry hunt? Leave attached to meat? Separate? Same tolerance to temps/hanging in the field for a few days as meat?
I just left it on the meat until I butchered it, although I packed it out the night I shot it, left it on ice for one day and processed it the next. Seemed to work alright. I don’t know if you would have to do things differently on a backpack hunt.
 
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