Our family has used this recipe as long as I can remember and has changed the minds of many that would only use the word “disgusting” to describe eating bear. These delicious and very rich steaks are great for home but can also easily be cooked in the field when you’re lucky enough to harvest a bear early into your trip.
Ingredients needed:
Salt, Pepper, Brown Sugar, Flour, Butter. Measurements for individual ingredients can be adjusted to personal preference.
Prepping Steaks and Marinade
Cut steaks to a thickness of about 1” and trim excess fat.
Cover the bottom of marinating container generously with brown sugar. I prefer to use a glass or ceramic crock for marinating.
Salt and pepper both sides of steaks, I like to use coarse ground black pepper and coarse salt. *Note: The steak can be seasoned to your liking, but I usually find myself wishing I would have added more pepper, so a little extra never hurts.
Place seasoned steaks in crock and directly on the brown sugar.
Generously cover the steaks with another layer of brown sugar.
If you still have steaks remaining repeat the same process with another layer of seasoned steaks/brown sugar.
At this point all surfaces of the steak should be covered lightly in brown sugar. You will now want to cover your container with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in and place in fridge to marinate.
Most of the work is done at this point and you can leave your steaks until tomorrow morning.
After resting overnight, remove the plastic wrap and drain blood/liquid from the container. The goal is to get rid of the blood pulled by the salt/sugar while not losing the thicker syrup type marinade left behind. Once the blood has been drained off, flip steaks and make sure they are well coated with marinade, recover with plastic wrap and place back in the fridge.
Repeat this process again in the evening, and again the following morning/evening.
Cooking
For safety reasons, always make sure to cook bear meat thoroughly to avoid risk of trichinosis. It is recommended that the internal temperature should reach 160 degrees for 3 minutes or more before consumption.
Preheat cast iron or nonstick pan and melt a liberal amount of butter. I usually just start with a whole stick, but for smaller batches of steak you can adjust accordingly.
Brush off any excess marinade from steaks and dredge in flower. I personally like to add a little more pepper/salt into my dredge. I just think it just adds more layers of flavor. Fry at medium heat for the first couple of minutes. Please note that the actual cook time is reliant on the thickness of your steak, so use your own judgment and make sure to check the internal temperature.
Flip steaks as needed to prevent sticking and to cook evenly.
Once steaks are mostly cooked through, turn up to a medium high heat to get a nice crisp finish.
You will notice that the color of the meat will take on a darker, deeper color than fresh bear meat. This is not a bad thing and is totally normal however, you will want to make sure that the steak has reached proper temperature as the color can be deceiving. The result should be a semi firm and flavorful steak rich in flavor.
Photo by: Kiley Eames
