Bear meat pasteurization...? - Ask Extension
Hello,
I have harvested my first black bear and want to find a trustworthy source of how to safely cook the meat without simply overcooking it. I ...
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Bear meat pasteurization...? #871559
Asked June 04, 2024, 3:45 PM EDT
Hello,
I have harvested my first black bear and want to find a trustworthy source of how to safely cook the meat without simply overcooking it. I tend to like my red meat medium rare so I'd like to learn about using the sous vide, then sear method. There are a lot of opinions online for how long to sous vide bear but I'm wondering if you have experience with it or trust a particular source for a table or guideline on preparing it.
Thank you!
Jim Cloer
Yamhill County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the question. Congratulations on your first bear!
With bear meat, one of the hazards that we are concerns with is Trichinella, so it is recommended that you always freeze bear meat prior to cooking and consumption. Freezing isn't perfect (there was actually a recent Trichinella outbreak associated with frozen and undercooked bear meat because the Trichinella in wild game is more cold tolerant), so it is also important that you cook it properly to reduce this risk along with the risk of other bacterial food borne pathogens (Salmonella, E. coli, etc).
There are mixed messages about the cooking time required to inactivate Trichinella. That is mostly because very few research groups work with it. Some references say that it is temperature sensitive (relative to bacterial pathogens - which is true),
but the big difference is the location of Trichinella within the meat tissue. Therefore, the recommendation to eliminate the risk of Trichinella is to fully cook (internal temp of >160F for >3 min). Sous vide would be an acceptable way to cook the meat as long as you still achieved this temperature. Meat cooked to this temperature would definitely not be considered "medium rare", but using the sous vide format of cooking can modify the flavor and texture of the meat, which still may be preferable.
Here is a good article from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife with a lot of bear meat recipes.
https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/bear_recipeguide.pdf
Wishing you lots of delicious bear meals.
Thanks for using Ask Extension.
Joy
Thanks for the question. Congratulations on your first bear!
With bear meat, one of the hazards that we are concerns with is Trichinella, so it is recommended that you always freeze bear meat prior to cooking and consumption. Freezing isn't perfect (there was actually a recent Trichinella outbreak associated with frozen and undercooked bear meat because the Trichinella in wild game is more cold tolerant), so it is also important that you cook it properly to reduce this risk along with the risk of other bacterial food borne pathogens (Salmonella, E. coli, etc).
There are mixed messages about the cooking time required to inactivate Trichinella. That is mostly because very few research groups work with it. Some references say that it is temperature sensitive (relative to bacterial pathogens - which is true),
but the big difference is the location of Trichinella within the meat tissue. Therefore, the recommendation to eliminate the risk of Trichinella is to fully cook (internal temp of >160F for >3 min). Sous vide would be an acceptable way to cook the meat as long as you still achieved this temperature. Meat cooked to this temperature would definitely not be considered "medium rare", but using the sous vide format of cooking can modify the flavor and texture of the meat, which still may be preferable.
Here is a good article from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife with a lot of bear meat recipes.
https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/bear_recipeguide.pdf
Wishing you lots of delicious bear meals.
Thanks for using Ask Extension.
Joy
