First bear on the board

northgeorgiasportsman said:

I've done bear and hog both, but the process I've found to be most efficient is this:

Take the clean, white fat and cut it into chunks. I prefer to run it through a grinder. It renders quicker and more thoroughly this way. I put it in a cast iron pot and turn the stove on low heat. You don't want to cook it, just melt it. It may take a few hours, but the fat will slowly turn to liquid. At first, it's very cloudy but as you continue to render, it will clear up. I take a slotted spoon and scoop out any solids that are floating. Other impurities will have settled on the bottom. Everything else is pure bear grease. I've used a large syringe (for injecting turkeys) and drawn out the clear liquid and then deposited it into clean jars. It will set up over night and make a pure white grease like Crisco.

We keep ours in the freezer until we need a new jar, and just keep it in the fridge to use as needed. It makes awesome biscuits. I used bear grease to season my Blackstone. It's light and clean, and if you did it right, it has no off-putting flavor or odor. You can put your nose in the jar and can't smell a thing.

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Hey W, question regarding rendering. I've read that the type of fat you collect makes a difference. I read that people collect the fluffy whiter belly fat. Is that about right? Let me also ask this. My bears are going to have to be quartered in the woods and packed out. In the order of work, would you recommend fitting the bear then removing the fat as priority #1 before skinning and making meat cuts? I've gotten dirt on bear and hog before in the process (I am definitely no pro!), but with washing and trimming the meat always turns out fine. I'm imagining there is absolutely no way to clean pure fat once it gets dirty. For the quartering process, I am thinking split up the middle, and roll bear to one side. Skin just under the hair down along the ribs, and then go back and carve off the fat. Then roll the bear to the other side, and repeat. Does that sound about right?

northgeorgiasportsman said:

I've done bear and hog both, but the process I've found to be most efficient is this:

Take the clean, white fat and cut it into chunks. I prefer to run it through a grinder. It renders quicker and more thoroughly this way. I put it in a cast iron pot and turn the stove on low heat. You don't want to cook it, just melt it. It may take a few hours, but the fat will slowly turn to liquid. At first, it's very cloudy but as you continue to render, it will clear up. I take a slotted spoon and scoop out any solids that are floating. Other impurities will have settled on the bottom. Everything else is pure bear grease. I've used a large syringe (for injecting turkeys) and drawn out the clear liquid and then deposited it into clean jars. It will set up over night and make a pure white grease like Crisco.

We keep ours in the freezer until we need a new jar, and just keep it in the fridge to use as needed. It makes awesome biscuits. I used bear grease to season my Blackstone. It's light and clean, and if you did it right, it has no off-putting flavor or odor. You can put your nose in the jar and can't smell a thing.

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At one time Daniel Boone mad a lot of money rendering bear fat and selling it to early settlers. congrats on a nice bear...

Bears are a lot like women, they carry their fat in different places.

In my experience, the most usable fat is found from about the middle of the back down to back of the thighs. The backstraps are usually protected by a healthy layer of fat and the highest quantity of fat is usually along the midsection covering the ribs.

It's easiest to process once the bear is skinned, but I've not done it in the woods. Yes, you're going to get leaves and debris on everything, but I'm not sure that's a big problem. All of that should float to the top in the rendering process and be easily scooped out. If not, I'm sure filtering through cheese cloth would work.

Just as the saying goes, there's a million ways to skin a cat. Well, I've not skinned many cats, but the same can be said for bears. Ideally, I would skin him out and leave his hide on the ground like a blanket. Then I'd roll him onto his stomach with his back up. Make a cut straight down to the backbone from the shoulders all the way back to the tail. Then, start peeling the fat off either side, cutting it away from the meat. Kind of the same you you do a backstrap away from the ribs. Actually, if you've ever cut the side meat for bacon away from the ribs, it's a very similar process. Whatever you do, be prepared to have you and everything you touch covered in grease It's hard to hold onto a knife when both your hands and the knife are slick.

As far as the quality of the fat from different places, I couldn't tell you much. But if it's pure and white, you can't go wrong.

This is from a big bear a couple years ago. There actually wasn't enough fat on this most recent one to even bother with.