The first time I had an Angel Biscuit, I thought I had died and gone to pastry heaven. We were deep in the redwoods, staying at a cabin with no electricity in the middle of bear country. Not sure I should have even brought my infant and toddler along on this bear hunting adventure, my mind changed as soon as I tasted dinner. Bear Stew & Angel Biscuits followed by a pie that tasted just like my great-aunt Neva’s.
Right away, my mouth still full, I asked our hostess for the recipe. “Oh, these are so easy to make, the only secret is the bear fat,” stated Maryann. “Bear fat?” I questioned, feeling a bit queasy. Maryann then proceeded to tell me how easy it was to get hundreds of pounds of bear fat/grease/lard and how that is all she uses for cooking and deep frying.
At that point, I had been living off game meat for over a decade but I had never rendered fat down to cooking grease from any animal. Now, I had eaten muktuk (whale blubber) fermented in seal oil when living in the arctic region of Alaska but for the most part, fat is something I always carefully removed from my animals when butchering.
Rendering bear fat is something I have wanted to do for ages. Especially knowing the secret to my great-aunt Neva’s pie crust was rendered pig fat or lard. When I was a kid, we didn’t discuss those details over dessert, we were to busy racing for seconds. People wonder why they can’t make pie crust like “grandma” did… shortening and/or butter are not animal fat. The best way to achieve pie greatness is using animal fat. For the health conscious, I get it, saturated, animal fat is suppose to be bad for us… but I also believe that all the fake stuff is pretty detrimental too. Moderation is the key and rest assured, I am not going to substitute bear lard for an everyday cooking oil. I would never abandon my favorites – coconut, olive and walnut oil. Now, lets get a little greasy!
- Remove fat from the bear as soon as possible. If the bear has a lot of fat or it is hot outside, the bear may need to cool off a bit to make for easier handling.
- Clean the fat from any debris, hair or meat.
- Store bear in the refrigerator prior to rendering.
- Cut bear into small chunks. The smaller the chunks, the less rendering time.
- Fat can be rendered in the oven at 300º, in a crock pot (high heat and covered for the first hour, remove the lid and decrease heat for the rest of the process), over the stove on low or outside on a grill burner. I prefer rendering outside as the smell in the house can be pretty strong.
Add 1/4-3/4 cup of water to a heavy pot or Dutch oven.
Water amount can vary, the purpose is to get the fat rendering and not let it stick or brown/burn right away.
All water eventually evaporates.
Place fat chunks in Dutch oven and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Turn heat to low.
The fat takes a good hour or two to begin to render and it will seem like you are just stirring chunks around in a bit of water.
If the water begins to evaporate add another 1/4-1/2 cup or so.
Fat can be rendered “dry” but it must be watched carefully as the flavor can be tainted or too strong if the fat browns.
Fat may take 3-6 hours to render.
You will know it is getting close to done when the fat turns to light brown “cracklings” and they appear to be deep frying.
As the cracklings render their fat, they begin to sink to the bottom of the pot.
Be careful, cracklings can pop and crackle in little mini-explosions (another reason I like to do this outside).
Turn off the heat and remove cracklings with a slotted spoon or pour fat through a wire/mesh sieve.
Be very careful, this stuff is HOT.
One more strain through cheesecloth and the process is complete.
If desired, strain fat one more time through another layer of clean cheesecloth.
Once the large cracklings are removed, they can be lightly salted and enjoyed warm.
They can also be chopped and substituted for bacon bits.
Once cooled, they can be re-crisped in a 375º oven 20-25 minutes.
The rendered bear fat is a golden color and resembles vegetable oil.
As it cools it will begin to turn white.
Store fat in glass jars in the refrigerator or freezer for long term. Fat can also be poured into mini- or regular muffin tins, frozen and popped out into freezer bags for individual serving portions.
Up next…
Angel Biscuits
Apple Pie
Cornbread with Cracklings
My first bear taken a few years ago in British Columbia.
