Pulled Bear?

For my "Thursday Lunch Playdate" I am going to try to make some pulled bear. I am also going to do some pulled pork in case people don't like the bear. I am tempted to do both meats the exact same so you can really taste the difference. However, the pork is just grocery store pork so it will not have a lot of the "outside" flavor of free ranging. So maybe I should tame the bear a bit.

If I do the meats differently I am tempted to use a cinnamon infused marinade with the bear. I am thinking about starting them either in my smoker or on the gas grill. The gas grill is one with covered radiant heat so I could easily add some smoke to it. I thought regardless of which I do I would finish both wrapped in foil in the oven. I would open them up for a few minutes at the end, give them a mop or two and using the upper element to crisp their surfaces.

I am thinking instead of a completely dry rub using a paste of the rub and apple cider vinegar.

When completed I thought I would pull the two meats and then mix a little of the Carolina type sauce/mop into each meat.

I am planning on doing this all Wednesday and then bring the pulled meat to be reheated wrapped in foil on Thursday.

Any thoughts ?

Go shoot a hog so you can get that 'outside' flavor in the pork.

rwj

I'm not quite sure why, but this thread reminds me of a dozen or more jokes about men meeting with bears while in the woods. No fear though...I shall not tell any of those jokes.

Go shoot a hog so you can get that 'outside' flavor in the pork.

rwj

In fact when we have time, my son is trying to arrange a location for that north of our cabin...feral hogs. Really most domestic pork now days is tasteless. IMHO market pork other than bacon, ribs and ground as a sausage meat it really doesn't have a lot to offer.

Why not do the traditional Carolina barbecue routine? Rub the meats liberally with a dry rub (such as the excellent one Chef Carey posted) and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. Then start a hickory or oak log fire in your smoker, and let them cook slowly at low heat (just over boiling--220 F or thereabouts) for several hours. Baste with a mopping sauce (such as the marinade you had been planning) every hour or so. When the meat is tender, let it cool a bit and then pull it apart and serve with a barbecue sauce of vinegar and hot chile flakes on the side.

This preparation makes even a commercial pork Boston butt worthwhile, and it ought to be a good way to tame the bear.

-Paul W.

My favorite.......

Drew

Drew, I LOL every time I see that one!

Looks like a nice idea to me.