I'm grasping at straws here. I've been asked to smoke a black bear ham for a wild game dinner. I'm not finding a lot of helpful info online. Most of what I've found says to brine it for 10 days. But I've got to have it for Saturday.

I remember seeing something about bear meat on an episode of Monsters Inside me on animal planet. Apparently bear meat has a a particular parasite that will invade a human if the meat is not cooked completely.

Here is the link related to that story:

[Link: redoubtreporter.wordpress.com]

Yeah, trichanosis. Like pork. Got to cook it to 150. Or that's apparently why some brine it for 10 days.

Brining is traditionally done to add moistness and flavor. I would not say that it is proof versus trichinosis. I would suggest low and slow over a long period of time to break it down.... also, consider marinating in some sort of spirit; I've use tequila in the past to good effect on long roasting meat.

[Link: bbq-brethren.com]

Poke around there. If they don't know then you are SOL.

What I was reading was more like a salt cure for at least ten days. It used a special curing salt called tender quick, that I can't even find locally if i wanted to.

Looks like I'll try brining for a day or two and then rub with my usual rub

The principles are the same as for any other meat. If you want to brine it, brine it. Go heavier on the salt if you have a shorter time. Season liberally. Smoke it low and slow. Use a temp. probe so you know when it is right. Enjoy.

Or just do what Bear Grylls would do and eat it raw!!! Ok I never saw him eat bear raw....be he did grab a trout straight out of a creek, and bite right into its spine. That is as fresh as it gets right there.

Don't take any chances. If it says 150 degrees, take it to 155 degrees. If it comes out poorly, who's going to be there to say "I've had better!"?

Oh well, we will see how this goes

Hell, I thought we was havin' Possum.... ;-)

We might wish we were by the time it's done.

I'd try a meat injector to help speed the brine.

Unfortunately pretty much everyone that's there. This church does a wild game dinner every year. I don't know who normally does the best meat, but my uncle has been going there and volunteered me to do it in the smoker this year

I was thinking of doing that today. Last night when I picked the meet up, it was still half frozen.

What a guy. Volunteers you to smoke something that isn't commonly eaten.

Don't know what cut of mat, but here's a link in case it's the ham-

[Link: fieldandstream.com]

This shows brining for ten days, too. Might want to find out why that's needed before rushing it.