We have had some mixed results. The Yogi Stew my daughter makes in the crock pot has been delicious, and if I told you it was beef stew you would not know the difference.Are these bears of the anterless type that NY allows you to hunt. Is bear meat any good to eat? I have a bear permit this year along with a doe permit.
My bear was a 3-4 year old woods bear (not eating from garbage dumps), so it is better than most. One set of steaks we cooked were decent, another were good tasing, but so tough you could not eat them. Perhaps it was a change in the cut or cooking method, or both. The first set of steaks were pan fried (w/olive oil in cast iron), the second cooked on the grill, which may have dried them out too much.
The sausage they made is good, but then again, sausage can make anything taste good!
My advice: Keep it cool after harvesting, we put a bag of ice in the gut cavity.
Keep the meat moist when you cook it to prevent it from drying out.