Note to self: Don't cook bear ribs like your beef and pork ribs

ceriksson

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I like my beef and pork ribs really tough and simple. I don't go for the melt off the bone type.

My recipe for the above is what my dad did as a kid is to simply spray on soy sauce and sprinkle some salt on them on the BBQ.

tried that with some ribs from my bear that I got this spring and didn't come out right at all.

Next time i've been told to boil them first a bit with a bit of vinegar then slow cook them in either a slow cooker or low on the bbq with sauce.

felt like a waste but at least I didn't make that many and have lots more to cook and learnt my lesson early on.
 
Didn't taste too well, at all actually. I like a gamey flavour but the ribs didn't taste like anything bordering edible.

I have a good cooking method to try next time. it involves vinegar apparently. Don't know the details off the top of my head.

My brother cooked some up a while ago with this method and they were apparently delicious. I had a bad head cold though and my nose was stuffed so I unfortuntaly couldn't taste much.
 
Probably the case. not much work went into butchering the ribs. Most of one side was shot out and we just cut the rest into racks.

I can't recall seeing much fat on them but it was close enough though as it was pretty foul tasting.

I'll find out from my brother what he did exactly, but IIRC it involved first boiling them shortly with a touch of vinegar in the water which apparently removes almost all of the foul taste. Then I don't remember if there was another step before hitting the BBQ or not. and they also had BBQ sauce on them too so that would also hide a bit of the gamey taste.

I have a hard time with all this "removing the gameyness" part as I like to keep my game as natural as possible otherwise it kinda defeats the purpose and I might as well go to the grocery store and buy beef or pork.

The steaks I made from that bear were absolutely delicious though and so is all the pepperoni and salami
 
I learned this from an animal Navy chief that lives in my neighbourhood and have been doing it for a few years always to rave reviews and an occasional sideways look when I tell them the boiling ingredient. It may sound a little off, but try boiling them in pure Pepsi. The acid in the Pepsi will do the same as the acid in the vinegar and add a sweet taste to the meat. This is what I do beef/pork and will be trying it on my deer ribs in the near future:

  1. Cut the rack into 4-5 rib chunks (or whatever suits you or the pot size).
  2. Place the rib chunks into a tall pot (I use my corn cob boiling pot) and cover with Pepsi with a little extra to account for the long boil. I have had at add some sometimes.
  3. Set stove to max to bring to a boil and reduce to medium after it boils. Boil for two hours. A lot of foam and fat and gunk will rise to the surface. Skim it off or leave it what ever floats your boat.
  4. After they've boiled, transfer them to the BBQ over direct low heat for about a 1/2 hour coated in a nice smoky BBQ sauce to get the grilled flavour on them and devour.

It works really well for beef and pork and I don't see why it wouldn't for deer or bear. The long boil boils off a lot of the fat and with it some of the stronger gamey taste in the case of deer or bear I would think. Let me know if you try it.
 
Wow now thats a new one.

Maybe I'll have to do a test piece

I learned this from an animal Navy chief that lives in my neighbourhood and have been doing it for a few years always to rave reviews and an occasional sideways look when I tell them the boiling ingredient. It may sound a little off, but try boiling them in pure Pepsi. The acid in the Pepsi will do the same as the acid in the vinegar and add a sweet taste to the meat. This is what I do beef/pork and will be trying it on my deer ribs in the near future:

  1. Cut the rack into 4-5 rib chunks (or whatever suits you or the pot size).
  2. Place the rib chunks into a tall pot (I use my corn cob boiling pot) and cover with Pepsi with a little extra to account for the long boil. I have had at add some sometimes.
  3. Set stove to max to bring to a boil and reduce to medium after it boils. Boil for two hours. A lot of foam and fat and gunk will rise to the surface. Skim it off or leave it what ever floats your boat.
  4. After they've boiled, transfer them to the BBQ over direct low heat for about a 1/2 hour coated in a nice smoky BBQ sauce to get the grilled flavour on them and devour.

It works really well for beef and pork and I don't see why it wouldn't for deer or bear. The long boil boils off a lot of the fat and with it some of the stronger gamey taste in the case of deer or bear I would think. Let me know if you try it.
 
Tried the Pepsi recipe tonight on the venison ribs. Was Fantastic. Myself nor my kids could get enough. We ate every rib on that deer! Tasted great. For a sauce, I took a couple cups of a spicy BBQ sauce (Presidents Choice extra spicy) and added a few table spoons of brown sugar to add some stickiness to it.
 
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