N.Y. Yankee
32 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2013
- Messages
- 617
- Reaction score
- 713
Use bear grease to make a good pie crust
Bear Grease..............
- Thread starter ETipp
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Heat it 50/50 with bees wax for patch lube. The old timers used tallow, bear grease with bees wax. I'm easy so I just use Crisco with bees wax...really cannot get tallow or bear grease.
Agreed, I save mine for any baking.
Thanks. I did mix just a little bear grease with beeswax. I think I wrote down the mixture so I'll check and see. I don't think it was 50/50.
Does it get rancid?
No pure bear grease is not suppose to go rancid. However, the stuff I have has to be kept in the freezer because it actually melts into a thick and very slick oil if it sets out.
It shines up a barrel and the stock quite well also.
Native Americans not only cooked with bear grease, but use it on their skin and hair. They didn't have freezers at the time. I have never personally cooked with it, but then I don't live in bear country. It is said to be almost flavorless. I have obtained bear grease from a friend, and can say it's one of the best patch lubes I've ever used.
I've killed a few bears and the only fat that I remember when butchering them up was thick stuff like on the back end of a deer. I know it didn't melt. I don't know what part of the bear this came from but unless it is kept frozen, it melts. Very slick stuff.
Shouldn't bear grease be filtered after rendering to remove the impurities?
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2020
- Messages
- 7,495
- Reaction score
- 21,016
- Location
- On the Border in Idaho looking at BC
when i rendered mine the oil separated from the impurities when i put it into a jar. kept warm the impurities settled to the bottom and i just decanted the good stuff off the top. My stash sits in the garage and is a solid grease unless i bring it into the house.
just shot my fowler with round ball and a bear greased wad over powder, and hornets nest over ball. 10 shots into a 6 inch group at 30 yards.
i also rang the gong 3 times out of 3 at 60 yards. thought about putting sights on it but am happy with it as is.
I soaked the patch material, mattress ticking, in it. The Crisco never went rancid...don't know much about bear grease, might try it with lard see how that works. I found an old loading block, Forster loading block, tactical loading block, military loading block depends who's naming it. A block of wood about the width of the balls to be used, with numerous holes drilled. Then start the the ball & patch, seat the ball in the wood cut the patch then all you have to do is place the ball over the muzzle & just push the ball & patch into the rifle with the short starter. Anyway an old loaded block loaded for almost 50 years ago, patch still lubed but the wax turned to crust. I made several blocks one has a dozen holes the other 10 two is all I have left.
Let me know if your formula gives a different ratio.
Will do. I'm writing down recipes as I go. Also will post my findings after shooting them through my ML.
This little bottle (empty now) lasted a year on the shelf - did not go rancid, not mixed with anything.
I have more in the freezer.
Bear grease will stay liquid above...say...38 degrees, will turn almost solid around 22 degrees.
Also depends on how well it was rendered down - this bottle is Pure.
Do Not cook with it if it was not rendered for food!
Pie Crust is made from the Bear Lard; heavier stuff that settles to the bottom while rendering.
Works GREAT as a patch lube, I have only used it wet, no wax added. It does not dry out like other store bought stuff I have used - never tested just how long, but I have had patches stay fresh at least a week.
Compared to TOW Mink Oil and Shenandoah Lube; I found Bear Oil noticeably slicker going down the barrel.
As for using for cooking; I have been Told that some Bear taste better then others...I have been Told that 'trash bear' (ones who feed from garbage) can taste pretty foul.
Also I have been Told that when rendering (good) bear fat the Crackling can be skimmed out, dried, and tasted pretty good, was Told that if from a bad bear then "toss the crackling to the birds, the live it".
I have more in the freezer.
Bear grease will stay liquid above...say...38 degrees, will turn almost solid around 22 degrees.
Also depends on how well it was rendered down - this bottle is Pure.
Do Not cook with it if it was not rendered for food!
Pie Crust is made from the Bear Lard; heavier stuff that settles to the bottom while rendering.
Works GREAT as a patch lube, I have only used it wet, no wax added. It does not dry out like other store bought stuff I have used - never tested just how long, but I have had patches stay fresh at least a week.
Compared to TOW Mink Oil and Shenandoah Lube; I found Bear Oil noticeably slicker going down the barrel.
As for using for cooking; I have been Told that some Bear taste better then others...I have been Told that 'trash bear' (ones who feed from garbage) can taste pretty foul.
Also I have been Told that when rendering (good) bear fat the Crackling can be skimmed out, dried, and tasted pretty good, was Told that if from a bad bear then "toss the crackling to the birds, the live it".
Attachments
I wonder, what do you mean by "Chunk" of bear Grease?
The bear Oil I posted above if the oil that floats to the Top when rendering the fat.
When rendering Fat you get three main parts:
Oil - on top
Lard - on the bottom
Grease - in between
I also have a tub of Bear Grease I got from an Indean tribe, they use it to preserve and maintain raw hide drums. It too is very much a liquid but more dense, darker in color but still Very Slick.
But again it all depends on how it was rendered down and how well they filtered the levels.
"Chuck" makes me wonder...
Treated my hunting boots with bear grease one elk season. Figured all the bear would be napping by then. While backtracking myself out in the snow I found a bear had been trailing me all day. Just a thought.
EDIT: I still have that jar of grease I rendered, 47 years ago. It lasts a long time.
EDIT: I still have that jar of grease I rendered, 47 years ago. It lasts a long time.
A chunk of bear grease........as in a frozen chunk of bear grease. Neighbor brought it over in a large zip lock freezer bag. I put it in the freezer and a few days later when I got it out of the freezer, I cut a smaller chunk off and put the rest back in the freezer. I was surprised to see after the chunk I cut off sat out for a while, it melted into a thick oil as is.
Neighbor said a buddy killed a bear and gave that chunk to him. That's all I know about that frozen chunk of bear grease, other than its slicker than slick. I know not if it has been rendered or not. I used it straight, as is, for a patch lube and the only parts of the .015" patch I found was blown all to pieces. I am, however, in the process of mixing it with different mixtures of beeswax and have actually done so but haven't tested it yet.
I also know its great to apply to the outside of a barrel as well as the stock. But I will most likely not be using it for that, it was just a test. I want to hang onto what little bit of bear grease I have for patch lube recipes.
Last edited:
user 48702
Richard Turner
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2020
- Messages
- 1,142
- Reaction score
- 2,799
I use Foggy Mountain's Bearguard leather dressing. All natural, made from bear fat and beeswax, no other ingredients, but I don't know what the mix ratio is between beeswax and bear fat. You can use it for a bullet lube, as well as patches, just pass the patch across the dressing or drag your patching strip across the surface. I coat the barrel channel and also rub down the barrel with it. If you decide to try it, just make sure you buy the "Original" with no pigment as they do make it in brown and black. We began using it in our shop as a leather dressing back about 1991, then the original manufacturer stopped making it. It has been back in production for a number of years, 15 years or so, under new ownership. Back in the early days, we even sold a few cases to the USMC for use as it was originally designed, as a boot dressing during cold weather training and it was also tested and evaluated by troops at NATEC. Thought I would try it after I kept seeing all these comments about using beeswax and other vegetable oils or fat, including bear oil. I even rub the edges of leather wads across the wax for use in smoothbores. I had a few cans left from when I sold it years ago and had forgot about. Some of these cans of Bearguard have to be at least 15 to 20 years old. No signs of spoilage or going rancid, looks like it was just packaged yesterday, and still has that that honey/beeswax smell.
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
- Messages
- 1,112
- Reaction score
- 1,231
You refer to the guy wearing , not the bear grease /oil as it does not go rancid ! Just looked /smelled and after 5+yrs still no smell stored in the basement on a shelf /the oil is also clear as water no wax used/needed/EdOnly works after rancid
Mike in FL
50 Cal.
Cherokee used it against mosquitos. But it turns rancid and stinks something awful. No actual experience but learned that during research for a book.
beardedhorse
Pilgrim
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2014
- Messages
- 491
- Reaction score
- 390
rmefbowhunter: is that with a .610 round ball and anything added to the bear grease for lube? I mix mine with beeswax. ETip: Red stripe and blue stripe pillow ticking will get you .015 and .019 thick patches. Seems peculiar on the patch destruction you're experiencing. Is ball too small or rifling too deep? Or .015 too thick and tight and tearing in loading?
2:1 grease to beeswax lube works well in fall and cold winter hunting in Colorado. Straight bear grease too runny in the summer and can soak your powder if not shot right away. Accuracy compares favorably with commercial lubed patched with non petroleum lube.
I use half bear grease and half unsalted butter for my pie crusts which I've entered in national pie baking championships. Drink lots of water after eating as it really dries you out. Native American ladies really want bear grease to put on their hair. Suppose to keep it from getting more gray if they already have some gray hair.
Rendering should be done slow and low heat and filtered through fine cloth. It is imperative to trim off any meat or dark spots. If done right will keep on shelf in tightly sealed mason jar. Or can be kept in freezer. Any rancid grease is not culinary but craft grade and good for grease and heat straightening of arrow shafts and atlatl dart and even ramrods.
2:1 grease to beeswax lube works well in fall and cold winter hunting in Colorado. Straight bear grease too runny in the summer and can soak your powder if not shot right away. Accuracy compares favorably with commercial lubed patched with non petroleum lube.
I use half bear grease and half unsalted butter for my pie crusts which I've entered in national pie baking championships. Drink lots of water after eating as it really dries you out. Native American ladies really want bear grease to put on their hair. Suppose to keep it from getting more gray if they already have some gray hair.
Rendering should be done slow and low heat and filtered through fine cloth. It is imperative to trim off any meat or dark spots. If done right will keep on shelf in tightly sealed mason jar. Or can be kept in freezer. Any rancid grease is not culinary but craft grade and good for grease and heat straightening of arrow shafts and atlatl dart and even ramrods.
