Slow Cooked Beer Bison

Food is a hot topic at work.  I naturally talk about food all the time, and getting to discuss what I love makes work even more fun. A few of my coworkers and I were discussing the flavor possibilities of bison, and one in particular had tried a recipe cooking it in beer and had it turn out great.  Once beer was involved in the equation, I was sold on the concept of bison and had to try the recipe out.  I didn't even realize how long it had been since my last crock pot dish, Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken and Fries, way back in September, so this was a surefire sign I needed to get some food cooking in there!


Bison is a bit of a specialty item, and wasn't available at my regular grocery store.  I picked some up at Whole Foods so I could try it out.  I had my friend send me the original recipe, which was actually for a pot roast.  I converted it simply making 1 pound instead of 4 and cutting back on the other ingredients.

The first step was preparing the bison by seasoning it in some salt, pepper, onion powder and paprika.  I rubbed the seasonings on the outside of the steaks and set them in the crock pot.  I poured the beer on next, submerging the steaks part of the way.  I set the crock pot on high.

After 4 hours, the steaks smelled amazing and were feeling super tender.

I started working on the roasted garlic at this point so that I could mix it in with the shredded bison steak.  I peeled off some layers of garlic until the dry parts were gone.  The site with the roast recipe also had a roasted garlic recipe that I found useful.  Then, I used a knife to cut the very top part of the garlic head off and speed olive oil over the top.  I covered it with tin foil and put it in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes.  Finally, I peeled the garlic the rest of the way and mashed the cloves with a fork, leaving small chunks.  Below is how the garlic looked when it came out of the oven.

I shredded the bison, then stirred in about 3 cloves of the mashed garlic.  I covered the bison again and let it cook for about 30 more minutes.

Here's a closer peek at the finished product.

Holy yes.  The best adjective I can think of to describe the flavor is "meaty".  I didn't detect much of the beer, but the garlic added a great flavor.  I only made a pound, so this turned out to be quite a small recipe, however I will definitely be picking more up because I already have another recipe suggested from a chef friend at work that I want to try out with it.  First bison experience: A+.

Slow Cooked Beer Bison Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound bison steaks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4-5 ounces beer
1 head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions:

Season the bison steaks evenly with the salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder and place the meat in the Crock Pot. Cover the top with the brown sugar, then pour the beer over it. Cook on low for 5 hours. Part way through the cooking process, prepare the garlic by peeling off the first few layers of skin and cutting the top part off. Rub olive oil over the top then cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F. Allow the garlic to cool, then squeeze the cloves out and mash them with a fork. Shred the bison steaks, then mix in desired amount of roasted garlic (I used about 3 cloves). Cover and continue cooking on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour.