Cleaning rabbits

[Brent S]

Sorry, these Picts are in reverse order. First off, rabbits are really cute, so that's the hardest part of this whole deal. Just keep thinking barbeque! Utube has loads of videos on this, but my wife wasn't feeling well enough to video me so I just took Picts. as I went along. I don't have the heart to dispatch them by hand, so I use a pellet gun. One word of advice, rabbits have really sharp claws, so wear gloves when picking them up. I have several cuts, then on about rabbit number five I got soe leather work gloves and problem solved. I put them in a wire dog crate on the ground, with some food to distract them as I take aim. I choose a small paring knife and some good kitchen shears, but any knife will do. The first thing I do is use an axe and take off the head, then hang them by the back feet to drain. Now come skinning, which is really easy. Start with cutting around the legs, pinching the skin to get started. The only tricky part is cutting around the anus without contaminating the meat. Just be careful not to cut into the nasty areas. I start at each leg cut and just cut over to the other leg, both in front and behind the anus. The skin will just peel right on down the whole rabbit, with a little tugging. It leaves it in an inside out tube, which is great for freezing if you want to try tanning later on when you get enough pelts. You do want to rinse most of the blood off first, which is usually only around the neck area. I just cut the pelt off below the front feet and put in a plastic bag for freezing. Now is another spot where you want to be careful. I start at the anus and carefully start cutting around it to be able to pull it out from the front, just don't cut into it or the bladder. This is where a sharp knife helps. I also use the kitchen shears as there are some small bones between the thighs. Once you get past the crotch area the man body cavity is pretty easy. The organ cavity just kind of spills out when you open it, with a little tugging. Some eat the liver and heart, but I just discard the organs. I also loose the flank meat that's below the rib cage. When you get down to the breast/neck area just split it and finish pulling the heart and other organs out. I have a hose handy to rinse the bits of fur off while it's hanging still. The kitchen shears are great your cutting off the feet as they go right thru the bones. Now you have about two to three pounds of very lean fresh meat. It's probably better to cut the pieces apart before cooking if you want others to actually eat it. Somehow it's less personal if you can't recognize it's a buny. So far barbeque is my favorite, but I'm lookng for new ways to cook it. It tends to be tougher than chicken, so I found it's best to cook it slow and low, like in a crock pot, to keep it moist and tender. Hope this wasn't too graphic for most, but it is a great way to raise your own fresh meat. I'll be honest, The first time I did it it was disturbing, but now it's fairly easy. I just put about twenty pounds of fresh meat in the freezer, along with a large dominecker rooster that I get tired of having to fend off every time I went to feed the hens. Bon raappitete!

 

[QuietH3art]

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/hasenpfeffer

Ever have chicken and dumplings? Rabbit and dumplings tastes almost the same.

Chicken (or rabbit) and Dumplings
Whole Chicken
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 T crisco
1 c milk
Boil chicken on high for 1 hour. Remove chicken from broth and cool. Discard bones and skin. Return meat to broth. Mix flour, salt, crisco and milk together to form dough. Roll out and cut into thin strips. Add to broth and cook for 15 minutes on medium low.

I haven't made this in over 2 years since changing my diet, but with all the rain we've had lately, It's really tempting.

 

[Brent S]

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/hasenpfeffer

Ever have chicken and dumplings? Rabbit and dumplings tastes almost the same.

Chicken (or rabbit) and Dumplings
Whole Chicken
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 T crisco
1 c milk
Boil chicken on high for 1 hour. Remove chicken from broth and cool. Discard bones and skin. Return meat to broth. Mix flour, salt, crisco and milk together to form dough. Roll out and cut into thin strips. Add to broth and cook for 15 minutes on medium low.

I haven't made this in over 2 years since changing my diet, but with all the rain we've had lately, It's really tempting.

Thanks, I'll give it a try this week. I haven't made dumplings yet. I seem to remember my mother using canned biscuits. I loved the woman, but she really wasn't much of a cook!

 

[QuietH3art]

Thanks, I'll give it a try this week. I haven't made dumplings yet. I seem to remember my mother using canned biscuits. I loved the woman, but she really wasn't much of a cook!

Technically, since they are rolled and sliced, they are "pastry" and that's what they have and call it in the north "chicken and pastry". In the south, they tend to make them round like the biscuit dumplings you put on top of beef stew.
I forgot to put in the recipe that you'll want to put a can or two of chicken broth in there that way if you have any leftovers, they won't clump together in the refrigerator. The water you boil your chicken or rabbit in just isn't concentrated enough to prevent clumping dumplings...

 

[Silent Bob]

View attachment 3259 View attachment 3258 View attachment 3257 View attachment 3256 View attachment 3255 View attachment 3254 View attachment 3253 View attachment 3252 View attachment 3251 Sorry, these Picts are in reverse order. First off, rabbits are really cute, so that's the hardest part of this whole deal. Just keep thinking barbeque! Utube has loads of videos on this, but my wife wasn't feeling well enough to video me so I just took Picts. as I went along. I don't have the heart to dispatch them by hand, so I use a pellet gun. One word of advice, rabbits have really sharp claws, so wear gloves when picking them up. I have several cuts, then on about rabbit number five I got soe leather work gloves and problem solved. I put them in a wire dog crate on the ground, with some food to distract them as I take aim. I choose a small paring knife and some good kitchen shears, but any knife will do. The first thing I do is use an axe and take off the head, then hang them by the back feet to drain. Now come skinning, which is really easy. Start with cutting around the legs, pinching the skin to get started. The only tricky part is cutting around the anus without contaminating the meat. Just be careful not to cut into the nasty areas. I start at each leg cut and just cut over to the other leg, both in front and behind the anus. The skin will just peel right on down the whole rabbit, with a little tugging. It leaves it in an inside out tube, which is great for freezing if you want to try tanning later on when you get enough pelts. You do want to rinse most of the blood off first, which is usually only around the neck area. I just cut the pelt off below the front feet and put in a plastic bag for freezing. Now is another spot where you want to be careful. I start at the anus and carefully start cutting around it to be able to pull it out from the front, just don't cut into it or the bladder. This is where a sharp knife helps. I also use the kitchen shears as there are some small bones between the thighs. Once you get past the crotch area the man body cavity is pretty easy. The organ cavity just kind of spills out when you open it, with a little tugging. Some eat the liver and heart, but I just discard the organs. I also loose the flank meat that's below the rib cage. When you get down to the breast/neck area just split it and finish pulling the heart and other organs out. I have a hose handy to rinse the bits of fur off while it's hanging still. The kitchen shears are great your cutting off the feet as they go right thru the bones. Now you have about two to three pounds of very lean fresh meat. It's probably better to cut the pieces apart before cooking if you want others to actually eat it. Somehow it's less personal if you can't recognize it's a buny. So far barbeque is my favorite, but I'm lookng for new ways to cook it. It tends to be tougher than chicken, so I found it's best to cook it slow and low, like in a crock pot, to keep it moist and tender. Hope this wasn't too graphic for most, but it is a great way to raise your own fresh meat. I'll be honest, The first time I did it it was disturbing, but now it's fairly easy. I just put about twenty pounds of fresh meat in the freezer, along with a large dominecker rooster that I get tired of having to fend off every time I went to feed the hens. Bon raappitete!

Great Post, I just copied the whole post into a word document and saved it under Rabbits...appreciate the photo's, very detailed and very informative. Guess it saves me one step from my coach!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/hasenpfeffer

Ever have chicken and dumplings? Rabbit and dumplings tastes almost the same.

Chicken (or rabbit) and Dumplings
Whole Chicken
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 T crisco
1 c milk
Boil chicken on high for 1 hour. Remove chicken from broth and cool. Discard bones and skin. Return meat to broth. Mix flour, salt, crisco and milk together to form dough. Roll out and cut into thin strips. Add to broth and cook for 15 minutes on medium low.

I haven't made this in over 2 years since changing my diet, but with all the rain we've had lately, It's really tempting.

Thanks for the recipe Quiet...added it to Brent's Rabbit document...always good to have a different way to cook them, other than cooking them over an open fire. Have you tried it with a Dutch oven?

 

[QuietH3art]

Great Post, I just copied the whole post into a word document and saved it under Rabbits...appreciate the photo's, very detailed and very informative. Guess it saves me one step from my coach!




Thanks for the recipe Quiet...added it to Brent's Rabbit document...always good to have a different way to cook them, other than cooking them over an open fire. Have you tried it with a Dutch oven?

I don't own a dutch oven. I just do it in my stainless steel pot on the stove. I'm sure my grandmother made them in cast iron though. That was all she had.

 

[Silent Bob]

I don't own a dutch oven. I just do it in my stainless steel pot on the stove. I'm sure my grandmother made them in cast iron though. That was all she had.

Thanks Quiet...maybe I will play around with it..with the chicken recipe...easy to swap out rabbit..but I don't raise any domesticated rabbits right now to use them in a recipe.

 

[QuietH3art]

Thanks Quiet...maybe I will play around with it..with the chicken recipe...easy to swap out rabbit..but I don't raise any domesticated rabbits right now to use them in a recipe.

Oh, I've played with it. When my kids were young, I used to hide peas and carrots in the dumplings. And I love it with salt and lots of pepper. I've never tried hasenpfeffer, though. I think that could probably be made with chicken, too.

 

[Brent S]

Great Post, I just copied the whole post into a word document and saved it under Rabbits...appreciate the photo's, very detailed and very informative. Guess it saves me one step from my coach!




Thanks for the recipe Quiet...added it to Brent's Rabbit document...always good to have a different way to cook them, other than cooking them over an open fire. Have you tried it with a Dutch oven?

I use my Dutch oven for everything! You could throw 10 yr old beef jerky in that thing and it would come out tender! Frying one didn't turn out well, kind of rubbery, so I'm always looking for new ways to cook it. The Dutch oven is great for pre cooking, and then finishing up on the grill. I think I'm going to try smoking some soon.

 

[Brent S]

Thanks Quiet...maybe I will play around with it..with the chicken recipe...easy to swap out rabbit..but I don't raise any domesticated rabbits right now to use them in a recipe.

If you were closer I lend you a rabbit or two. I have a feeling ups dosent like boxes of rabbit!

 

[Silent Bob]

If you were closer I lend you a rabbit or two. I have a feeling ups dosent like boxes of rabbit!

Brent, at the current temp...I think one of those Ooops guys would leave it on the loading doc or kick it to the curb...lol. Thanks for the offer though...one day, I'll just have to come visit and you can show me your set up...actually looking forward to seeing the storage/shelter...up close.

 

[DrHenley]

I've only eaten wild rabbits, but if you pan fry them and then make gravy, and simmer them in the gravy a while, they are melt-in-your-mouth tender. I can't imaging domestic rabbits being more tough than wild cottontails.

Squirrels are MUCH tougher than rabbits, but if you simmer them long enough, they can come out tender too.

 

[QuietH3art]

My Aunt and Uncle raised beef cattle and I remember them putting the one they planned to butcher next in a pen by itself to eat a special diet for a month before butchering. Now I'm wondering, can I do something similar with rabbits, chickens, whatever I'm planning to butcher next? At 16 weeks, my rabbits are nowhere near as big as all the articles I find say they should be. Can I "power feed" them to gain weight for butchering? I also have some young roosters I don't want to keep alive and was thinking I could put them in a separate pen under light with constant food to grow them out fast. I know that works with chickens. I'd really like to freeze these rabbits soon but right now, at their weight, it just wouldn't be worth the work.

 

[psalm 7]

I like wild rabbit fried and like Dr said make gravy with them . They make good BBQ as well . Same with squirrels .
I may raise some tame rabbits but the way I work I have to keep low maintmance animals . One reason I am down to just our house dogs and no longer keep hunting dogs .