Eating rabbit

Swampfox201

Swampfox201

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
590
Display Name
Display name:
Todd W.
My 9 year old son just killed a rabbit with his BB gun and wants to eat it.

After consulting YouTube we got it cleaned. Does anyone know if it will taste good?
 
Swampfox201 said:
My 9 year old son just killed a rabbit with his BB gun and wants to eat it.

After consulting YouTube we got it cleaned. Does anyone know if it will taste good?
Click to expand...


Yeah, sure, it's fine. How is it for worms? Most of them are harmless to eat anyway. There are people who soak it in milk, I prefer alcoholic liquids and some acid either in vinegar or juice if it's an older animal. Dredging in seasoned flower and pan frying is a time honored method, although this time of year, I'd think to maybe soak (vacuum bag if you have one) them in some dark beer, soy and sage over night then put them on a charcoal grill would be pretty good. Oh, one other thing I do with wild meat. Before marinading, I'll rinse the meat, towel it dry with paper towels and then pack it for 15-20 minutes in sea salt and let it sit, then brush all the saltoff and immediately put in the marinade.
 
Last edited:
I like it, although I am usually too lazy to bother with an animal that small. And that fur that gets into everything, that's super annoying. I suppose if I were a real outdoorsman, it would be a standard lunch, as carrying a few .22s is much easier than carrying the actual food for a few days. But I am only a pretend one. I always grill it (in my area it's generally cottontail). What comes out is like a jucier chicken breast, at least in the hind part. Some people stew it, but again, that's too bothersome.
 
The video said to soak it in salt water overnight and then boil it until the meat falls off (2 to 3 hours)

Does sound like a lot of work but he's so excited.
 
Swampfox201 said:
The video said to soak it in salt water overnight and then boil it until the meat falls off (2 to 3 hours)

Does sound like a lot of work but he's so excited.
Click to expand...

Boil meat!?! That's sacrilege.... The poor critter gave its life, at least let it be delicious and appreciated!
 
We might have to go the grill route anyway as mom just let it be known she won't let it in her kitchen.
 
Skylane81E said:
:rofl::rofl:
So long as it's fully cooked you are on the money
Click to expand...

Pack it in course sea salt for 20 minutes takes care of much of the nasty little stuff. A lot of the stuff lives in the subcutaneous region and the salt pack for 20 minutes will not only kill most all of it, it will also draw out moisture that will be replaced with the marinade with the bit of acid in it. In a pan I'll also deglaze with wine. It's no big trick to making it safe. Muscle meat is usually pretty safe. It's organ meat that is Blech with parasites. If you eat cows liver, half of what you ate was liver flukes...worms, not to mention that the liver is a filter for heavy metals like the lead we pump out our exhaust.
 
This time of year, I would cook the heck out of it. Might help to soak it in water/vinegar mixture - we usually try to soak our venison in vinegar/water overnight before completely butchering it - it takes some of the 'gaminess' out of it. We would never eat (which meant we didn't kill it) squirrel until we had a good hard first frost - it gets rid of the critters that live in the (bigger) critters' fur.

Squirrel and/or rabbit and hot biscuits with warm molasses on a cold morning is good stuff!

Crock pot and bbq sauce is an easy fix as well - cook it until it falls off the bones.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully I won't be asking for advice on how to remove a tape worm from a large intestine.
 
Just cook it well and wash hands and anything that came in contact with the dead rabbit. In some parts of the country rabbits carry diseases like tularemia.
 
tonight while he sleeps, go to the market and get a fryer chicken, skin it, dip it in batter and deep fry it, he'll think he ate the rabbit, then he'll bring in 4 more next week.
 
Rabbit is tasty. But BOIL it?! Good lord.

There's a butcher shop here that'll make venison pepperoni from your fresh venison.

That... Is seriously tasty stuff!
 
ScottM said:
Rabbit tastes like chicken.

Prepare it the same way too. Soak it in buttermilk then bread and fry. YUMMY!
Click to expand...

I thought chicken tasted like rattlesnake? When I was a kid my mom served us rabbit one night for dinner. I didn't like it at all, never tried to eat it since.

John
 
Good for him. Soon he'll be ready for a .22!
 
Swampfox201 said:
My 9 year old son just killed a rabbit with his BB gun and wants to eat it.

After consulting YouTube we got it cleaned. Does anyone know if it will taste good?
Click to expand...
I've ate plenty as a kid -- tasted like chicken.

Although. I once shot a rabbit, and upon cleaning it, discovered it was pregnant and had several little aliens in it. Wasn't that appetizing.
 
Last edited:
Henning said:
Boil meat!?! That's sacrilege.... The poor critter gave its life, at least let it be delicious and appreciated!
Click to expand...

I was watching a "Surviving the Cut" episode on the U.S. Army Sapper school, and the Sappers had to kill and cook either a rabbit or a chicken, and they boiled them in a coffee can. I didn't understand why they couldn't just put the meat on a stick and putmit over the same fire.
 
I don't know where you live but in some places of the Southwest Tularemia can be a problem and it affects bunnies. I don't think you can cook it out. If it's slow, weak and lethargic (as might be the case if it was killed with a BB gun) that is a big warning sign.
 
Ya gotta remember they are a rodent, second cousin to a rat.
 
Tom-D said:
Ya gotta remember they are a rodent, second cousin to a rat.
Click to expand...


Nutra are yummy.... They are a mammal that eats vegetation. If that meat has a disease issue in your area, best to explain why you you can't eat the rabbits... In Aus they get Mixmitosis <sp?> which I'm guessing is related to rabies or those degenerative neurological diseases.
 
Last edited:
Henning said:
Nutra are yummy.... They are a mammal that eats vegetation. If that meat has a disease issue in your area, best to explain why you you can't eat the rabbits... In Aus they get Mixmitosis <sp?> which I'm guessing is related to rabies or those degenerative neurological diseases.
Click to expand...

The only rabbit I'll eat is the big Belgian hare, raised on pellets from the local farmers supply store, the rest of them don't have enough meat on them to make it worth skinning them. plus the disease thing, just isn't worth the hassle
 
Tom-D said:
The only rabbit I'll eat is the big Belgian hare, raised on pellets from the local farmers supply store, the rest of them don't have enough meat on them to make it worth skinning them. plus the disease thing, just isn't worth the hassle
Click to expand...

Nutra Rat has more meat than that hare and lives on swamp grass plus it has an excellent fur.
 
nddons said:
I was watching a "Surviving the Cut" episode on the U.S. Army Sapper school, and the Sappers had to kill and cook either a rabbit or a chicken, and they boiled them in a coffee can. I didn't understand why they couldn't just put the meat on a stick and putmit over the same fire.
Click to expand...

They were probably Irish.

Every March, I'm invited to my brother's for a 'Fine Boiled Dinner'. Main course is, of course, corned beef and cabbage.
 
Henning said:
Nutra are yummy.... They are a mammal that eats vegetation. If that meat has a disease issue in your area, best to explain why you you can't eat the rabbits... In Aus they get Mixmitosis <sp?> which I'm guessing is related to rabies or those degenerative neurological diseases.
Click to expand...
Myxomatosis was introduced to Australia in an attempt to control the European rabbits that were introduced there and have gotten out of control. The rabbits there are slowly becoming less suseptible to this disease.
 
Yeah, we had a guy here come down with Francisella (tularemia) from skinning and handling a rabbit. Almost fatal but he lived without permanent consequences. The big problem is that its not a common ailment and many docs don't have it on their radar. You get it from their ticks and possibly fleas.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/tularemiaFAQ.htm
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully I won't be asking for advice on how to remove a tape worm from a large intestine.
Click to expand...

If you don't have any luck, there is always:
 

Attachments

  • sushi.JPG
    sushi.JPG
    22.7 KB · Views: 43
Cooking should take care of tularemia but spores can be present so use recommended procedures.

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva]Thorough cooking of rabbit and game bird meat will render it safe for consumption, but placing raw meat in the freezing will maintain the organism’s viability.[/FONT]
http://bioterrorism.dc.gov/biot/cwp/view,a,1253,q,552968.asp

One source recommends using a chlorine solution.

f. Wash the carcass inside and out with cool (<40° F) water.

g. Place the carcass in 50ppm chlorine 36° F water to chill. The chilled carcass will have a residue of 15-20ppm chlorine and maintain acceptable quality for 14 days under refrigeration.

h. Check liver for cysts (visible white spots). If none are visible and the liver is dark blood-red, the rabbit does not have evidence of Tularemia.
http://www.thecookinginn.com/rabbit/rabbit.html
 
Gary F said:
Cooking should take care of tularemia but spores can be present so use recommended procedures.

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva]Thorough cooking of rabbit and game bird meat will render it safe for consumption, but placing raw meat in the freezing will maintain the organism’s viability.[/FONT]
http://bioterrorism.dc.gov/biot/cwp/view,a,1253,q,552968.asp

One source recommends using a chlorine solution.

f. Wash the carcass inside and out with cool (<40° F) water.

g. Place the carcass in 50ppm chlorine 36° F water to chill. The chilled carcass will have a residue of 15-20ppm chlorine and maintain acceptable quality for 14 days under refrigeration.

h. Check liver for cysts (visible white spots). If none are visible and the liver is dark blood-red, the rabbit does not have evidence of Tularemia.
http://www.thecookinginn.com/rabbit/rabbit.html
Click to expand...

Yes Sir, that's what everyone needs, a good dose of Chlorine, it'll clean out the gene pool.
 
Hmm? Maybe I'll talk to our vet before taking Bugs out of freezer to cook.
 
nddons said:
I was watching a "Surviving the Cut" episode on the U.S. Army Sapper school, and the Sappers had to kill and cook either a rabbit or a chicken, and they boiled them in a coffee can. I didn't understand why they couldn't just put the meat on a stick and putmit over the same fire.
Click to expand...

Stan: we did that in Army Ranger School. I also did it in SF training. In RVN, we ate a lot of stuff. The Viets, didn't have much meat in their normal diet, so anything with meat was fair game and cooked in the field.

Back on point, one boils meat that is really tough to soften it up. The Viets did that with python for instance. Things like field rats were much like rabbit and cooked over a fire or in a makeshift oven created from hot rocks in the fire. I wouldn't boil rabbit. But has has been said, marinate could be helpful.

It's difficult to cook game over an open fire as the part closest get burned and the parts away don't cook well. One has to constantly turn or cover it. On one of my first SF field trips we killed chickens and cooked them. Just putting a stick in them and putting them over a fire didn't work well <g>. Also, we couldn't always have an open fire, it could be detected from too far away; so, a more controlled fire with a container over it to boil thing might be more a tactical issue.

Best,

Dave
 
When I was a kid my uncle's beagle was a great rabbit hound and we often had uncle's rabbits in a delicious rabbit stew, another good use of white rice. Uncle's own aunt, my great aunt, I can hear now: "I won't eat rabbit; reminds me of stewed cat."

HR
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Stan: we did that in Army Ranger School. I also did it in SF training. In RVN, we ate a lot of stuff. The Viets, didn't have much meat in their normal diet, so anything with meat was fair game and cooked in the field.

Back on point, one boils meat that is really tough to soften it up. The Viets did that with python for instance. Things like field rats were much like rabbit and cooked over a fire or in a makeshift oven created from hot rocks in the fire. I wouldn't boil rabbit. But has has been said, marinate could be helpful.

It's difficult to cook game over an open fire as the part closest get burned and the parts away don't cook well. One has to constantly turn or cover it. On one of my first SF field trips we killed chickens and cooked them. Just putting a stick in them and putting them over a fire didn't work well <g>. Also, we couldn't always have an open fire, it could be detected from too far away; so, a more controlled fire with a container over it to boil thing might be more a tactical issue.

Best,

Dave
Click to expand...

I did the same thing in Ranger school.

Gary F said:
Chlorine solution is easily rinsed off. Tularemia is a bad bug.
Click to expand...

Not arguing the point at all. But personally, I'd just as soon pass on anything that has to be fried with chlorine solution to be made edible.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I did the same thing in Ranger school.



Not arguing the point at all. But personally, I'd just as soon pass on anything that has to be fried with chlorine solution to be made edible.
Click to expand...
Unless you run some lab tests it is not possible to determine if the animal was infected. Another option would be to irradiate the carcass with gamma radiation but cobalt-60 is not easy to get or handle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top