What's the best way to cook rabbit?

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bishop85gt

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Nov 5, 2004
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Where I hike and camp there are a zillion rabbits beggin to be eaten. I was wondering what was the best way to cook them out in the bush? Besides just tossing them on the fire of coures. Also, I would like to keep the fur to use for something. How do I go about doing this while out camping? :confused:
 
Well, the first thing is to make sure that you are rabbit hunting in the proper time of year. Rabbits carry a few nasty little diseases that you don't want to expose yourself to.

It is generally accepted that rabbits should be hunted for food only after a hard freeze or two. The idea is that sick, weakened rabbits will have been killed by the freeze and your chances of contracting something will be much lessoned.

Now, how to cook them; just about any recipe for seasoned fried chicken will work well for rabbit. Rabbit fried in bacon fat in a cast iron skillet with some salt, pepper, and a bit of rosemary is one of my favorites. Cook it slow for tenderness, make sure it is cooked through.

Andy
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
Well, the first thing is to make sure that you are rabbit hunting in the proper time of year. Rabbits carry a few nasty little diseases that you don't want to expose yourself to.

It is generally accepted that rabbits should be hunted for food only after a hard freeze or two. The idea is that sick, weakened rabbits will have been killed by the freeze and your chances of contracting something will be much lessoned.

Andy
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You just can't eat anything these days can you.:mad: Thanks for that info.
 
I was always told not to eat them during the hot summer months because they often have higher levels of parasites. Other than that, shake-and-bake is the way to go with rabbit.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
Well, the first thing is to make sure that you are rabbit hunting in the proper time of year. Rabbits carry a few nasty little diseases that you don't want to expose yourself to.

It is generally accepted that rabbits should be hunted for food only after a hard freeze or two. The idea is that sick, weakened rabbits will have been killed by the freeze and your chances of contracting something will be much lessoned.

Now, how to cook them; just about any recipe for seasoned fried chicken will work well for rabbit. Rabbit fried in bacon fat in a cast iron skillet with some salt, pepper, and a bit of rosemary is one of my favorites. Cook it slow for tenderness, make sure it is cooked through.

Andy
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Andy, that sounds AWESOME!

Here's 2 more for ya..
If you are looking to cook them in the Bush, I recommend cutting about 20 - 30 GREEN sticks about 3/4 - 1" in diameter, and laying them on the fire about 6" - 8" above the coals. Turn the sticks. You will notice the sap leaking out and carmelizing.. This is what you want.

Butterfly the rabbit out.. Lay your carmelized sticks out in a grid pattern, and place the rabbit on them. Turn occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Takes about an hour to cook. make sure you keep up your bed of coals during the cooking process, and move the rabbit around if you notice hotspots.

My wifes favorite recipe is rabbit stew. Boil the rabbits until the meat falls off the bone, strain, and separate the meat and broth. Return the broth to the stove.. Add sail, pepper, parsely, and anything else you want. Add the rabbit meat at the end.. Pearl Barley is wonderful in this!!
 
For the skins:

Carefully scrape the fat, etc. out, and salt the hell out of that skin side, and stretch them out to dry for a few weeks, repeating the salting after a while.

The above has been done for 1000s of years, and works just fine. There are more refined instructions, of course. ;-)
 
If you thoroughly cook the meat, should kill any parasites or cysts. Interestingly, I recently read in the SAS Survival book that eating alot of rabbit can cause nutritional deficiencies. I have never heard this until reading this and dont think there is really any truth to it. Was wondering if anyone ever heard of this?
 
wade said:
I was always told not to eat them during the hot summer months because they often have higher levels of parasites. Other than that, shake-and-bake is the way to go with rabbit.
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That's a fact, and I can't remember the exact organism that can cause the problem, but it can transfer to humans.

Tuleremia? Not a parasite, but another problem....
Rabbit fever?

Andy
 
jscalia said:
If you thoroughly cook the meat, should kill any parasites or cysts. Interestingly, I recently read in the SAS Survival book that eating alot of rabbit can cause nutritional deficiencies. I have never heard this until reading this and dont think there is really any truth to it. Was wondering if anyone ever heard of this?
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I think you are right about thorough cooking. The problem of course is getting that done reliably over a camp fire.

Any all meat diet will eventually cause us problems. A lack of vitamin C will lead to scurvy.

Andy
 
BlackPaladin said:
For the skins:

Carefully scrape the fat, etc. out, and salt the hell out of that skin side, and stretch them out to dry for a few weeks, repeating the salting after a while.

The above has been done for 1000s of years, and works just fine. There are more refined instructions, of course. ;-)
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I've skinned lots of rabbits, but I always found their skins to be very fragile and easily torn. Maybe I was just too rough! :p

Andy
 
FWIW, the best rabbit I ever et in my life came from: THIS PLACE, but it was a special - seems like it involved the roasted pepper grits, gravy but not hollandaise. Anyway, every time I see a rabbit I think about it. MMMMM!
 
jscalia said:
If you thoroughly cook the meat, should kill any parasites or cysts. Interestingly, I recently read in the SAS Survival book that eating alot of rabbit can cause nutritional deficiencies. I have never heard this until reading this and dont think there is really any truth to it. Was wondering if anyone ever heard of this?
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I remember once, I shot a rabbit during pheasant season in central KS. This was in winter, probably in December or so. We had certainly had more than one hard freeze.

I had some birds to clean, and as I was doing so I happened to glance at the rabbit carcass which was lying on the ground.

I could see something moving under the skin on its back! :eek:

I took my knife and poked the point in right where I saw the movement and slit it open. A great big, fat grub-looking thing fell out and began to writhe around on the ground. It was about the size of the end of my thumb from the last joint.

Disgusted, I stepped on it and it burst, full of blood! :eek:

I threw that animal away. :barf:

I've never seen anything like that again, and I wonder if it wasn't the larva of some kind of bot fly.

Andy
 
I might add, that if you are interested in minimalist cooking (which of course goes against against South Louisiana standards) you can make a trip to about any of the lower tier southern states, shoot some kind of critter, bring it to the oldest black woman you can find, and with little more than some salt, pepper, some kind of lard and a frying pan, she will show you how to make it mouthwateringly delicious!
 
Andy...that's just nasty!! lol I also heard that since rabbits have like no fat it's not a good idea to just eat them without something else over a long peirod or time.
 
Zip7 said:
I might add, that if you are interested in minimalist cooking (which of course goes against against South Louisiana standards) you can make a trip to about any of the lower tier southern states, shoot some kind of critter, bring it to the oldest black woman you can find, and with little more than some salt, pepper, some kind of lard and a frying pan, she will show you how to make it mouthwateringly delicious!
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My buddy lives at Fort Poke Louisiana. He would say the same thing. :D
 
Lee Stroud said something to the effect that eating only rabbit meat (so lean) for a long period of time (a month, I think he said) could cause "protein poisonning". So, he suggest to eat as well the heart and edible organs. I'm not sure of the scientific name of the poisonning. Might be what was said a few posts before mine.

I never heard about that except on that show...

Varius
 
bishop85gt said:
My buddy lives at Fort Poke Louisiana. He would say the same thing. :D
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Have to agree.

Not passed on by blood, but by training. When continually given the toughest, craziest scraps and mess, you had to get really creative with it.

Seasoning.

(Hell, people fought wars over seasonings.)
 
I read that if you cook any rabbit good enough....that tularemia is not an issue....however a pair of rubber or surgical style gloves should be worn when butchering or handling the animal prior to cooking to avoid contamination...I sometimes wear a mask now when butchering birds (birdflu) I know it sounds crazy but what kind of survivalist would I make if i offed myself by cuttin corners. As for becoming sick if living on a diet of strictly rabbits...this is true as rabbits alone do not have enough fat..they are to lean and cannot provide the body with the fat it requires to carry out it's normal functions This is true if any lean animal however this can be avoided apparently I ahaven't tried it by eating the whole rabbit the organs the eyes etc...if you're eating rabbit in you home on a sunday night this is not even an issue as the butter/oil you cooked it in will supply more tha enough and your diet preceeding and following was not strictly rabbit based hope that helps.
 
bishop85gt said:
Andy...that's just nasty!! lol I also heard that since rabbits have like no fat it's not a good idea to just eat them without something else over a long peirod or time.
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If the animal is healthy and has good fodder, they will have plenty of fat, so not a worry in that regard.

I have looked at the livers of a few animals which had yellow spots on them, almost like a growth. I haven't seen such spots on most animals, so assumed it was some sort of disease. I usually threw those animals away.

Andy
 
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