Some general prep questions from a first timer.

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Brass

Brass

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Butchered and ate our first rabbit this week! Butchered Friday morning and sat in fridge until Monday.

Hubby broke it down so I'm not sure if it was through rigor or not, but I assume so. The recipe turned out really good and while it tasted similar to chicken, the texture and flavor was a bit different so it was obviously "rabbit."

The only things I'm not sure of are:

1). Hubby deviated from the website we were following and instead of cutting the loin (saddle?) into 3-4 portions with the ribs/spine/bones in, he just deboned it from the spine and rib cage. Leaving 2 bigger hunks of loin (saddle?). Should we have just chunked it as per the webpage?

2). We tried to remove all the silver skin from the main body. I think we missed some and we definitely left it on the legs. Any tips for removing this?

3). What do we do with the belly? We threw it in the pot with the other parts and the way we cooked it (browned in butter and bacon fat and then simmered 45 minutes in simmering beer/broth/spices) didn't seem to make the belly tender. It was tough and we didn't enjoy it. Other than jerky, what options are there?

4). If I take the rabbit out of the freezer and want to marinate it in the fridge for 48 hours am I going to be facing a food safety issue? Do I start marinading it while still frozen or wait until it's thawed first?


Hubby is still a bit lukewarm about this adventure... so I'd like to really floor him with the next recipe!
Thank you!
 
Brass":376cs1bl said:
Butchered and ate our first rabbit this week! Butchered Friday morning and sat in fridge until Monday.

Hubby broke it down so I'm not sure if it was through rigor or not, but I assume so. The recipe turned out really good and while it tasted similar to chicken, the texture and flavor was a bit different so it was obviously "rabbit."

The only things I'm not sure of are:

1). Hubby deviated from the website we were following and instead of cutting the loin (saddle?) into 3-4 portions with the ribs/spine/bones in, he just deboned it from the spine and rib cage. Leaving 2 bigger hunks of loin (saddle?). Should we have just chunked it as per the webpage?

Don't know what webpage you refer to but when we cut up a rabbit instead of cooking it whold, the loins are cut away from either side of the backbone so you have 2 longish boneless pieces of meat. We generally use it for stirfry

2). We tried to remove all the silver skin from the main body. I think we missed some and we definitely left it on the legs. Any tips for removing this?

3). What do we do with the belly? We threw it in the pot with the other parts and the way we cooked it (browned in butter and bacon fat and then simmered 45 minutes in simmering beer/broth/spices) didn't seem to make the belly tender. It was tough and we didn't enjoy it. Other than jerky, what options are there?

When I bake a whole rabbit (usually do one this way when we've processed a batch and cut up the others for freezing, packaging legs and boneless meat separately) we don't find the belly flaps tough. They are nicely chewy I'd say. I usually mix a little honey with cider and olive oil and baste the whole rabbit with that and bake it for about an hour. In summer I use fresh herbs and lemon juice instead of cider.

4). If I take the rabbit out of the freezer and want to marinate it in the fridge for 48 hours am I going to be facing a food safety issue? Do I start marinading it while still frozen or wait until it's thawed first?


Hubby is still a bit lukewarm about this adventure... so I'd like to really floor him with the next recipe!
Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hope you find a recipe you all like next time around. I find rabbit meat much more versatile than i'd thought at first and suggest you season and cook it as you would chicken, just remembering that it's leaner if you usually cook chicken with skin on.
 
As far as marinating it in the fridge you should think of the salt as a preservative, and to be honest if there is a slight chance of salmonella or like bacteria we ingest this quite a bit in other foods. Small doses actually works to benefit our immune system, it is the large ones that hurt us. Being too sterile can have negative affects too.

Silver skin can be a bit of a pain to remove on areas that are really bony and short on meat. You could separate that part from the recipe and use it in a more seasoned recipe, otherwise you just need to be meticulous when butchering.

We love ground deer. It is our households staple meat source. We stopped cutting and wrapping deer years ago due to the silver skin so I understand where you're coming from.
 
1) I separate my loins just like you and Rainy have already described. It's a nice boneless cut, usually reserved for "bunny nuggets" around here.
2) I can never get all the silverskin off the legs, but it can still cook up very tender. Resting it longer, and liberal use of meat tenderizer in marinades helps.
3)We grind the bellies. Ground rabbit is tasty, and every bit as versatile as ground turkey or chicken.

4)Assuming you butchered cleanly (didn't break intestines) and your kitchen is clean, your rabbit is probably a lot safer than grocery store meats.
 
Pathogenic bacteria - including salmonella - is only from fecal contamination so as long as you didn't splash any intestinal "juice" on the meat your perfectly safe :)

Also, most salmonella species give mild symptoms - or no symptoms at all - and it is HIGHLY unlikely your backyard livestock has been exposed to the disinfectant and antibiotic resistant "superbugs" you hear about in the news which survive and thrive in the monstrous factory "farms" that most grocery store meat comes from
 
I'd like to add as well and I admit that I have not tried it yet on rabbit is, pressure cooking and "rabbit in a bag". Pressure cooking is a great way of preparing deer roasts (which can be tough and dry) and using a bag has made turkey palatable for me; just brine the rabbit and maybe toss in a couple strips of bacon along with it.
 
Brass":3ekepz7n said:
1). Hubby deviated from the website we were following and instead of cutting the loin (saddle?) into 3-4 portions with the ribs/spine/bones in, he just deboned it from the spine and rib cage. Leaving 2 bigger hunks of loin (saddle?). Should we have just chunked it as per the webpage?
Click to expand...
There's no right and wrong for it. There are a number of ways to partition a rabbit. You do what works best for you. :) Some debone the loin like you did and use the back legs, reserving the rest for dogs or for broth. I cut the rabbit into front legs, back legs, ribs (which I cut a little below the last rib for a little more meat), and loin (which for me is the rest of the back between the back legs and where I cut the ribs off). Sometimes, I don't even bother to cut it up.

Brass":3ekepz7n said:
2). We tried to remove all the silver skin from the main body. I think we missed some and we definitely left it on the legs. Any tips for removing this?
Click to expand...
I started to remove the silver skin once, and haven't done it since. I don't know that we would really notice a difference if I did, on a rabbit, anyway. It certainly does matter for, say, beef.

Brass":3ekepz7n said:
3). What do we do with the belly? We threw it in the pot with the other parts and the way we cooked it (browned in butter and bacon fat and then simmered 45 minutes in simmering beer/broth/spices) didn't seem to make the belly tender. It was tough and we didn't enjoy it. Other than jerky, what options are there?
Click to expand...
The belly flaps are made up of two crossing layers of very long muscle fiber, separated by a thin layer of fat. There is no way to make this part tender, really. It's possible pressure cooking does something to help this (I think it's 10 lbs of pressure for 13 minutes or so).

We started cutting them off and freezing them together, and I'm going to grind them for an attempt at extruded jerky. My kids did love them when I just did them whole as jerky.

Brass":3ekepz7n said:
4). If I take the rabbit out of the freezer and want to marinate it in the fridge for 48 hours am I going to be facing a food safety issue? Do I start marinading it while still frozen or wait until it's thawed first?
Click to expand...
I have never had a food safety issue by doing anything like this with a rabbit. You can start the marinade at either time, too.

Brass":3ekepz7n said:
Hubby is still a bit lukewarm about this adventure... so I'd like to really floor him with the next recipe!
Click to expand...
I hope he loves the next one! Oh... wrapping in bacon helps keep moisture in. And everything is better with bacon. :p :lol:
 

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