Aging (resting) rabbits and deboning

[hoodat]

I'm just trying to learn to debone rabbits. I get the bones out pretty well but still tear the meat up a bit.
My question to the more experienced at deboning is this. Do you find it easier to debone while the carcass is still warm or after it has rested for a couple of days? The bones come out easily while it is still warm but it's so limber it's hard to handle.

 

[eco2pia]

chilled meat cuts cleaner for me--I like to rest them and then de-bone, you can joint them warm though, if you like. I mostly just de-bone the loin, we like the legs on the bone.

 

[hoodat]

chilled meat cuts cleaner for me--I like to rest them and then de-bone, you can joint them warm though, if you like. I mostly just de-bone the loin, we like the legs on the bone.

I'm an old codger. If I left the meat on the bone I'd have to put my teeth in to eat them and the durn things don't fit right. :x

 

[BoxerMom]

I just butchered my first rabbits a few days ago. I, too, had a hard time deboning. I think next time I'm going to take some kitchen string or wire, wrap it around one end of the bone and pull it down. I'm hoping this will easily and cleanly take off th meat...but I don't know for sure as I have never tried it or known anyone who has.

 

[hoodat]

I think the only thing that will make it easy is sticking with it till you get good at it. That video makes it look fast and easy because he has probably done it hundreds of times. It's a skill and nothing takes the place of practice. I also notice that in the video he seems to be working with a senior rabbit around ten pounds or so. Most of us butcher at around 5 or 6 pounds and deboning is harder with a rabbit that small.

 

[MaggieJ]

I don't know... I found working with fryers quicker and easier by far. I butchered three smallish fryers and a seven month old buck last week and the buck took longer to debone than the three fryers put together.

 

[hoodat]

Maggie, was it because the ligaments were attached tighter to the bone in the older rabbit?

 

[MaggieJ]

No, I don't think so. Sheer size was an issue... I have small hands. The meat was tougher, naturally, and thicker. The rabbit did not have a lot of fat, but there was more than on the fryers (practically none on them, just a tad around the kidneys) and the surface of the older rabbit was a bit greasy. Maybe I was just tired by then... It seemed a chore after whipping through the youngsters.