Canned Rabbit Meat

[MamaSheepdog]

I canned my first rabbit meat yesterday!

Like most canning, it seems there is a lot more of it before you get it canned! I like the fact that the meat is not taking up freezer space and will be a safe protein source in the event of an extended power outage.

I started with two processed rabbits, bone in, belly flaps removed, totaling 8lbs 5oz. Here is the first victim:



I used the deboning method posted in this thread:

magical-rabbit-deboning-t9555.html

What took him five minutes took me 45 on the first one, but I was faster the second time around. If I had a $300 chef's knife it may have gone more smoothly, but I made do with a J.A. Henckel's paring knife and knife sharpener.

Here is a pic with the spinal column and rib cage removed:



Completely deboned:



I started the bones boiling for broth while I cubed the meat and started on the next rabbit.

Cubed rabbit:



Since my rabbits were aged in plain water, I had to soak the meat in salted water (1 TBSP per quart) for an hour. Quite a bit of blood leached out:



I then rinsed it with cold water in small batches:



I separated the larger chunks of meat and cooked them in the broth for about 3 minutes with the intent of adding the smaller pieces and cooking for an additional couple of minutes. The meat is supposed to be slightly pink in the center, but mine was cooked through, so I removed it and then cooked the next batch.

Here is the strained meat:



The broth:



I added the meat to my pint jars, leaving 1-1/4" head space, and then added the hot broth. Then into the pressure canner they went, cooked at 15lbs pressure (10lbs is fine for elevations up to 1000 feet) for 90 minutes.

I was surprised that there was additional shrinkage of the meat during the canning process. I made 8 pints.

The finished product:

 

[fishdip]

Nice work you make it look so simple and quick lol.

 

[Demamma]

thanks for the pictures. looks great.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks FishDip and DeMamma. Quick it was not, but I'll get faster.

I am considering cooking the rabbit first next time, either by roasting or boiling (after the salt water soak), then deboning and canning it.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

Great job canning. I can't wait till next summer to have a huge garden for canning. Never thought of canning the rabbit meat though my mom used to can venison every year. Yummy Yummy stuff.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The only thing I have canned before is pasta sauce, and that only once. I just bought the pressure canner last year, so this is all new to me.

 

[fishdip]

I wonder how much this changes the meat. If it will taste funny. I do think it will be hared to chew since you cooked it fully then cooked it even more when it was sealed in the jar.

 

[Miss M]

Nice work!

I don't think you have to cook it first... I remember seeing a video linked on here somewhere of a woman canning bone-in rabbit from raw. Of course, maybe it's not a good thing to do, I don't know.

I had no idea you had to leave so much headspace for canning rabbit!

 

[fishdip]

Nice work!

I don't think you have to cook it first... I remember seeing a video linked on here somewhere of a woman canning bone-in rabbit from raw. Of course, maybe it's not a good thing to do, I don't know.

I had no idea you had to leave so much headspace for canning rabbit!

You don't need to cook it first. But it is from my understanding safer if you do cook it first.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I don't think you have to cook it first.

My Presto Pressure Canner and Cooker booklet didn't have a recipe for raw packing, which was my original intent. It lists bear, beef, pork, lamb, veal, and venison as meats that can be raw packed. Poultry,rabbit, and fish/seafood are partially cooked prior to canning.

It would be easier to raw pack it, but I would hate to accidentally kill off my family just to save a few minutes! :x That would kind of negate the healthy aspects of pesticide-free home raised foods. :roll:

 

[Demamma]

I found this on canning raw rabbit. Hope it will be a help sometime later. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/chicken_rabbit.html

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks DeMamma.

I do think it will be hard to chew since you cooked it fully then cooked it even more when it was sealed in the jar.

Even worse, I just realized that I processed it according to the directions for quarts, not pints. I thought I would be making quart jars when I started, and forgot to adjust cooking time for the smaller jars. It is 75 minutes for pints.

I'll let y'all know if we break any teeth when we eat it.

 

[fishdip]

Lol That sucks

 

[3mina]

I'm a bit of a cooking show junkie and keeping in mind I'm getting this from the TV, I've seen a pressure cooker used to make tougher meat tender in a short time limit so wouldn't it follow that pressure canning would be similar? :?

 

[Miss M]

I'm a bit of a cooking show junkie and keeping in mind I'm getting this from the TV, I've seen a pressure cooker used to make tougher meat tender in a short time limit so wouldn't it follow that pressure canning would be similar? :?

We loved watching Food Network when we had TV... one of the kids' favorite shows is Iron Chef (favorite chef? Morimoto.). I can verify that you can cook tough cuts to fall-apart tender in a pressure cooker in a pretty short amount of time. I have done it.

No idea if it follows to pressure-canned meat, though.

 

[3mina]

That was the one I was thinking of

 

[tailwagging]

:wbounce: OOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo
do let us know how it tastes!!!!!!!!!

 

[AnnClaire]

MSD, I can rabbit and chicken regularly ... I always cook mine first as it keeps it from having that "tin" taste rawpack gets.

When I prep rabbit, I just put the whole carcass in the stock pot (mine will hold 3 3# rabbits) and cover with water and add a few veggies and lightly spice to give it a bit of taste. I boil until the hip bone seperates from the socket easily, then pull the carcass and cool, then strip the meat and pack into jars, then cover with the broth like you did.

The quart jar will make a really nice size pot of bunny noodle soup, but the smaller jars are also good for smaller meals, too. The way I look at it is that using the larger meat portion will give me a couple of portions of the meal left over for freezing so DD can have supper when she comes in from working the night shift <br /><br />__________ Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:30 pm __________<br /><br />BTW - Very nice job on deboning the carcass!!!

 

[Mickey328]

I haven't canned rabbit...yet All the other meat and fish I do goes in raw, with the exception of crumbled hamburger. If you do a raw pack, you don't even need to add liquid as it will cook out as it processes. Wherever I can, I do a raw pack (if it's going in the pressure canner) simply because it will cook during processing. Shoot, if I were cooking a solid chunk of roast, I wouldn't pressure cook it at 15 lbs for 90 mins, so I figure it'll come out quite tender. I do use the pressure cooker quite a bit, both for tenderizing and for the speed.

 

[skymya]

Have to post in here so i can come back for the canning.. lol..
So far we have used whole rabbit to slow bbq, diff cuts for stew, chilis and pulled bbq rabbit.. Its very good..
Any time i get that look of you kill and eat cute fluffy bunnys i simply look them in the eye and say my youngest is high allergic to chicken meat to point of carrying a EPI Jr Pen,partly they (the doctors) are sure do to the meds and other additives in our bulk meats.. I usually get the fish eye look of wide mouth and eyes nothing to say.. Then i smile real nice saying its way better for you then pork or beef can be used to cook the same as any white meat.. I had one person get all crazy about how rabbit is so unhealthy for you so i pointed him to the right info on raised NOT game rabbits..