Fattier rabbit?

[FourRingCircus]

I butchered a very very fat (seriously obese I would venture to say) doe tonight - to the point that her whole cavity was full of fat. I have no idea how she was still alive!

Anyway, the liver was a bit paler than usual, I assume from the excess fat? Everything else looked OK as far as I could tell (it was hard even finding the parts hidden in there - blech!).

So now I have a very fatty/oily rabbit soaking in water in my kitchen sink. Is it edible? What should I do with it? This is only the second rabbit I have ever butchered (and it was out of necessity due to fly strike - she was too chunky to properly clean herself evidently... I just got her a couple weeks ago and caught it too late to fix it) so I don't really know what to do with it or if it would be better off as dog food??

 

[Zass]

Pale liver is usually the result of fat metabolism, I think, which could have been happening if she had gone off feed, or was starving from not digesting what she ate due to diahrea or some other intestinal issue..

So long as the meat is clean looking she should be safe to eat.

If she were mine, I'd remove all that excess fat and feed it to the dog, then debone and grind for burger, or else slow cook until she falls apart.

 

[FourRingCircus]

I think she was pretty well spoiled by her previous owner with a rich diet... that's my guess b/c the whole batch I got from her are rather large minus the buck (but he had a lot of "exercise" time in the yard with her so I am guessing that helped him keep the weight off?). I don't think she had diarrhea, but I was transitioning her over to a new feed and probably not giving her nearly as much as she used to have.

I cleaned off what fat I could. I don't have a grinder yet so into the pot she'll go! If nothing else we'll have soup (I can at least skim off the excess oil from the top that way... even just soaking in cold water there is an oil slick on the surface).

Anything to look for in particular for "unsafe" meat - other than the globs of fat is looks OK to me, but I don't have a huge amount of experience yet.

 

[katiebear]

I had a really fat buck come back to me, I butchered him the same day, but he was filthy from living in an aviary, I believe he lived in a chicken coop, but I can't prove it...Anyway.. I had a hard time finding his organs as well and I had to pull off handfuls of fat..YUCK...there was so much that I had to cut the dog off before he got sick :x :lol: :x .even his heart had fat on it..poor guy. I cooked him in the crock pot without any water, and shredded the meat..It was fabulous! the juice I froze and used in oven rabbit dishes. Because it had a strong flavor. :mrgreen:

I think from what I have read in your posts the flies were going after the poop build up and probably her vent, because with that much build up I would think she had a pretty good infection going on.I think the meat is ok as long as there are no maggots in it, I know it sounds gross but as ling as they were contained to her anus and vent..I believe you are safe to eat her...
I would like to add get those others out to exercise,even if you have to put one at a time on a leash to walk around your yard,they need to move around to get strong and lean..good luck with them...

 

[FourRingCircus]

Yep - sounds about right for my experience! The heart and all :x

I did check and the maggots did not break through the skin into the meat... I was afraid they had. Just thinking about it gives me the heebie jeebies - I hate those things! :razz2:

I cooked it overnight and it actually smells pretty good! Going to pick off what meat I can for "rabbit salad" for lunch and then cook the rest down for some rich stock/bone broth.

 

[myrkari]

Rillettes! If there's tons of fat on her, you can almost confit the meat by slow cooking in its own fat (plus a little oil maybe) rather than water, like katiebear posted she did, and rillettes/pâté made from slow cooked, high-fat meat is a tasty treat. Pick all the little bits of meat and fat off the bones into a bowl, cut the richness with a little ACV and Dijon mustard and plenty of salt and pepper for flavour, then whip it all up until it looks like tuna mayonnaise, squash it into ramekins and seal it with a layer of hot beef dripping or goose fat - anything that is solid when cold - when it solidifies it keeps the air out and the pâté inside keeps in the fridge for weeks. It is great on toast.

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes,, rillettes would be a good idea . . . but only if you like the taste of rabbit fat. A lot of people don't.

 

[FourRingCircus]

I posted my funny story in another post, but I will share it here. I pulled the meat off the bones before I left for a class. DH had the kids for the evening - plenty of leftovers in the fridge to mix and match for a meal. I talk to him afterwards and he asks if the meat in the shallow pan was chicken. Ummmm.... nope! Rabbit! He had made "chicken" nachos with it and not a single one of them realized that's not what it was . Huge mental hurdle for him has been cleared when it comes to eating rabbit meat. Needless to say, there's not much left at this point! Here i was trying to figure out what to do with it and now it's a non-issue. I did make salad out of some of what was left of it last night - some carrots, celery, apples and a citrus basil herb mix with Miracle Whip - yummy!

 

[katiebear]

Well...nothing like having a problem solve itself. :lol: the last few people who have tried my shredded rabbit say it taste like turkey. :? So get to the recipe thread and get cooking!