ground rabbit meat?

[myrkari]

This may be a stupid question but I gotta ask. Do you grind every bit of the rabbit except for the bones? ....
So basically, if you had the deboned rabbit as shown at the end of the video, you would just chop it up to sizes that your grinder would handle, and put the whole thing right on through??? That certainly would save me time and increase my yield. Thanks!

When I do it, I'm practically -only- grinding up the scrappy bits. I keep the legs for making meals out of, and into my grinder go the loins, tenderloins, belly flaps, untidy trimmings from the legs, rib meat scrapings, neck meat that isn't gristle or damaged (the collar-area mostly that goes between the wings and back), shoulder fat if there is any, visceral fat from around the kidneys, plus the heart, kidneys themselves, and liver. I don't mind the taste of rabbit fat, but I wouldn't add much if I had a big fat bunny. The spoonful or so on a regular bun is fine, but loads probably wouldn't be.

So short answer, yes. The odd bit of silverskin or tendon or sinewy-bit that would be tough or unappetising whole on a plate won't hurt your final ground rabbit texture or taste. Just like regular sausage, the grinder smooshes it all up so you don't notice you're getting the bits that don't look so fancy. To my mind, that's half the point

I grind raw and then the scraped-off bones go in the stock pot afterwards. I've never tried cooking the whole rabbit before picking off the meat and then grinding, like Mystang posted. I've done similar when making rillettes, but not ground meat. I'll have to try it!

 

[Zass]

I usually grind everything except the forelegs (wings) and backs traps. It makes wonderful sausage or burger and you get a decent amount if you are doing a standard litter of fryers.

I have a theory that the sinewy bits might help the burger hold together.
My rabbit patties always hold up a lot better than venison patties do, without me adding any fat from the rabbit or other animals.

I have been known to add olive oil to my sausage for richness as I grind it, but I don't really have other animal fats to use. I would happily use a little quality pork or maybe even chicken fat in my bunny sausage if I had it.

My family holds a belief that the fat on a rabbits legs has a gland or lymph node or something that can impart an off taste, so I always trim that away before grinding or cooking. I'm allowed to use the shoulder or internal fats...