Rabbit Jerky

[MamaSheepdog]

I discovered my partner was turned off from trying some when I said it was like rabbit chewing gum - you just chew and chew.

Well that doesn't sound very appetizing at all! :x Wish I'd thought of that before the kids and husband tried it.

Have you tried de-bone the rabbit grind the meat and make jerky out of all the ground meat. I grind deer meat to make jerky.

:welcome: to RabbitTalk, Ole Mule!

What do you use to bind the ground meat together?

 

[Stormy]

Yeah, good question MamaSheepDog. And thanks for the idea Ole Mule! I just bought a meat grinder, in the hopes of grinding up some of my next batch to make cat food. I would never have made the connection in the ol' brain to grind up the bellyflaps - so thank you!! I love this forum!!
Sounds like I might get to keep my teeth afterall...

 

[mystang89]

I just tried making jerky out of the stomach skin from my first batch. The texture and everything seemed to come out right but all I marinaded it in was BBQ sauce so the taste was a bit meh. I think if I get the marinade down that I will have some good tasting rabbit jerky. Thanks for the idea.

 

[rittert3]

Ironic, I just spent 3 days making deer snack sticks and jerky and my brother was just trying to talk me out of a rabbitfor jerky, to bad I just sold the only 1 I would consider butchering. ETA: you could really use any comercially made jerky seasoning to bind for snack sticks. Hi Mountain was the brand I just used and my dad uses Nesco (spelling?) Mine did 15lbs for $8.

 

[GBov]

I have three rabbits that need doing, would an older rabbit be better for grinding or a young fry-er? We never thought of grinding the entire rabbit for snack sticks and jerky but what a great idea!

 

[Ole Mule]

I have never put anything it to bind it. When you roll it to size you want and put it in the dehydrator as it drys out it becomes as hard as you want it to by leaving it in longer. The longer it stays in the harder it gets. Look up a good deer jery recipe on the enternet and substitute ground rabbit meat for the deer meat. You can also make salami.

 

[mystang89]

I just got a dehydrator as a late Christmas present and tried to make me some rabbit jerky but it came out sort of greasy. I'll have to play around with them and see what makes them come out the best. Do you all just take the belly skin as the jerky or do you use any of the skin that comes loose?

 

[nicnmike]

I made some last night and it's awesome! I didn't realize how greasy that part of the rabbit is. I didn't cook it on a rack, I just used a pan, so maybe it didn't drain/drip like it should have. When I was researching vacuum sealers I remembered reading about using a mason jar to marinade in. So that's what I did. I've got about 13 rabbit bellies in here! It's too many, but they all fit.

 

[lissapell]

"sloppy hoppies" This name cracks me up...
Back to the OP- I cant wait to try this one!

 

[Stormy]

I just got a dehydrator as a late Christmas present and tried to make me some rabbit jerky but it came out sort of greasy. I'll have to play around with them and see what makes them come out the best. Do you all just take the belly skin as the jerky or do you use any of the skin that comes loose?

Mmmm... greasy... well I didn't mind that part as it disappeared into my mouth fairly rapidly! However, I have been storing the jerky in the refrigerator, not sure its really cured enough with all that greasy-ness... what do all of you do?

So, we're not talking skin here I think, but belly flaps which are 4 layers of good strong belly muscle. Do you mean other muscle that comes loose? or...? If you grind it all up as proposed elsewhere on this thread I suppose you can add anything to it!

 

[GypsyTinker]

This forum is great! Even recipes! I am definitely going to make jerky, ASAP.

One thing that comes to mind, is with flank steak, it is VERY important how you cut it. Meat has a "grain direction" and you must cut across the grain, preferably at a compound angle (bias). Look at the muscle and see which direction it runs and cut diagonally across this. It will make for more tender meat and easier chewing. The narrower the slice, the more tender.

I was a bit worried about dressing as many rabbits as I plan on harvesting. This really makes it worth doing! That is a lot of good jerky and easy to do. IMHO it's better than leaving the belly meat on, unless you are doing saddles.

Thanks for all the great tips! Nicnmike, that jar looks great!

 

[mystang89]

I got a dehydrator for Christmas and put some belly flaps in it 2 days ago and they seem to be real greasy. If I grinded them up and made them into jerky sticks would that take care of some of the greasiness? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I got a dehydrator for Christmas and put some belly flaps in it 2 days ago and they seem to be real greasy. If I grinded them up and made them into jerky sticks would that take care of some of the greasiness? Anyone else have this problem?

You may have missed some of the fat. Take the strips out and pat them dry with paper towels and then stick them back in. I have never tried ground meat for sticks.

 

[MaggieJ]

Were the belly flaps from older rabbits, Mystang? Mature rabbits have more fat on the belly flaps and the flaps are also thicker, making them more difficult to dehydrate. Flaps from fryers would likely work better. Cutting them in narrow strips might help, after you blot off the greasiness.

 

[mystang89]

These flaps were from 12 1/2 week old rabbits. I soaked the meat in a sauce, (which I can hardly taste heh,) and cut the meat into strips then before putting them on the dehydrator I blotted them with a paper towel.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hmmm... Don't know what to suggest then. Sorry.

 

[mystang89]

I think Miss M might have pointed me in the right direction via another thread I started about how fat my grow outs were. She suggested killing them a couple weeks sooner which would help save on the feed to meat ratio and I think at the same time might also help with the fat greasy issue on the belly. Time will tell.

 

[Stormy]

Yes, I suffer from greasy jerky as well... sometimes with fat attached. Is that bad? I've been keeping them in the fridge so they don't go rancid. I didn't know I was supposed to trim off the fat... but someone else on this thread did suggest grinding it all up and forming into rolls or sticks... I have enjoyed greasy commercial jerky so why not... as long as it doesn't go bad.

 

[mystang89]

If you enjoy the grease on it then I don't think it would be a problem for you but I'm not a big fan of the grease. Also my dehydrator doesn't seem to be able to dry out the meat well enough with the grease on it. It never gets to the point that you can break it in two. It always stays a bit chewy. That might just be my dehydrator though, not sure if there are different makes out there which do different things.

 

[Miss M]

I looked this thread back up, as I'm making rabbit jerky for the first time.

Most dehydrators do not get hot enough to kill harmful bacteria. There have been a few cases of food poisoning from jerky made in home dehydrators. If I'm not mistaken, it needs to get to 170* or so, and most dehydrators get only to about 140*.

Just so you know. And hey, I'll happily eat sashimi, so I don't follow all of the food "rules" myself.