Processing Rabbits & Recipes

Prepared rabbit meat cut into portions, neatly arranged on a wooden cutting board.

Butchering

The prime slaughter age is around 90 days. There are a number of ways to mercifully dispatch a rabbit. The Old World way is to deliver a very sharp blow to the head, placing it directly in front of the ears which will stun the animal. Hang upside down by one hind leg and remove the head with a sharp butcher knife. Allow to bleed out, then continue to skin and gut the animal. Save the organ meats as they are delicious. It is now ready to take into the kitchen to be washed in cold water and prepared according to the day’s menu. To cut a rabbit into serving-sized pieces, remove legs first, then make three to four cuts across the back.

Recipes

You have now reached the point where you and your family can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Rabbit meat is delicious. It is white, fine-grained, and delicately flavored. It is a super healthy choice of protein, being low in fat and calories.

I liken rabbit to chicken and if you are unfamiliar with how to cook rabbit, try it as a substitute for chicken in any traditional recipe. Below are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy rabbit.

Canned rabbit:

This is a handy recipe when you have to downsize your rabbit population and need to put up the excess bounty for future use. Canned rabbit can be eaten cold as a luncheon meat or done up into meat pies, casseroles, or served with noodles or dumplings. The broth is rich and delicious.

To make a hearty luncheon spread, chop the canned meat until it is fine and then blend it with homemade mayonnaise and minced onions and use as sandwich spread, or puree and serve as pate with crackers.

Cut rabbits into equal-sized pieces and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little cayenne or sweet paprika. Working in batches, fry the rabbit pieces in hot shortening or oil in heavy cast-iron skillet until golden on all sides. Set aside and continue until all pieces are browned.

Pack into hot, sterilized canning jars. Add a few cloves of whole peeled garlic, a sprig or two of fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, or other herb of choice along with a few dried red hot chili peppers to each jar, if desired.

Cover with homemade rabbit stock, use chicken stock, if you’d rather.

Leave an inch headspace. Wipe rims or jars with damp cloth, put on lids, and process in pressure canner following manufacturer’s directions for canning chicken if a rabbit recipe is not included in the manual. My recipe calls for quart sealers to be processed for 1½ hours at 10 pounds of pressure.

Pressure can rabbit for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure (adjust for your altitude).

Rabbit stock:

Put saved up rabbit carcasses into stockpot. I find that the ribs and belly are excellent for stock making so I always set them aside when using the prime portions of meat (the legs and back) for frying. You can also add the organ meats, if you wish. Add minced onion, diced celery, turnip, cabbage, parsnip and carrot trims, chopped garlic, fresh or dried basil, rosemary, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about two hours, adding more water as needed. Strain, taste, and adjust seasonings.

Smoked rabbit:

Put 3 or 4 cut-up rabbits in a large earthen bowl. Cover with a marinade made from 1½ cups red wine, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon salt, 6 cloves minced garlic, grated rind of half of a lemon, 1 tablespoon freshly grated black pepper, 2 tablespoons onion powder, and ½ cup brown sugar. Cover and marinate in fridge for at least 12 hours, turning frequently. Remove from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Cold-smoke in smoker at 75 to 85° F for about two hours or until desired smokiness is reached. Hot smoke for several more hours or until meat is thoroughly cooked. Or, after the first two hours of cold smoking, transfer rabbit pieces to baking sheet, place in 225° F oven, and roast until meat is done, brushing occasionally with vegetable oil to form a glaze and to keep meat from drying out. Cool and store the smoked rabbit wrapped tightly in paper in fridge for up to two weeks. It makes a delicious appetizer when sliced thinly and served with baby pickled onions and pumpernickel.

Fried rabbit:

This is always a family favorite. Every rabbit lover has a special recipe for fried rabbit. This old one of Mom’s is how I do it and it is finger-lickin’ good.

1 rabbit, cut into serving-sized pieces¾ cup flour1 tsp. each garlic and onion powder1 tsp. salt¼ tsp. black pepper2 (or more) cups brown beer (Mom used Dad’s homemade malt beer, but any dark beer will do. If you do not wish to cook with beer, apple cider or juice will suffice.)vegetable oil for frying

Mix flour and seasonings in paper bag, add rabbit, and shake until coated. Heat a frying depth of vegetable oil in heavy skillet or Dutch oven and brown rabbit on all sides, turning frequently. Reduce heat and add the beer. Cover and simmer 40 minutes, adding more beer as needed until meat is tender. When meat is cooked and the last addition of beer has evaporated off, turn up the heat, uncover, and fry the meat until it turns crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Serve with French fries and apple cider vinegar for shaking over the chips.