Today i set in to butcher some rabbits. I've not had a lot of experience with cleaning rabbits, or any animal, outside of chickens and deer and a smattering of Canada goose. But I looked at the pictures and thought it would be a breeze.
The first one, I grabbed the hind feet in one hand, the head in the other, and tried to snap the neck. Let me tell you, the neck doesn't snap that easily (that, or I am weak). I tried several times and my heart was beginning to weaken.
I quickly went to the stunning method with a quick smack on the back of the head. That worked better. I think that this will all go much smoother once I get the hang of it. I got scratched to pieces, and very frustrated by the end of the third one, after which, I quit.
My wife found a good recipe and we decided to try one for dinner. The meat was good, all white but not very tender. We thought that maybe it was from rigor mortise (sp?) or the age of the rabbit (they are approaching 6 months old). The food was fine, but could be more tender.
The troubling thing was that the rabbits didn't weigh very much for their age. They only came in at 2-3 pounds. There is not much profit there when they weigh so little.
This was our first experience with rabbit meat, I know it will improve. If anyone has any suggestions on what we could do different, please feel free to comment, I'd love to hear them.
3 comments:
I haven't butchered (yet) but what I've read is that you need to let them sit in the fridge for at least 2 days before eating or freezing. This way it tenderizes the meat. Try the broomstick method to dislocate their necks. A lot less stressful on the bunnies (they don't know what happened) and they stretch out on the ground so that they don't scratch you. What breed are you raising? Sometimes they take 3-4 months to be butcher ready. My rex do. Talena www.freewebs.com/vulpinerabbitry
well my human did the whack on the head, actually three(yikes), on her first one. she didn't care for it. thought it was awful. you might try the broomstick method. very smooth and quick. as far as the meat being tough that would probably have to do with age. maybe you could treat it as you do with chickens where you put it in a brine overnight. i really don't know as i'm just a goat. the rabbits seemes rather small for their age. are they mini? hope this helps you out human.
gerald the not a rabbit butchering expert goat
don't try to manually snap the neck. Lay rabbit on ground. Place broom stick over neck, and then step on broom stick as you pull up quickly and firmly with the back legs.
A quick and easy death. Makes removal of the head much easier too.
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