Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2012 2:18:19 GMT -7
WARNING...VERY GRAPHIC PICS...PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN VIEWING WITH CHILDREN, OR IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH OR JUST LOVE BUNNIES TO MUCH!!
This is about how to take the fresh cleaned carcass and make it ready to throw in the freezer or to make ready for cooking. There are several ways to do this...this is how I do it. I will try to keep wording to a minimum, but if you have any questions, Feel free to ask, I am happy to answer.
The carcass is clean, I am holding a flap that goes around half the belly, this is the "RABBIT BACON" and it is GOOD!!
A sliced of piece of bacon along side the carcass.
I cut a ring around just in front of the back legs all the way through to the spine
Bend the spine backwards to break it and then finish cutting the back legs off in one piece.
Back legs seperated from the rest.
Turn them over adn using a large sharp meat cleaver, useing 1 (ONE) strong swing, split teh back legs in half. You DO NOT want to have to hit it twice or you WILL end up with tint bone fragments in the meat. No holds barred, swing like you are cutting the head off a zombie!!!
You want 1 clean cut trough meat and bone all at once. My knife looks old because it is...it belonged to Jims mom when he was a little boy...its close to if not over 100 years old, and it is now mine to make sure it keeps a good job.
The front legs are attched to the ribbs by muscle only, here you can see I have loosened one side and left the other attached, start on the chest side and simply follow the shoulder blade around to completely remove the front legs.
I split the back in half and the back section is done, this is where the tenderloin would be if you were processing a deer, and you can see rabbits have a small tenderloin. I forgot to take this pic. I prefer to loosen both front legs before removing them, it just seems to make it easier. Here it is layed open with only a snall piece of meat at the spine holding them on.
Using my fingers to spread the ribb cage open, one side will break free along the spine, this is where I will split them. Instead of swining hard, I place the meat clever between the seperated ribbs and the spine carefully, them use the palm of my hand to smack the blade though the meat to seperate them cleanly creating 2 pieces from the ribbcage. I leave the spine in tact.
The rabbit is done. If you find places along the neck or shoulders where blood has coagulated (clotted), you can either wash it off now, or cut/scrape it off and wash it when packaging. If the clotting is very bad, just use the cleaver and give a strong chop and remove that part of the neck area. Here is an example of a clot I removed.
I place the rabbit parts in a labelded plastic ziplock bag.
Squeeze out the air and roll the bagged meat up so it is solid. I know this is NOT a freezer bag, but I double wrap, so as long as I have a sealed plastic bag around it, I am fine with it not being freezer type.
I use Reynolds plastic coated freezer paper, making sure the plastic coated part is on the inside. I use a piece large enough to wrap around the pack of meat 2 or 3 times completely.
I use Scotch 3M freezer tape and tape the center and both ends, folding the ends one time to help with the air seal.
I then run tape all the way around the package sealing off the seam on the back, and label the package on the tape if possible.
As you can see...I now have 6 rabbits ready for the freezer. In 4 weeks, I will have 8 more ready to go. Monday of next week, I will have 2 more new litters. I love rabbit meat, it is healthy for you, not near as hard on the liver as some meats, adn tame rabbit has more fat and is much more tender than wild rabbit. If I sell a dressed out carcass, I get between $15 adn $20 for them depending on teh weight, most average between 4 & 5 pounds at 8 weeks old.
This is the rabbit bacon laid out..12 pieces from 6 rabbits.
I placed it in a dish of water and covered with plastic wrap...I will be having rabbit bacon & tomato sandwhiches for breakfast!!
I hope some of this has proven to be helpful if not entertaining. Yes I do it all myself. The guys will watch, but they prefer not to take part in this, as they consider the little fuzzies as pets...I however, do not. They are treated with loving care and catered to, some even have names. They live a life of luxury and get better treatment than many pets get, I want their life to be enjoyable, no matter how short it may be. My animals are never stressed and death is fast for them, they do NOT suffer. I hope someone learned something from this. Give rqabbit a try, it tastes VERY good!! And there is NO comparison of wild to tame rabbit, they are very different in taste and texture...wild rabbit tends to be tough with a stronger flavor, tame (taken propper care of) is very tender with a sweeter, milder flavor.
This is about how to take the fresh cleaned carcass and make it ready to throw in the freezer or to make ready for cooking. There are several ways to do this...this is how I do it. I will try to keep wording to a minimum, but if you have any questions, Feel free to ask, I am happy to answer.
The carcass is clean, I am holding a flap that goes around half the belly, this is the "RABBIT BACON" and it is GOOD!!
A sliced of piece of bacon along side the carcass.
I cut a ring around just in front of the back legs all the way through to the spine
Bend the spine backwards to break it and then finish cutting the back legs off in one piece.
Back legs seperated from the rest.
Turn them over adn using a large sharp meat cleaver, useing 1 (ONE) strong swing, split teh back legs in half. You DO NOT want to have to hit it twice or you WILL end up with tint bone fragments in the meat. No holds barred, swing like you are cutting the head off a zombie!!!
You want 1 clean cut trough meat and bone all at once. My knife looks old because it is...it belonged to Jims mom when he was a little boy...its close to if not over 100 years old, and it is now mine to make sure it keeps a good job.
The front legs are attched to the ribbs by muscle only, here you can see I have loosened one side and left the other attached, start on the chest side and simply follow the shoulder blade around to completely remove the front legs.
I split the back in half and the back section is done, this is where the tenderloin would be if you were processing a deer, and you can see rabbits have a small tenderloin. I forgot to take this pic. I prefer to loosen both front legs before removing them, it just seems to make it easier. Here it is layed open with only a snall piece of meat at the spine holding them on.
Using my fingers to spread the ribb cage open, one side will break free along the spine, this is where I will split them. Instead of swining hard, I place the meat clever between the seperated ribbs and the spine carefully, them use the palm of my hand to smack the blade though the meat to seperate them cleanly creating 2 pieces from the ribbcage. I leave the spine in tact.
The rabbit is done. If you find places along the neck or shoulders where blood has coagulated (clotted), you can either wash it off now, or cut/scrape it off and wash it when packaging. If the clotting is very bad, just use the cleaver and give a strong chop and remove that part of the neck area. Here is an example of a clot I removed.
I place the rabbit parts in a labelded plastic ziplock bag.
Squeeze out the air and roll the bagged meat up so it is solid. I know this is NOT a freezer bag, but I double wrap, so as long as I have a sealed plastic bag around it, I am fine with it not being freezer type.
I use Reynolds plastic coated freezer paper, making sure the plastic coated part is on the inside. I use a piece large enough to wrap around the pack of meat 2 or 3 times completely.
I use Scotch 3M freezer tape and tape the center and both ends, folding the ends one time to help with the air seal.
I then run tape all the way around the package sealing off the seam on the back, and label the package on the tape if possible.
As you can see...I now have 6 rabbits ready for the freezer. In 4 weeks, I will have 8 more ready to go. Monday of next week, I will have 2 more new litters. I love rabbit meat, it is healthy for you, not near as hard on the liver as some meats, adn tame rabbit has more fat and is much more tender than wild rabbit. If I sell a dressed out carcass, I get between $15 adn $20 for them depending on teh weight, most average between 4 & 5 pounds at 8 weeks old.
This is the rabbit bacon laid out..12 pieces from 6 rabbits.
I placed it in a dish of water and covered with plastic wrap...I will be having rabbit bacon & tomato sandwhiches for breakfast!!
I hope some of this has proven to be helpful if not entertaining. Yes I do it all myself. The guys will watch, but they prefer not to take part in this, as they consider the little fuzzies as pets...I however, do not. They are treated with loving care and catered to, some even have names. They live a life of luxury and get better treatment than many pets get, I want their life to be enjoyable, no matter how short it may be. My animals are never stressed and death is fast for them, they do NOT suffer. I hope someone learned something from this. Give rqabbit a try, it tastes VERY good!! And there is NO comparison of wild to tame rabbit, they are very different in taste and texture...wild rabbit tends to be tough with a stronger flavor, tame (taken propper care of) is very tender with a sweeter, milder flavor.
