eating rabbit for first time (question)

[sissy]

Hi all,
NEED HELP!!!
I bought a rabbit from a guy that raises them & sells for food. I got a recipe booklet from him also. But it don't say anything about the liver or two other round objects that do not look like gizzards. do we eat them, feed to dog or throw away? I know dumb questions, but we don't like waste. And we want to know if we like it. I guess i stepped in before I researched it ::) :-[
Thanks in advance
Sissy

[bee_pipes]

Depends on what you like. Liver is liver - they have different flavors - beef, chicken, etc. - but they are still identifiable as liver. The two round things are kidneys. Usually there is a fourth piece - the heart. Different strokes - we usually feed the liver, kidneys and heart to the dogs. If you feed them to the dogs, cook them first. If they have parasites, no use giving them to the dogs.

Regards,
Pat

[fancyfowl]

What parasites do you find in the liver, kidneys and heart?? I am not a gut eater, just wondering!!

[CarolAnn]

Fancyfowl *. . . if you Google game parasites and get into the worms, flukes and such that can be found in various parts of any animal meat, you may start to develop vegetarian tendencies! Fortunately, you can kill any internal critters by freezing the meat for a couple of days, so if it's for pet food, freezing will do as well as cooking it.

Here's a site that has good discussion on what to feed dogs:
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

Funnily enough, they talked about the BARF diet on that website! I didn't go look that term up, but I had a sneaky feeling it might have something to do with a discussion of parasites in organ meat! *;D

Sissy - if you wish to consume the organ meats (liver, kidneys, heart) - consider cooking them in a bit of water with onion, sage and celery and making bread dressing.

I just hope the top discussion didn't gross you out from eating the rabbit, because rabbit is very good meat. Mom used to fry it, or bake it with a spicy bar-b-que sauce and vegetables.

[sissy]

Thanks everyone,
I fried the rabbit and it was very good. We also had potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn & hoecake . ;D As for the insides I boiled them. The 4 legged spoiled brat will get a treat as well.

Carol Ann, It did not gross me out. I have seen worms in a fish one time THAT did gross me out.
Thanks again
Sissy

[bee_pipes]

This is a piece I lifted from Bob Bennette's "Raising Rabbits Successfully" (1984) ISBN: 0913589039. I use it as a flier for customers:

During WW II the U.S. Navy included both rabbit and chicken on the menu. A hearty portion of rabbit for a sailor was 6 ounces, compared to 8 ounces of chicken. The reason for the difference lies in the density or texture of the meat, as well as the small bone. Rabbit meat is more filling and there is less bone per serving.

Rabbit meat is wholesome and nutritious. It is all-white meat. It has more protein, less fat, less cholesterol, and fewer calories, pound for pound, than any other meat you can buy. It will do you more good and less harm than any other meat. And boy, does it taste good! You can bake it, broil it, roast it, stew it, or fry it. Good cooks prepare rabbit according to recipes that call for veal and chicken. Delicious dishes can be produced either on short notice or with lengthy, loving preparation.

There are plenty of fine American recipes, including Southern fried rabbit, Texas barbecued rabbit, rabbit pie, and others reflect regional tastes and customs in the United States. Likewise, there are excellent European recipes. The French, the Germans, and the Italians have all contributed excellent recipes for rabbit even as they have set the pace for haute cuisine that is followed all over the world. Other recipes are of Oriental origin. Chinese, Japanese, and Polynesian dishes can be prepared with rabbit meat and vegetables just as they are in the best Oriental restaurants.

[sissy]

Thanks bee pipes,
DH & I wanted to try rabbit, to see if we liked it. I've been reading on them, thinking about raising them, as another meat source. Not ready yet but wanted to find out. It did seem to be more filling than chicken. I liked it better than DH did, he likes chicken breast better. I think it is moister than that. It cost more than chicken @ 4.99 lb we won't buy a lot of it.
The info is good to know, not seen it before. There is a lot to learn about.
Thanks everyone for any & all info given.
Sissy

[Anon001]

...I got a recipe booklet from him also. But it don't say anything about the liver or two other round objects that do not look like gizzards.

Sissy, just FYI, rabbits don't have gizzards.

[mtwildflower]

Sissy, just FYI, rabbits don't have gizzards. *

LOL...it reminds of a story my last BF before my husband told me about when he was a boy. He loved chicken gizzards and when his father took him to the house of a friend who had just killed a steer and had it hanging on the hook ready to be cut up, the former BF who was about 6 pondered on how big the gizzard must be and demanded to know where it was. "if only steers had gizzards" he said.

Sigh...anyway, I am anxiously awaiting August when I can process my first rabbit crop.

[fancyfowl]

I havent eaten a rabbit in several years an might give it a try again. We just ate so much for so many years got tired of it i guess. I dont really care to do the butchering anymore actually. I sell most culls to the snake guy(his snakes eat 15 a week in the summer) and for other pet feeds. I really prefer to sell breeder and show quality, prices are much better. $1.50 live weight is the going price for pet/snake feed.

[woodzman]

I love rabbit, including the heart and liver. I'm not big on kidneys though.

Bob.

[SciFiChick]

Fried, grilled, broiled, smoked, in a stew, however you wanna try it Rabbit Rocks. Some of the best lean meat out there. They are an excellent source of meat. Loaded with protein. And the bunny poo makes wonderful fertilizer. You can use it straight from under the coops and onto your plants. Also makes great worms (under the bunny poo) and the castings from the worms are again benificial for gardening.

Hey I'm just sayin....

[fancyfowl]

The poo is the main reason I deciided to begin breding again, I wish I could keep 100. Showing is secondary to the poop for me, 4 litters this month and 1 due in May. sheesh, i may have 100 ere too long ! and i think i will just have to butcher a couple this year. I lioke rabbit Mcnuggets.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I have nine pregnant does and two litters right now. I haven't dug in the nests, but I think one litter has 6 and the other 5 bunnies just from the way they peek out.

When we clean out the rabbit shed, I just put it directly onto the garden, straw, poo, and anything else. I was blessed enough to unload a lot of bunnies (and ducks) earlier this year right before Resurrection Day. I wouldn't have the heart to sell them for snake food, but I do give/sell a lot for pets and 4H projects.

I BBQ most of the ones we cook. It is just like BBQ chicken sandwiches, and not as tough as fried rabbit. I have also made nuggets from them. We give all the entrails and unused parts to the big dogs. When the boys were young, we would tan the hides for homeschool projects and crafts, but haven't done that in 10yrs or more.

[fancyfowl]

I honestly believe they are better off as snake feed than the lives some pets get. I wonder how many I have condemned to misery and death as pets?
The Mini Rex I breed carry a lethal gene(Dw) for dwarfing and when a kit gets DwDw, or is homozygous for the dwarfing gene they are born as peanuts and die soon after birthing so litters are not usually more than 3-5. When i bred Checkered Giants and French Lops litters were sometimes huge so would cull down to 6-8 depending on how well the doe milked. Some could be culled at birth for bad markings.

In the 70s I used to tan the hides and had a college student artist who painted cool graphics on the skins and I was getting 40-50 bucks for them back then. Rabbit skins used to have some value but they sure arent worth a lot now.

[huckelberry]

dang,no gizzard..hmm wonder what i been eatin all this time ;Dyuk yuk...rabbit is great been eatin rabbit all my life an caint say nothin bad bout it ;)

[harvester]

rabbit is one of the staples of my families diet, the liver you found, the two other round objects are the kidneys. you can also throw in the heart.
the liver is very mild and nice, for liver. the kidneys are very uneventfull as is the heart.
i like my rabbit fried with biscuits and gravy. rabbit should be fried very slowly as too fast can cause it to toughen up. and i make a rue out of the drippings for the gravy and biscuits.
rarely rabbits have liver flukes which you will see shortly after butchering, or during cooking. evil little things that resemble a grub. sometimes after butchering they will emmerge from the liver. if not then, it will happen during cooking. pretty disgusting really.
the liver should be deep mahogany red and smooth. the bial sack needs to be removed carefully.

[silvergramma]

hey folks,, dont forget fricassee... and especially gumbo... good eats.. if ya like oysters,,, the canned variety make the gumbo with rabbit and oysters.. southern living has good rabbit recipes otherwise... serve over rice with onions and gravy.. have fun..