# Processing for the first time tomorrow.



## GLENMAR (Sep 11, 2013)

I am nervous. :/  There are 7 to be done. But the good news is that Saturday there is an Italian lady coming over to cook the rabbits in a very 
traditional Italian dish with polenta and mushrooms. Complete with salad, wine and dessert.  


ETA: Any wise words of encouragement????


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## Hens and Roos (Sep 11, 2013)

Good Luck, it gets easier and faster after the 1st couple.  Make sure you have everything you need set up before starting.  Make sure your knives are sharp.    Wear gloves to protect your hands and maybe a long sleeve shirt when handling the live rabbits- they can leave some pretty good marks on your hands/arms 

We used a 5 gal bucket to set the rabbits in to make it easier to put them down.  We washed the bucket in between each rabbit and our hands as well so everything was clean for the next one. Rinse the carcass off before putting to cold water as you start the next one.  We used 2 big kettles with cold water to put the meat into once skinned and inners taken out.  Be very careful removing the bladder(don't squeeze) so the meat isn't contaminated. 

Hopefully you have someone who is helping you.  It makes it so much nicer, a friend of ours helped me both times we processed.  We were able to process a rabbit in about 10 minutes start to finish.  We took turns skinning and gutting so that one person wasn't getting tired.


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## P.O. in MO (Sep 11, 2013)

Butchering day is not something I look forward too just something that has to be done.  I have butchered 4 or 5 litters now and as Hens and Roos said it does get a little easier.  I look at it this way, I am not a vegetarian, I have tried it and as I said, I am not a vegetarian.  I dispatch my rabbits by cervical dislocation with a home made contraption similar to the rabbit wringer.  It is quick and if it hurts its only for a second.  My rabbits are treated very well up to this point and it provides me with meat that is not full of antibiotics or processed in some giant meat processing plant that are all becoming very lax on how they handle our food.  This was sent to me today from Sum of Us.org about the current situation:

'The USDA is still rushing ahead with plans to slash poultry plant regulations and privatize inspections -- even though the federal governments own independent oversight office has warned against it. 

The new poultry regulations would replace government safety inspectors with factory employees and let plants dramatically speed up production. Chickens and turkeys will be allowed to soak in contaminants like feces and pus, and then washed in chlorine. The USDA insists that the new rules wont hurt consumers, but last week the Government Accountability Office released a report revealing massive flaws in the USDAs study. Meanwhile, independent studies show that the new rules will increase consumers risk of exposure to foodborne illnesses like salmonella and that workers will be at risk of serious injury.'

It is sad that it has come to this.  Anything to increase profits.  I have 8 to butcher friday when it cools down here a little and another 7 about a week later.  My freezer has been lacking rabbits for about 2 weeks so this is good.  Good luck tomorrow.  I hope it goes well and you start to get the hang of it.  The more you do the less time it takes.  PO


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## VickieB (Sep 11, 2013)

I bought my first rabbits at the end of March. We had our first litter the first of May. I dispatched my first rabbits six to eight weeks ago. I have since dispatched 54, and have 6 I need to dispatch in the next couple of days. It does get easier. Raising the rabbits was the first adventure. Harvesting the rabbits was the second (it WAS hard, but when you remind yourself that for every animal you raise for meat at home you save another animal the inhumane treatment they receive in these large meat processing plants. Treat your animal with love and respect and dispatch them in a way that is quick and as painless as possible.) The next adventure is in the  kitchen!  So far I have found that I LOVE fried rabbit legs. It is a lot like the thigh meat on a chicken WITHOUT the fat! The best of both worlds! I use the small front legs to make Buffalo wings. My men love it. I use shredded rabbit meat to make some awesome Rabbit Chimichangas. Also, anytime I make something with ground beef now, I use half 94/6 beef and half ground rabbit, very lean and my family doesn't have a clue!     I've used it for chili and spaghetti.    I didn't know how this was going to turn out 6 months ago but today I'm glad I took the plunge!


After letting the rabbit rest in the fridge for 2 to 4 days, I prepare it for freezing. I'll set a few rabbits aside to freeze whole. The others are cut up then, put on baking sheets in a single layer, and frozen. After they are frozen I bag them up according to pieces. That way I can pull out what I need and the exact amount needed when it's time for dinner.


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## Bossroo (Sep 12, 2013)

I would make sure that any animal that is processed is rested in the refrigerator for several days until rigor mortis passes ( limbs become stiff after culling, then become limp after rigor passes) or you will experience very "tough" meat at  dinner  time.


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## sawfish99 (Sep 16, 2013)

Bossroo - I respectfully disagree.  This is something we have specifically tested at our house.  In my experience, the rabbits rested in the fridge are actually worse because the meat tends to dry out prior to freezing.  I consistently slaughter and immediately package then freeze. I have not had a single customer complain about tough meat.  And we use about 3 a month in our house and never have problems.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Sep 16, 2013)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> I would make sure that any animal that is processed is rested in the refrigerator for several days until rigor mortis passes ( limbs become stiff after culling, then become limp after rigor passes) or you will experience very "tough" meat at  dinner  time.


*
I HAVE found this to be true! If we don't rest it prior to cooking, the meat is very tough!*


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## sawfish99 (Sep 16, 2013)

WMR - How do you normally cook the rabbit?  I'm just curious if how much the method of prep matters for rabbits 

We almost always slow cook a in an oven roaster or crock pot.


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## CritterZone (Sep 16, 2013)

sawfish99 said:
			
		

> WMR - How do you normally cook the rabbit?  I'm just curious if how much the method of prep matters for rabbits
> 
> We almost always slow cook a in an oven roaster or crock pot.


You are using the best method available to cook any meat that may become tough.  The slow roasting or cold smoking process helps to break down the connective tissue and makes for a more tender end product.


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## Bossroo (Sep 16, 2013)

sawfish99 said:
			
		

> Bossroo - I respectfully disagree.  This is something we have specifically tested at our house.  In my experience, the rabbits rested in the fridge are actually worse because the meat tends to dry out prior to freezing.  I consistently slaughter and immediately package then freeze. I have not had a single customer complain about tough meat.  And we use about 3 a month in our house and never have problems.


I guess that my experience in working for years at a University Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital and necropsying everything from a Killer Whale to a shrew ( including several thousand rabbits used in antibody production / testing/ research ) don't count for much.  My bad !       However , I did notice that   all animals  seamed to become quite stiff mere hours  after expiring.  To prevent a carcass from drying out, place them in a bowl with  water covering the entire carcass then  cover tightly with saran wrap. Or, put the carcass  in a large plastic baggy with some water added and air squeezed out.


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 16, 2013)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> sawfish99 said:
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Unless you tell us the killer whale and shrew were tough when you fried it up, I guess it doesn't count much


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## sawfish99 (Sep 17, 2013)

I never said the rabbits didn't experience rigor.  And I never attacked your resume.  I simply said it doesn't matter for the toughness of the meat.  This is probably based on the fact that most people cook rabbit is a slow cooking manner because it is so lean in the first place.  

I guess my experience slaughtering, selling, cooking, and eating rabbit meat doesn't count either. 

Funny thing about experience in life.  Sometimes it is different for different folks.  

Yes, you can brine or soak the meat when refrigerating.  However, that gets challenging when processing 20 rabbits at a time.


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## cooky (Sep 18, 2013)

We always let ours chill for 24 hours before we freeze them but then we haven't done very many yet or tried another way. That's how we've always processed chickens so we just did the same for our rabbits. When we cook them, we either soak in buttermilk and then fry them or we cook them low and slow in a stew. We're getting ready to process some more next week though and we're planning on canning the extra. We'll see how that goes ...


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## VickieB (Sep 18, 2013)

Glenmar, did you get your rabbits processed and if you did, how did it go?


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## GLENMAR (Sep 25, 2013)

My neighbor came over and helped us get started. He used a 22 and shot each one in the back of the head. They went down fast.
I helped skin, and he gutted them. There was a lot of meat.  We did 7. I gave him some. I tried some of the scraps that we cut off the bone, while getting them 
ready for the freezer. Just fried that up today for a little taste. WOW that was GOOD!!! I did not get any photos, but the back legs were really meaty.


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## BYJR1434 (Oct 9, 2013)

smoke em, if you think rabbits good now, wait till you smoke it.


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## bj taylor (Oct 9, 2013)

excuse me for jumping in on this thread.  I just read it all.  I've never raised rabbits, but am seriously interested.  when you say your friend shot them w/a 22, do you mean a pistol or rifle?  i'm sorry if this question is remarkably ignorant, but the killing part is the part that has me stumped - whether chickens, goats, rabbits.
thanks a lot


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## GLENMAR (Oct 10, 2013)

rifle


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## shan777 (Oct 29, 2013)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> sawfish99 said:
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Thanks for the Resume outline, I now listen to your argument the most. ( high levels of sarcasm may be present here)


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## BHOBCFarms (Oct 29, 2013)

Maybe the freezing is the reason no one is complaining about toughness.... Freezing burst cells, makes things mooshy, etc...   Just a thought for all of you "right fighters", perhaps NO one is wrong, just different methods, different results.  That said, I have always heard that resting meat is typical....


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## VickieB (Oct 29, 2013)

I emptied the crisper drawer in my fridge, put in 6 rabbits and covered with salt water last time and let rest for 4 days. They turned out wonderful.


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