How do I gut a rabbit and what is a good recipe for wild rabbit?

Although techniques may vary, this method is a quick, tried-and-tested means of performing a task which some may find objectionable, but which can be accomplished with minimal contact with the yucky bits. It is important that it is carried out on waste ground, or an alternative method will need to be used.

You need a knife with a sticky sharp point - a craft knife is suitable, but any small sharp pointed knife will do. Take hold of the rabbit in the left hand2 around the chest (belly up), and taking care not to go stabbing wildly, insert your knife just below the ribs at a shallow angle3, and make an incision about three quarters of an inch long. You should be looking at going in no further than say a quarter of an inch or 6mm. Two fingers can now be inserted into the incision and it can be torn open to give you an opening about three inches long. This sounds brutal, but it is the best way to make sure that you don't contaminate the meat by puncturing the entrails with the knife.

Take the rabbit by the back feet with one hand, round the chest with the other, raising it shoulder high, and using a motion similar to emptying a bucket whose contents are stuck to the bottom of it, swiftly swing the rabbit downwards. This will remove most of the entrails4, they will still be attached at front and rear, however. The part attached to the rear can easily be pulled and broken without risk of contamination, as the only thing you will encounter here are rabbit droppings, which are usually very dry and hard. The front is a different matter, it is attached to the stomach, up beneath the ribs. Take the rabbit round the ribs in the left hand and grip the stomach, and remove it, it is about the size of a golf ball and providing you didn't puncture5 it with your knife, it will come away cleanly leaving you with a gutted rabbit, as it would be, if you acquired it from a game dealer.

The chest cavity is normally left intact as it carries little risk of going off, thus contaminating the food. If you have managed so far, and want to finish the job, look inside the body cavity and you will see a tight membrane. This is the diaphragm which separates the thorax from the abdomen. Puncture this and the heart and lungs are easily removed by taking hold of them and pulling them out. Quite often this is unnecessary as, unless the rabbit is being cooked whole, the rib cage is often discarded due to the fact that there is very little meat on it.

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1 The rabbit should be gutted promptly on cooling as the meat can become tainted, especially if the rabbit has been shot, as on occasion, the gut will be punctured allowing the contents to come into contact with the meat.

2 This is for right-handed people, if you're left-handed then use your right hand to hold the rabbit.

3 It is not the end of the world, but easier if you don't stab the stomach or puncture any of the intestines.

4 While it is possible to control the direction in which the entrails travel, it is advisable to carry out the task alone until you become proficient.

5 If you did puncture the stomach, or it bursts on removal, the fouling should be washed out immediately as it taints the meat.

Recipe

1 wild rabbit [cleaned, in pieces] 2 T. butter

2 cloves garlic [minced] 1 onion [chopped]

Dash of salt 2 C. Water

4 T. brown sugar 1 T. chili powder

4 T. Worcestershire sauce 4 T. vinegar

1 tsp. Tabasco 1 C. catsup

Place rabbit pieces in slow cooker. In saucepan, put all other ingredients; bring to boil for 1 minute. Pour sauce over rabbit in slow cooker. Turn on low heat for 6-7 hours until tender.

Rabbit skin tears easily so I just grab the skin on the back in pull it in opposite directions. The skin comes off easiest if you do it soon after killing the rabbit. Once you have the skin off, take a knife and open the body cavity being careful not to cut into the intestines, stomach, etc. and remove everything. Cut through the rib cage to remove the heart and lungs which will be in front of the diaphragm. Wash thoroughly and make sure you get all the hair off the meat. The edible parts are the legs and the meat along the backbone. You can fry it, bake it or BBQ it like you would chicken. My favorite recipe is boil the legs and back and then remove the meat from the bones. Cut the meat in small pieces and place it in a pan. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of corn and a can of peas. Let it heat in the pan on low heat while you bake some biscuits. Once the biscuits are done, pour the mixture over the biscuits and it's dinner time. If you have a favorite chicken recipe you can just replace the chicken with rabbit. If you use a shotgun to hunt the rabbits, make sure you get all the pellets out of the meat. Biting into a lead pellet can ruin the meal. Enjoy the rabbit.

Well the other ones are on target on how to field dress rabbit. I've got a recipe for you. Hope you like it

Rabbit sauce piquante

2 wild rabbits

salt

cayenne pepper

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup cooking oil

1cup celery, diced

1cup oinons, diced

1cup green pepper, diced

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1/2cup green onion tops

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon parsley

1 can tomato juice(12oz can)

1 can tomatoes (16ozcan)

rice

Cut rabbits up and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Heat a cup of cooking oil in a dutch oven. Brown rabbit pieces on medium-high heat. Pour off about half the oil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30min

In a pan, Saute onions, celery,garlic, and green peppers. Add 1 cup of water, tomatoes, tomato juice. Cook for 30min. Add to rabbit in dutch oven. Add mushrooms, red pepper, onion tops, and parsley. Cover and simmer for 30 min. Eat with rice.

I hope you will enjoy this .

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