Rabbit meat is becoming a thing in the US.

[whm1974]

Being bored last night, I looked up rabbits and boy oh boy did I found out that rabbit has become a trendy meat now in the US. There are now more people raising them for the meat market then when I was a kid. Back then you had to hunt for them, or raise them yourself, or if you were lucky find someone who was farming them.

My have things changed. However rabbit meat while trendy, most Americans do seem to have some issues with it. Has anyone eaten this before? I would like to try it out.

 

[cherrytwist]

Yup. Tastes like squirrel. Deep fried goodness.

 

[highland145]

So you google search took you to rabbits? Understandable.

 

[NetWareHead]

We raised rabbits in our backyard back in the 80s/90s and did it until the town slapped our wrist. Said we were violating the residential zoning laws with our operation. Weren't selling the meat, we ate it.

Anyway rabbit is great and not to be cliche or funny, but it does taste just like chicken. I'm convinced rabbit can be substituted in any chicken dish and go unnoticed. Someone with a sharp eye will spot a foreleg; rabbit like looks nothing like a drumstick or a wing though.

My family is from Italy and rabbit has been a popular meat since antiquity. As with the rest of Europe. Far easier to raise than chickens. Chickens need a lot more space than rabbits. We had 75+ rabbits at our peak and had them all in cages in a hidden corner of our backyard. They multiply rapidly and you have a steady self sustainable population. We were slaughtering 3-6 rabbits a week for ourselves and we regularly gave rabbit meat as a gift to family/friends. It was more economical than buying chicken from the supermarket and raising it ourselves, at least we knew the meat was pure and not farmed

 

[whm1974]

We raised rabbits in our backyard back in the 80s/90s and did it until the town slapped our wrist. Said we were violating the residential zoning laws with our operation. Weren't selling the meat, we ate it.

Anyway rabbit is great and not to be cliche or funny, but it does taste just like chicken. I'm convinced rabbit can be substituted in any chicken dish and go unnoticed. Someone with a sharp eye will spot a foreleg; rabbit like looks nothing like a drumstick or a wing though.

My family is from Italy and rabbit has been a popular meat since antiquity. As with the rest of Europe. Far easier to raise than chickens. Chickens need a lot more space than rabbits. We had 75+ rabbits at our peak and had them all in cages in a hidden corner of our backyard. They multiply rapidly and you have a steady self sustainable population. We were slaughtering 3-6 rabbits a week for ourselves and we regularly gave rabbit meat as a gift to family/friends. It was more economical than buying chicken from the supermarket and raising it ourselves, at least we knew the meat was pure and not farmed

So what did you do with the pelts? Make coats out of them, sell them?

 

[KMFJD]

They where selling bison and elk in our grocery store, mighty tasty, rabbit not so much although the Dutch store sometimes sells smoked horse meat

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Anecdotally, our local grocery store, which is far from a "trendy" place, has been selling whole cleaned rabbit for some years now. The store keeps them frozen, so I don't know how popular they are though.

 

[thebestMAX]

We used to have neighbors who were having a hard time financially who raised rabbits. We would have them over for steak and went to their house for rabbit. Seemed fair at the time and helped them out. Ill eat rabbit anytime. Hasenpfeffer FTW.

 

[NetWareHead]

So what did you do with the pelts? Make coats out of them, sell them?

They went into the compost to decompose. The dog would hang out during the slaughtering and eat organ meat that we would have thrown away, like lungs, kidneys etc... The carcasses would all hang upside down and drain into a tub, the dog would drink blood from 6 rabbits at a time. We would give him all the severed rabbit heads too. Take him a day to crack it open and get at all the meat.

 

[whm1974]

So it is my understanding that since rabbit is very lean you will have cook it differently?

 

[NetWareHead]

So it is my understanding that since rabbit is very lean you will have cook it differently?

It's leaner than chicken but not dry. It's more comparable to dark chicken meat than breast. We didn't fry it, almost always roasted it in the oven with some olive oil, rosemary next to potatoes or some other root veggies. Came out great.

 

[NetWareHead]

I remember we used to brine the entire carcasses in the fridge overnight before roasting.

 

[Captante]

Had it a few times but not crazy about it ... nothing special IMO.

 

[luv2liv]

havent seen them anywhere in the market.
did eat rabbits when younger. they were yummy!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I like rabbit very much but, it has no fat so, you need to cook it with some. The biggest marketing mistake stores make is selling whole rabbits. They look like cats.

 

[highland145]

I like rabbit very much but, it has no fat so, you need to cook it with some. The biggest marketing mistake stores make is selling whole rabbits. They look like cats.

Is that a problem?

 

[sdifox]

It has been off our menu ever since the killer rabbit incident.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Had it a few times but not crazy about it ... nothing special IMO.

Exactly. It's nothing special. Very lean, mild, little flavor. Offers pretty much no benefit over chicken and costs a hell of a lot more. If you're lost in a forest and starving then by all means set a snare. But I can't understand why anyone would walk into a market and order rabbit when other meats are available.

 

[highland145]

It has been off our menu ever since the killer rabbit incident.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Rabbit has been a thing for a long long time. It's nothing special but I'll eat it.

 

[Paratus]

 

[Darwin333]

Rabbit has been a thing for a long long time. It's nothing special but I'll eat it.

This.

 

[Red Storm]

Never had rabbit, but I am down to try it sometime. Same with duck.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Never had rabbit, but I am down to try it sometime. Same with duck.

Don't go out of your way to try rabbit. But dude, you need to get out and do some duck. Rabbit is meh, duck is delicious.

 

[whm1974]

Exactly. It's nothing special. Very lean, mild, little flavor. Offers pretty much no benefit over chicken and costs a hell of a lot more. If you're lost in a forest and starving then by all means set a snare. But I can't understand why anyone would walk into a market and order rabbit when other meats are available.

Why not?