Keeping rabbit meat?

audioslave

Hi all,
I was out this morning to check the snares I set yesterday. Just caught the one rabbit, I peed it there and then but also noticed a lot of fleas on it.
Im working now until Saturday and I was just wondering if the rabbit would still be ok to eat come saturday? I usually bring them home and skin and gut and in the oven the same day so im not sure about how they keep otherwise.
At present I have it hung in the shed but not gutted, will the meat spoil? Im guessing the fleas will feck off if the rabbit is dead?

extremetaz

The fleas usually sod off within about 20 minutes of the rabbit expiring so they're no issue.

For better or worse I tend to treat them like I would your average white meat, so it'll keep a few days alright, but not long.

I'd be inclined to clean it and and leave it in the fridge myself but that's not to say that's necessary.

audioslave

extremetaz wrote: »

The fleas usually sod off within about 20 minutes of the rabbit expiring so they're no issue.

For better or worse I tend to treat them like I would your average white meat, so it'll keep a few days alright, but not long.

I'd be inclined to clean it and and leave it in the fridge myself but that's not to say that's necessary.

Thanks for the reply extremetaz, I had a few mins so I prepared it and I have left it to soak in salt water. Im presuming it would be ok to eat Saturday if I change the water tmrw (fri)?

extremetaz

Ah yeah it'll hold that long alright - and once it's cooked it'll keep for another week or so.

aaakev

Yes it will be fine to eat then

audioslave

Hey lads after i got the replies yesterday, i was reading what purpose soaking the mest in salt had and i found this

"Read an interesting article by a chef on the reason you should soak Rabbit meat.Apparently Because they originally come from a lot warmer climate than ours, they evolved to cope without an abundance of water. As such they rarely if ever drink and can survive on the moisture from their food.As a Rabbit doesn't have much 'free' fluid it rarely has to pee, so the Urea (the bit that turns your pee yellow) builds up in the blood stream. This is what can make a Rabbit taste bitter/funny after taste.By soaking the carcase in salt water, you draw out the blood from the meat and with it the Urea, dramatically lessening the 'odd' taste that puts so many off eating Rabbit.Although soaking in milk does work it's not as effective, it's actually the small amount of salt content in the milk that's at work not the milk itself.I've since started doing this and it works a treat! I never used to be a great fan of the taste of Rabbit and would always mince it or put a strong flavoured sauce on it.I tried just adding salt to some water and dropping the Rabbit carcase in but when I tried a few plain pieces it didn't work as well as I thought it should.I then boiled some water with the salt in to dissolve it, cut the meat off the bone and dropped that in the cooled water overnight and BINGO!Drained it off, patted it dry with kitchen roll then fried up a few plain bits... it tasted lovely!If your doing a recipe that involves cooking the whole carcase then just lightly score the meat with a knife to allow the blood to be drawn out easier."

Just thought it was interesting.

sniperman

soak the rabbit in vinegar and water over night,the meat turns whiter,then strain,boil for 2 hours,pan fry,there's nothing nicer.