Rabbit Burger Recipes, anybody????

[Green Mantis]

Years ago, we belonged to a Rabbit club and a lady made Rabbit burgers. I had the recipe once, but lost it. They were really good. Just wondered if anyone else might have Rabbit Burger Recipes?????

[webmaster]

How would a rabbit burger recipe differ from a chicken burger or beef burger recipe? Rabbit tastes pretty much the same as chicken to me.

[Kisal]

I have to agree. Any kind of ground meat can be shaped into a burger. No special recipe is needed. Any seasonings you like should be fine. There's nothing unique about rabbit meat.

[Rogue11]

Rabbit is a lot leaner than beef so the important thing would be not to overcook the burger. It will cook faster and without the fat will dry out easily.

[Green Mantis]

Guess I was wondering if anyone knew the ages of the rabbits to butcher, and what parts would be ground up for the burger, as well as what type of spices??? What kind of grinder would you use?-------Recipes would be good too, as well as answers to my questions. Thanks in advance.

[cynthia_h]

Here is an info sheet from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture which may answer a couple of your questions.

This is a site on conscientiously raising, and then humanely slaughtering, rabbits for dinner. Warning: the photos are graphic and may upset vegetarians and pet-rabbit lovers. (I have a definitely confused relationship with rabbits: I can't bring myself to eat them, I have baby-sat pet rabbits, but I know that they're agricultural pests as well as beloved pets.)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Green Mantis]

cynthia, Thank you, now I need some recipes, hopefully from someone. If someone has any, I'd sure like to see them. Thanks in advance.

[!potatoes!]

local rabbit is one of the primary meats consumed in my house...but i can't speak on using it ground. prefer other methods.

most rabbits for 'fryers' are 10-12 weeks old. a bit older for 'stewers'.

[Green Mantis]

!potatoes!--------What kind of recipes do you have for rabbit meat? When I think back on how she did it, I think she must have maybe?? used a pressure canner, or similiar, as it was sort of stringy, then it was served hot on the hamburger buns. Was REALLY good.........Does anyone know of Rabbit meat recipe books, names of them?????? Thanks very much.

[Green Mantis]

............Oh recipes for duck meat too, (Muscovy ducks) would be appreciatted. Thanks again.

[cynthia_h]

My cookbook collection is ever so much more complete and extensive than my gardening book collection. I went upstairs and riffled through American, German, Hungarian, and Gascon cookbooks.

These are the ones with recipes for rabbit (or hare, the larger wild animal) or wild duck. Some of these volumes may be out of print; I originally purchased them in used-book stores, and the books were fairly old already. They may be available in a public library, though.

--Foie Gras, Magret, and Other Good Food from Gascony. André Daguin and Anne de Ravel, 1988, Random House, New York, NY. ISBN 0-394-67027-8.

--The Cuisine of Hungary. George Lang, 1971, Bonanza Books (a division of Crown Books), New York, NY. ISBN: n/a. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 72-162976.

--The Joy of Cooking. Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, 1975, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., Indianapolis and New York. ISBN 0-672-51831-7.

--The Joy of Cooking. Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, 2006, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY. ISBN 0-7432-4626-8.

Earlier editions of The Joy of Cooking, e.g., immediately post-World War II, gave a lot of information on game animals, as hunting was more popular/necessary among a larger % of the population then. If you can find earlier copies, whether in the library or in a used-book store, there will be additional recipes which fell out of favor by the mid-'70s edition.

However, in none of these books did I find anything on grinding the meat. There wasn't anything in my German recipe books, either, in English or in German.

Cynthia

[Green Mantis]

cynthia_h............Thank you for the list of recipe books, gives me something to go on-line to look for. I'm re-couping from major surgery ( on may 27th) so can't do anything heavy, for quite awhile. Very frustrating. But I have to behave myself, don't want anymore surgeries, NO fun at all. So I'll make a list and have a look. Any other recipes from anyone would be much appreciatted too. Thanks everyone.

[!potatoes!]

somewhere (and i def. can't promise i can find it, even with a decent search), i have a (quite thin) book of rabbit recipes that was put out by some group like the 'american rabbitry association' (that's just a guess) at some point in the seventies...had many things in it, and now that I'm thinking about it, it may have even had a burger recipe in it...i haven't seen it in a few years, though, and it could be anywhere, sadly. maybe a copy lives somewhere online?

the three primary ways we eat rabbit are: basted with lime juice and sate (indonesian curry), and cooked over coals (and then finished in aluminum foil to not lose too much moisture); marinated in a bit of vinegar and tamari and garlic (and whatever else is at hand) and fried (usually just the legs, tenderloin strips, and 'bacon'); and our fall/winter staple, rabbit stew. there are others, but are the fallbacks.

[Green Mantis]

potatoes Just wondered if you use stewing rabbits for things like casseroles etc. Or do you use the fryers Thanks in advance.

[!potatoes!]

mostly use fryers (mostly because our rabbit guy charges the same price per pound regardless of size, and the younger, smaller ones are more tender for whatever application), but have definitely done a few big stewers, too. when our guy was building a new rabbit barn, and was reducing production for a bit to help him shift focus, he did deals on some of his older breeding stock...sent me home with an 8lb french lop that i couldn't do anything with but stew...if I'm using rabbit meat in a casserole, I'm almost always using meat that was lightly stewed first to aid in separating meat from bone, but it is usually stewed fryers.