# Smoking Rabbit Tonight



## xjcamaro (Jan 15, 2010)

I smoked some rabbit back in the spring, and now that the first half of the rabbit season has passed here in western PA, the second season is in full swing. So tonight im going to take some of the fall's kills and smoke them for a after hunt snack tomorrow. What i do is put the rabbit peices in a simple poultry brine over night, then when i get home from work i will wrap it in bacon and slide it in the smoker. Ill try to get some QView, but last time i did it, the rabbit came out delicious! Almost had a hammy flavor.


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## brohnson (Jan 15, 2010)

Sounds yummy, cant wait to see some pics! :)


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## jsanders (Jan 15, 2010)

That sounds great. I smoked squirrel a few years back with no brine or bacon.  I used my brisket rub which has a good bit of cumin and chili powder in it. It was really good.


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## xjcamaro (Jan 15, 2010)

Ive read alot of people when they clean the rabbits that they leave them whole. But when i clean my rabbits i cut them up into more manageable peices. i cut out the backstraps on each side so you have a chicken finger sized peice of meat and then i cut all the way around the rear leg joint and pop it out of the joint so the back leg is like a giant chicken leg. makes for some easier eating and more manageble peices.


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## gene111 (Jan 15, 2010)

look forward to seeing some qview!!!


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## rbranstner (Jan 15, 2010)

I have only had rabbit once and that was back when I was a young kid. I shot one in our back yard and we cooked it up along with our turkey for thanksgiving and we loved it. My cousins didn't even know is was rabbit until we told them. I would love to try one smoked


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## xjcamaro (Jan 15, 2010)

We usually just throw them in the crock pot at the end of the season with some BBQ sauce and have big family rabbit dinner, but after i smoked some last time, everyone wants me to smoke some more.


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## xjcamaro (Jan 15, 2010)

Ok, here is the Qview, it in the smoker right now, this was prep pictures.

This is in the brine:


This is the two cuts i was talking about, the top is the back leg, and the bottom peice is the back strap:


Here is the rabbit all wrapped up in the bacon, my freinds own bacon, not store bought, although store bought is easier for wrapping.


And here is one section of the smoker with meat on it:


I made three rabbits worth, so 6 legs and 6 straps. We usually are a little hard on the front legs taking head shots, so they usually are not kept.

Ill post more when its done. They are at about 120* right now.


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## Dutch (Jan 16, 2010)

MMMmmm~ wabbits!!! Looking forward to the finished goods!


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## xjcamaro (Jan 16, 2010)

Ok here is the finished product. It was a little cold outside and the smoker wasnt exactly cooperating and getting up to temp very well, so i left them in the smoker for about 2 hours at 180*. Then transfered them to the oven to finish cooking. They will be enjoyed tomorrow afternoon after we hunt some more rabbits!


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## miamirick (Jan 16, 2010)

rabbit season?   cmon elmer can't you just shoot em when you want to?


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## scpatterson (Jan 16, 2010)

Looks awesome...My mother has a rabbit farm (Sort of) and I get all that I want. I have some now that I ground up and Im gonna make breakfast sausage out of it when I get back home.....


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## Dutch (Jan 16, 2010)

MMmmm- a rabbit fatty!!!


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## mballi3011 (Jan 16, 2010)

You have really done that wabbbit justice too. That looks sosooo good I could just eat it all now.


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## oneshot (Jan 16, 2010)

2 hours at 180* then finished in the oven? What temp. and how long were they in the oven????? Looks good!!!


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## xjcamaro (Jan 17, 2010)

I had to put them in the oven at like 350 for like 40 mins to cook them all the way through. If my smoker would have got up to 235* like it usually does than i would have been fine. 

They were great, all was gone in about 5 mins. Would have been better if they were right off the smoker, but they were great anyway. Im going to start looking into a different smoker i think. Something with some insulation and more control.


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## westsmoke (Feb 7, 2010)

Did the rabbits come out tender?


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## bassman (Feb 7, 2010)

Sounds like a great dish.  I'm really interested in seeing some pics.  Our rabbit population is in a "down cycle" this year.  Went hunting a couple of times but didn't see any.  Maybe if I had a beagle..............


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## xjcamaro (Feb 7, 2010)

The rabbits came out great, as described in the above post. About 12 peices of rabbit were gone in about 5 minutes. There are also pics above of the rabbits before of the prep, before, during, and after. I have a request do smoke the rest of the rabbits we got this season. Yesterday was the last day of the season and we got about a foot of snow Friday night so needless to say we didnt see any rabbits. 

So now with my tax return coming im looking at new smokers, thinking about going propane. Wally World has a CharBroil 2 door propane (an since i work for a propane company i wont have a problem getting cheap propane)


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## slim (Feb 7, 2010)

My Dad raises wabits.....i need to smoke some


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## big game cook (Feb 18, 2010)

had to throw ya some points there. i raise them. i loved my first smoked rabbit. i smoked it whole like a laid out hog with rub. it was good eats.


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## Bearcarver (Feb 18, 2010)

Poor little bunny.

Boy that looks great. All we ever did was make rabbit pies out of them!
	

	
	
		
		



		
			








Bearcarver


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## xjcamaro (Feb 18, 2010)

Thanks Big Game Cook and Bearcarver, it is really good, i think that rabbit holds the smoke flavor very well. i just purchased a upright CharBroil propane smoker, i havent put it together yet, its still in the box, and i cant wait to smoke the rest of the rabbit we got this season. I wish it didnt take some much time to prep and smoke, i just want to eat it now. lol.  Thanks guys!


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## goat4444 (Mar 15, 2010)

Damn looks great never had rabbit but i plan on it.


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## violator (Mar 21, 2010)

I wish we still had enough rabbits around here to hunt. This part of Illinois just hasn't got the population of rabbits that it used to. I haven't been rabbit or pheasant hunting since the early 90's.
Looks VERY GOOD.
Thanx.


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## nickelmore (Mar 21, 2010)

Those look great great explanation of the backstrap and the qtr's


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## big game cook (Mar 27, 2010)

what part do you live in. im just south of bloomington illinois and theres 5 rabbits to every yard here in town even lol.


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## violator (Mar 27, 2010)

Do you know where Kankakee is? I'm about 10 miles south of there = Chebanse. That puts me about smack between Chicago and Champaign right on 57.
There are some in town here too, but I don't have one of those silent pellet guns (yet).


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