Cooking without skinning

[Zambaku]

I remember watching a documenary on T.V a few years ago, they where hunting fruit bats and when they where going to cook them they didn't skin them, they just threw them on the fire so the fur burnt away. I was thinking that perhaps it could be used on rabbits aswell? What do you pro's out there think?

[paul vallandigham]

Singing rabbits, guts and all would be a very " Acquired " taste, to say the least. Until you can work up to this gradually, I think just eating rabbit cooked out on an open fire is going to test your cooking skills enough.

[halo2]

I'm not a pro, but I have killed and eaten wild rabbits. I find them tasty in a stew. I cook them longer than I would store bought meat.

I second what Paul says regarding eating some gut parts, especially intestines. No real need to go there.

Rabbits are remarkably easy to skin. Perhaps the easiest. The skin comes off quickly and it is easy to get the whole thing off. The pelt is also useful, though the skin and subsequent leather tears easily.

Another reason to remove the organs is to examine them to determine the general health of the critter. Spots on the liver, kidneys or spleen usually indicate a sick animal and most documentation that I've read says not to eat them if they are sick.

[Raiders2win]

I would cook the entire animal with hair/skin is if I got it from a snare in cold weather. Many times it frezzes before you get it from the snare, and it's hard to remove skin and fur. Other than that, if you put the animal in the fire and cover it with coals the skin will protect the meat from char getting on the meat. Then you can peel it off and eat. I would prefer using green leaves to wrap it. Other than that, I would agree that it's best to remove the skin and organs to check the animal for possible diseases.

[halo2]

Interesting, I read in Kochansky's Bushcraft that cooking (boiling) whole and eating is a known way to prevent so called 'rabbit starvation,' so perhaps there is a reason to do so.

[Kortoso]

From what I understand, rabbit starvation occurs when you eat extremely lean meat. Rabbits store there fat, I understand, in their livers. Don't be squeamish about eating the liver; that's often where the good stuff is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation

[LD]

Goes to show how many people have never processed their own meat!

Hogs are usually scalded and the hair scraped from the hide. They are then cut into sections with the skin still on. That is the skin one removes from a ham after it is cooked. At one time bacon had a ribbon of skin on each slice. We called it the "rind".

As long as the intrails were removed and the hair singed or scraoped off there should be no real problem with cooking in the skin.

Primitive people the world over are known for cooking animals "whole". Usually they simply throw the animal on the fire hair, guts and eyeballs. The flavor/oder imparted to the meat is enough to gag a maggot.

On cooking rabbits whole to avoid rabbit starvation. This is to get the fat out of the brain. Brain matter is 80% fat. That is why you can "brain tan" hides. It's that way with all animals.

That is also why drug tests are good for 30 days after last use. The drug residue goes to the brain cells and releases slowly, so the test can pick it up for a good amount of time.

It is also why a human is recommended not to go below a specific amount of body fat. If you loose too much weight your brain starts giving up cells. Possibly why so many long distance runners jog in the rain...