Why would a rabbit not be tender after 6 hours of slow cook ?

[Salop Matt]

As above.

 

6 weeks ago I gave a chap a fresh shot bunny fully prepared ready to be cooked. He froze it for a couple of weeks and then defrosed it and next day cooked it for 6 hours in the slow cooker and found it to be tough.

 

He hasnt had rabbit before but his wife has and she`s never known one to be tough ! And from memory it wasnt a big old buck either . His wife has eaten rabbit befor ena never had a tough one either. And this chap can cook well and does most of the home cooking so cant see were it went wrong !

 

Ive never had this and cant think why it would be tough ! :unsure: :blink: :look:

 

Anyone got any ideas ?

[magman]

No water

Never had a tough rabbit in a slow cooker

[mickanles]

because my mrs cooked it :o

[Shropshire_Lad]

Don't know why mate, we had one this week that was frozen from one of our outings and was the best ever?

 

atvb Paul.

[artschool]

must have been an OAP

[Hornet 6]

I have never had a tough one either, funny thing is my Mum who is a very good cook managed to do the same thing

to a couple I gave her.

When she told me I was surprised as mine shot at the same time were great, mine had 2 hours in the oven, hers a bit longer but at a lower temp.

 

Neil.

[Zapp]

I once shot a freakishly large and very old buck, but even that was falling off the bone after a good few hours in the slow cooker.

 

God only knows how yours was still tough after all that time

[Lez325]

sounds like it was an older rabbit- maybe an 8 hour cook next time?

 

 

Les

[henry d]

Very old

 

A friend and I had a guinea fowl that may have been from 1-8 years old, we both reckon that they were 8 or older. I cooked mine like coq au vin, which works well with old cock pheasants, also had it happen with a roe neck cooked slow for over 3 hrs, tough as a whore`s heart.

[shaun4860]

My sister did beef in the slow cooker for 8 hours.....was tough

 

but she put cold water in it, so the water just slowly heated up.

 

maybe thats what they did,

 

ive always used boiling water...

 

shaun

Edited December 10, 2010 by shaun4860

[Redgum]

Rabbit is excellent meat but many are put off sometimes because of it being tough or strong tasting.

My wife is an excellent cook and this is our combined regime to get tender and bone free rabbit meat.

 

1) As soon as you have shot your rabbit, thumb it,which means running the thumb down the rabbits stomach while holding the front legs or head. This is to empty its bladder prior to gutting.

2) If you leave the rabbit half an hour or so before gutting allowing the body to cool a little it will make the whole procedure cleaner.

3) Once skinned wash the rabbit and leave to stand for a few hours in some salted water.

4) Drain and put into a saucepan of clean water and bring to the boil, once boiling turn down heat and simmer for 2/3hours or until it visibily starts to fall off the bone.

Turn off heat and let the pan cool with the rabbit,once cool you can pull the meat from the bones and use for tasty risoto's or pies. Leaving the rabbit to cool in the saucepan seems to be important. There are of course many ways to cook rabbit but this is a bomb proof way to provide cooked and tender meat for many recipes

[monster1971]

i cooked up ten rabbits for my dogs at once a little while ago all shot same time and all cooked same pot and some of the portions were tougher than othes so i reckon its just 'pot luck' as they say

[nighthunter]

We find that some rabbits take longer to cook. They are sometimes cooked twice if they seem tough. I like mine cooked, removed from the bones and recooked in a curry. Rabbit fajitas are good as well.

[Hornet 6]

I did a few in a stew earlier this week, 12 hours in the slow cooker on high, started with boiling water and they were tough

The left over portion had an extra 2 hours in the oven at 140 degrees and it was great, won't mess with the slow cooker again for rabbit.

 

Neil.

[hendersons]

If the rabbit was scared when it died it may be almost impossible to cook until tender. Once the adrenalin goes around the system it makes meat tuff, we had this with a hoggit a couple of years ago when it was in the abbatoir the slaughterman failed to stun it properly so it was swinging around upside down aware of what was happening. I've never been so angry with a man in all my life, we took the carcass home anyway and i couldn't do a thing with it and I tried averything, I couldnt even get some of it through the mincer.

[Muggins.]

Slow cook it it tomato soup. (Good brand)

Fresh veg and Parsley laced dumplings.

muggins.

[gunner269]

To be honest, I always find that rabbit that has been frozen is tough. I made a casserole using Honey and Cider, straight from the oven, it was fantastic> My wife doesn't eat any meat other than Chicken so I froze half of it, when I came to reheat it it was as tough as boot leather.

[codling99]

i agree with the adrenalin post,or old bucks can be tough.

[cooky]

Freezer burn

 

The cells are ruptured, and there's not going to be much way to get moisture back in there

Edited February 26, 2011 by cooky

[The Duncan]

I here the sense in everything everyone is saying - old buck, adrenaline, freezer burn, but I've never experienced a tough rabbit once its been braised for a few hours.

To be fair, I don't think I've ever had a properly 'adrenalised' rabbit - headshot or nothing and if a second shots been required, it's happened in seconds. I have had the odd 'big old buck' and even had some freezer burnt meat. But still no tough meat.

 

Strange, and I hope it doesn't happen when I'm cooking for guests as that would tarnish my rep as a game cook

 

Cheers

 

Duncan

[stubby]

3) Once skinned wash the rabbit and leave to stand for a few hours in some salted water.

 

mine never stand after Ive shot them how do you get them to do that then....

 

 

 

 

sorry, I'll get me coat

[The Duncan]

That might help; I tend to soak mine in a light salt water and white wine vinegar solution for an hour before rinsing and freezing. It makes the meat lose any interstitial fluid and enhances its sweetness while loosening up the dense muscle.

It takes out some of the gameiness too which some aren't so keen on.

 

Cheers

 

Duncan

[FalconFN]

I find that all rabbit needs to be cooked with planty of oil or fat as it's such a lean meat. I recently coated srips of saddle in breadcrumbs and deep fried them which workd very well even with the large old bucks I had in the freezer (pain in the rear to skin so I thought a month in the freezer might help tenderise them).

[Ferretboy111]

Ive had rubbery/tough rabbits once before and that was due to cooking it on a too high heat but in a slow cooker.

 

My best tip is too always splash in abit of white wine cider vinegar as it tenderizes the meat and adds a great flavour.

 

A

[jasper3]

soak it over night in salt water.....