Rabbit meat smell and taste?

[cyntaur]

so even if the bladder is nicked even a tiny bit, it's no good? I processed a rabbit the other day, a warm day, rabbit was 2.5 to 3 months old, and soaked in room temp water after for an hour... it tasted off. It only lost at the most 1 teaspoon of urine, and I was quick as I could with getting the organs out... The rabbit was also a male, and I am wondering if it got "boar taint"?
I'll be sure to use icy salt water next time, for sure!
I've done older rabbits, but it was in the cold, so that could definitely be it.
Cynthia

 

[Oregon Blues]

For one thing, rabbit tastes nothing like chicken, so if you expect chicken, you will not get what you want.

There is a lot of difference in the texture of poultry and mammal meat. Rabbit meat will be drier and more firm, but not in the least bit tough.

There should be virtually no odor in the insides of a rabbit when you dress them. Birds are stinky inside and mammals are not. If the rabbit is stinky when you open it up, then something is wrong.

I suspect that an animal dying of heat will be badly stressed. Stress doesn't have a good effect on meat quality. Ditto for over-heating. Not good for the quality of the meat.

So don't give up on rabbit. It is a very mild flavored meat, very pleasant flavor, great texture. Lends itself very well to all sorts of recipes and goes with spices of many different national dishes. It's very lean, so must be cooked with methods intended for lean meat.

Nothing like chicken. I think the closest comparison is the white medallion in a very white, very good pork chop. It doesn't taste like pork, but it is a a lot closer to that medallion in taste, texture, and moisture than it will ever be to chicken.

 

[Oregon Blues]

By the way, remove both food and water the night before butchering. You want the bladder to be empty when you butcher.

 

[Chickhick]

I used to love rabbit meat, but when I got pregnant I couldn't stand the smell of it cooking anymore. I'm thinking of giving it another try. (It is a good 15+ years later!)