Are you supposed to remove bones from a rabbit before cooking?

[johnnyInterested]

Hi, I ate my first rabbit today. New Zealand White. It was good but it had a lot of small bones. They were fine, a little bigger than fish bones. I can't say I like that at all. One of the reasons I don't eat a lot of fish. Also not too sure about feeding small kids meat with small bones. I don't even know what part of the rabbit these bones were in other than it obviously wasn't the leg. Is eating rabbit and dealing with tiny sharp bones just the nature of eating rabbit?

Thanks.

 

[andehens]

Well, I don't know about other people, but we treated our rabbits pretty much like chicken, depended on the size and purpose if we deboned them or not. I don't remember the bones being a problem! Somebody who knows more about cooking rabbits is bound to come along and give you a better answer!

eta to edit spelling

 

[freemotion]

I ate a lot of rabbit as a kid and never remember finding small bones.....it was like eating chicken, except the parts weren't quite the same shape. Could it be that some ribs were broken during processing? What if you cut it up into clearly identifiable pieces and just give the legs to the kids?

Hopefully someone who is more current with eating rabbit will stop in here!

 

[johnnyInterested]

Quote:
I hope so. Actually, my mom prepared it so I didn't see the cooking. I wanted to raise meat rabbits but if I can't get past the bones, then I can't really justify spending the time to raise them for reasons of novelty. They were tiny thin bones like fish bones. I have been reading and came across something about pulling out small bones near the breast and some sites about being careful to remove small bones, but that's about it. thanks.

 

[silkiechicken]

I wouldn't think there'd be small bones either unless the ribs or something were cracked or the whole thing was stewed together and mushed up so to say. Found a pic of a rabitt skeleton and it seems that the legs should be safe for kids.

 

[freemotion]

Looks like those ribs are pretty tiny. Just make sure the ribs end up on your plate or in the broth pot (strained out later) and your kids should be fine.

Bone appetite! Er....I mean....bon appetite!

 

[johnnyInterested]

Quote:
That must be what was done. The ribs were broken or perhaps not even thought about because we are so used to chickens. I read about small bones near the breast. It didn't occur to me that would be a rib bone (silly as that sounds now.) The rabbit was kind of all cooked together in a sauce. That may be what happened. With more experience the bones could be taken out.

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

When I was in the USAF, we ate rabbit that was passed off as chicken

...I'm sure of it! Those darn rabbits were huge ..and of course, they were fried beyond several deaths ...so we never saw many small bones.

As I started missing my childhood and my Nannie's cooking on our farm, I picked up the occasional rabbit from our local market ..and even if I smothered it, I didn't end up with too many small'ish bones... but I think frying it like chicken definitely holds everything together better and you get less random, loose bones. That.. and they were probably larger rabbits than what you may be preparing.

If you try de-boning it, let us know how it comes out ..even if you just partially de-boned it, by removing the rib cage area from the breast portions. Maybe?



**now I have a taste for some wabbit**

 

[frogleggs]

Hi, I ate my first rabbit today. New Zealand White. It was good but it had a lot of small bones. They were fine, a little bigger than fish bones. I can't say I like that at all. One of the reasons I don't eat a lot of fish. Also not too sure about feeding small kids meat with small bones. I don't even know what part of the rabbit these bones were in other than it obviously wasn't the leg. Is eating rabbit and dealing with tiny sharp bones just the nature of eating rabbit?

Thanks.

I belive they are coming from the bottom of the ribs. I eat rabbit all the time, so delicious. I had braised rabbit and had to be care full. I dont have them when I bone out the tender loin, or cut the belly flap off the bottom of the ribs. I didnt notice them till recently cuz I feed the flap to my dog. Now thats what Ill do next time and seem if im right