We harvested rabbit this week, setting aside a couple for ourselves. Rabbit + bacon is always a good thing but when we saw this video we knew we had to try it. Now, he uses pancetta but we’re working with what we’ve got. I can’t just go butcher a pig so I can make some pancetta can I? Well…
He shows how to debone it here:
So we put those videos to work and lunch is in the oven. I’ll let you know how it tastes…if I can make myself waddle over to the keyboard.
Oh, and we have rabbits for sale while they last.
UPDATE: (Later in the day…)
On the seventh day we rested, ate rabbit and it was good.
We initially cooked it on a cookie sheet then, later, broiled it on a broiling pan. That’s the way to go if you want to avoid soggy bacon.
The oldest boy went back for thirds.
Chism Heritage Farm 
I’d like to see you do a post on rabbit butchering. I’ve seen the way Marjorie Wildcraft does it by breaking their neck but I know I couldn’t do that. After watching the video, I had the strangest dream about skinning a deer. It’s quite comical now and has become a running joke between me and the hubs 😉
Um…we break the neck. There were a few that escaped so they met a .22. Salatin stuns them with a blow to the head then bleeds them out. We found that to be much more difficult. Not only is it hard to do correctly, it was emotionally more difficult than placing their head in a V and pulling.
Marjorie does it with a broom stick and there just seems to be a lot of room for error. I’d still like to see a video if you ever get the chance.
All that bacon…wow. In my dreams, at least for the next few months. I’ve never had rabbit any other way but in stew, and very delicious stew at that. Wrapped in all that bacon, though…so who got to do all the string tying?
Me. The string was nothing compared to deboning the bunny. The guy makes it look so easy…
Oh. I hadn’t seen her videos so I didn’t realize that. Grady wrote about doing that at polyface. I haven’t had much luck with that. Let me try to write out what we do. I have a length of angle iron with a thin length of rebar welded to it like a V…narrow though. Both are about a foot long. The angle iron is clamped to the swing set…yup. I hold the bunny upright so he is comfy and slip his head into the V. At the end it gets snug around the base of his skull. Then I pull on the back legs while lifting up. Because of the upward lift on the neck, the neck breaks very easily. The rabbit has no idea anything happened and there is no chance of the shoulder being bruised.
I should clarify that by “room for error” I mean that on my part…Marjory does it like a pro. The way you describe sounds very similar to the mechanics she uses. My daughter really wants a swingset but I’m not sure she would approve of its additional uses 😉
Oh, and it’s a sturdy swing set. It’s much older than I am, made of square tubing and I doubt you could move it with a tractor. Not a light steel a-frame jalopy you buy at a box store.
She’ll be happy to know that LOL. Your dinner looked awesome by the way. That eldest son of yours is a keeper 😉
You know, I think he grew 6″ today. He’s going to be a monster.
Looks fantastic. Everything is better with bacon!