# Let 'em hang or let 'em rest?



## Mike Hotel (Nov 2, 2011)

Getting ready to do our first rabbit harvest this weekend. Concerning the process of rigor mortis, do you let your rabbits hang for any period of time after you kill them (besides bleeding time)? Does the carcass need to go through rigor mortis before freezing?


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## bowbuild (Aug 2, 2008)

Leave in the fringe for a couple of days before eating for best tenderness...I have gone close to a week, but my frig is quite cool. You can kill and freeze right away no need to wait in my opinion...I never wait to freeze.


Bowbuild


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

The way we have always done with chickens and rabbits is eithr straight into the frying pan or into the fridge for two days .straight into tbe freszer and they will be tougher .


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## Haven (Aug 16, 2010)

I just let them hang till they bleed out, butcher, then pieces go straight into a large pot of ice water and salt for 24 hours. I leave the pot outside on the porch if it's cold enough. Next day into the freezer. Then another 24 hours in the fridge to thaw out before cooking.

Just braised one of these older guys last night for dinner and it was juicy and fell off the bone.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I have never hung or set them in saltwater or done anything like that. Hanging means I'd have to come back to it later when the meat is cold, and that is a sensation I don't like - not to mention impossible when it's really cold or really hot. 

As for soaking in saltwater - never done that either - takes up too much space in the refridgerator for too long. 

I've never had ANY issues with toughness even in adult rabbits, chickens, goats - or anything else we've ever butchered.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I hang only long enough to bleed out - I'll only have DH kill 4 at a time, so they aren't getting cold before I get to them. They are so much harder to skin and clean once rigor starts to set in. After I get them done and in cold water, he'll do the next batch - I'm rarely doing more than about 12 rabbits at a time.

Then I leave them in the fridge for several days. I have never soaked them in anything - other than cold water to cool them down faster before I take them inside to the fridge. I drain them and put them in containers and will bag them up to freeze at a later date - usually because I run out of time to do it all at once. 

If I had a walk in cooler, I might have room to hang them to age instead of needing to put them in containers. I don't see any advantage of one position to the other at that point. Meat lockers will hang something to age it, but that is because they have the abiltiy to do that. BTW - I'll age the rabbit before I cut it up (if I'm doing that). Even with deer, we cut into small enough chunks to store in the freezer, let it age then cut into useable portions, wrap up and freeze. And again, it's mostly because we rarely have the time to do it all at once, and that is a good stopping point.


DH and I both feel it's easier to process the meat into usable portions when it's well cooled (Fridge temp) and rigor has passed.


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## FloridaHillbill (Dec 5, 2012)

I dress mine out hanging from their hind feet. I process one at a time, usually no more than 4 a day, due to limited fridge space.

Once I'm done dressing them out (skinning, gutting, trimming, etc), I quarter them as they hang, pulling off the front shoulders, them removing the torso (with the loins intact) from the hind quarters. 

This gives me a rabbit in 5 pieces, each leg and the torso. I put them in cold water (I live in south Florida, its always warm) and pop them in the fridge until I can go over them a second time.

At that time, I trim up anything I missed, removing the "loins" (backstrap? Tenderloin? its that strip of boneless meat that runs across the back above and below the spine). 

Anyway, I remove the "loins" from the torso, and taking off whatever I can get for my trimmings pile. 

The trimmings are usually vac packed, and saved until I have several packages to work up into either sausage or jerky...rabbit makes some mighty fine jerky, you know...

The quarters are packaged either in sets of two or four and vacuum sealed, labelled, and frozen. The loins are done the same way, in sets of two or four. The loins are what I pass off as "chicken breast" to my family.

I've found that by quartering them while hanging, I save myself about 15 minutes per rabbit on my last "go over".

Not saying this is the perfect method, its just what my process has evolved into.

Hope it helps,

db


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## Mike Hotel (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks for all of the input, folks. We had the harvest today. Man, it was cool. I'm currently letting them rest in the fridge for a day or two. Going to smoke some. Can't wait!

We did a rooster as well. I gotta say - I think rabbits are easier.

Our day - 

http://tinyhomesteaders.com/2012/12/09/first-rabbit-harvest/


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## BroodCoop (Feb 20, 2012)

I have let them rest in a bucket of brine in the fridge for a few days or longer. You can taste the sweetness of the brine but I didn't really notice much difference otherwise. I tried smoking them but like grilling, fry pan, or crock pot better. You could sear them in the fry pan, smoke them and then crock pot them. Don't feel limited. I am more likely to fry pan the loin and crock pot the rest right now. I have a friend who likes to grill small rabbits, keeps feed costs low and they are tender.


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## Fat Man (Mar 9, 2011)

I think there may be some confusion in terms here, as letting the carcass hang has a bit of a different meaning than than when we bleed it out. In butchery you hang the carcass from a hook for a couple of days in a cool location after it has had it's initial processing (Bleed out, innards removal skinning and such). Hanging the carcass is the same as resting it in the refridge for a few days. I rest mine for 2 to 3 days in the fridge to prevent cold hardening. We also only do a few at a time.


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## BobDFL (Jul 7, 2006)

Since we have a second fridge for this type of stuff, we let ours rest for 2-3 days before going into the freezer. Depending on whether rigor has already started to set in, I'll either cut up then rest or if rigor has started I let them rest whole and cut up before bagging for the freezer.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Supposedly, keeping them at 40F for three days is the ideal for the enzymes to work and give the tenderest meat. That is just about the temperature of most refrigerators, ergo the reason many of us let them stay in the fridge that long.


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