Skinning
For gutting, the hare carcass should be hung by the hind legs, since skinning the hare will be much easier in this case.
The skinning process itself consists of several stages:
- On the hind legs below the knee joint, the skin is cut in a circle.
- Along the inside of the paws, from the cut, the skin is trimmed to the anus.
- The skin around the anus is cut off with a knife, after which it should be removed from the hind legs and tail.
- Then, carefully, with both hands, the skin is removed downwards, and the tendons are trimmed with a knife.
- The front paws are freed from the skin up to the joint and cut at the joint so that the paws remain in the skin.
- When removing the skin from the head, you need to cut the ears at the base and continue to remove the skin downwards, cutting it around the eyes.
Experienced chefs advise leaving the carcass hanging in a cold, well-ventilated room for several days (or even weeks) so that the meat “ripens” and acquires a more refined taste. If the carcass is not badly damaged, you can leave it hanging for some time without treatment, and if there are a lot of lumbago, then the hare will need to be skinned and gutted.
How to cut a carcass
The first step is to free the hare's intestines from urine and feces. The carcass must be held head up. With your hand, pressing slightly, move it from top to bottom along the abdomen.
Next, the trophy is hung from the branch by the hind limbs and skinning begins. To bleed the animal, an incision is made in the neck.
Expert opinion
Dobryshev Sergey Anatolievich
Professional rabbit breeder and hare breeder with 30 years of experience
As an option, an incision is made between the nostrils on the septum. Blood drips either into the container or onto the ground. When the blood is collected in a container, it is used to make blood juice or boil it.
The next stage of cutting is skinning. Removed in two ways:
- The abdomen is cut along the whitish line and pulled together.
- The skin is removed with a tube.
Let's consider the second option, how to cut up a hare and remove the skin completely:
- Incisions are made in the area of the hock joints.
- An incision is made longitudinally from the inside towards the tail of the foot. The tail is cut off.
- The skin around the anus is carefully cut out. Remove the skin from the hind legs.
- The skin is removed from the front legs up to the carpal joint, it is cut, and it remains in the skin.
- The cartilages at the base of the nose, eyes and ears are cut with a knife. Free the head from the skin. The ear cartilages are excised.
If the trophy consists of several birds with one stone, then the removed skins cannot be thrown on top of each other. They will not only become dirty, but may also become blocked or begin to rot.
Save your skin
The most popular and fastest ways to preserve hare skin are wet-salted and dry-salted.
With the wet-salted method, the skin must be washed well, not forgetting to change the water, then thoroughly and gently squeezed, and then immersed in the solution for 8-10 days. The skins in the solution must be stirred periodically. Then the skins are removed from the solution, thoroughly washed and dried away from heating devices, fur side out.
One skin will require about 7 liters of solution:
- 1000 ml water;
- 15 g 70% vinegar;
- 60 g borax;
- 20 g aluminum alum;
- 1 g crystalline phenol;
- 0.1 kg salt.
Dry salting is much easier; in this case, salt is generously poured into the flesh and thoroughly rubbed into it. Then it is again covered with salt and aged for five days. Then the skin is stretched onto a spacer and the brine that will be released from the flesh is collected with a dry cloth and sprinkled with salt again. After the skins become evenly colored, the salt must be removed and the skins hung to dry for 10 days.
During drying, it is necessary to protect the skins from insects. You can use a thick net and insecticides.
Skin processing
Due to the fact that the white hare has a very thin skin, it must be handled with extreme caution, and you should try not to damage the flesh, because it tears quite easily.
To do this, it is recommended to remove all fat, all film and even blood, carefully scraping everything off with a knife. Next, you need to wipe the inside of the skin with a regular damp cloth.
Next, you should turn the skin with the fur out, and then wash off the blood and other contaminants from it. After this, you need to thoroughly wipe the fur with a dry cloth.
To do this, you need to turn the skin inside out and pull it onto a straightener in order to dry it. This term is considered to be an ordinary triangular wooden device for drying.
It is recommended to do this procedure at a temperature of about 20 degrees, always in a dry and warm room.
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Let's gut the carcass
After the carcass is freed from the skin, it should be properly gutted. The carcass should be placed on a cutting board and the peritoneum should be cut. Then carefully remove the insides, cutting out the intestines along with the sphincter. The lungs are removed along with the larynx. The gallbladder must be carefully separated from the liver, being careful not to rupture it. If the gallbladder was damaged and bile got on the insides, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the insides with running water, then soak for at least four hours, periodically changing the water.
The gutted hare is washed in cold water until the water draining from it is almost transparent. After which the carcass is wrung out and laid out on a wide, clean board for subsequent cutting.
How to gut a hare
Using a sharp knife, carefully cut through the abdominal cavity, being careful not to catch the gallbladder. Carefully remove all entrails. The intestines must be removed simultaneously with the sphincter. The lung is removed along with the larynx.
If, when separating the gallbladder from the liver, it is still damaged, you need to rinse the carcass well under cold running water and soak the meat for six hours, regularly changing the water.
The gutted hare must be rinsed well under running water until it becomes completely transparent. Then the carcass must be lightly squeezed and placed for cutting.
Meat preparation
Having figured out how to cut a hare, you can start preparing the meat. Chopped pieces should be thoroughly washed with running water. Pay attention to the pelvic bones when washing; in these places you often find intestinal remains with contents. Then you should soak the meat for a day in cold water, changing it periodically. After soaking, you can start cooking or marinating the meat. We will tell you how to marinate a hare below.
Cooking tricks
Having understood the cutting methods, you can begin preparing the meat. The carcass needs to be chopped into pieces and washed with running water.
Hare meat, like any other game, is a rather specific product. Every experienced hunter knows that the delicious taste of a trophy can be fully revealed only if the carcass is soaked before cooking.
Thanks to this, it will become tender, soft and without an unpleasant odor.
This can be done in plain cool water, changing it regularly, in whey, in water with vinegar, and you can also use a special marinade for wild hare. Moreover, according to nutritionists, it is better to prepare various dishes from a pre-cut carcass.
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When washing, special attention should be paid to the pelvic bones, since in these places there are often intestinal remains with contents.
Marinade recipes
To remove the specific aroma and give the meat additional piquancy, after cutting the hare is completed, it can be marinated.
The younger the hare, the less time it will take to marinate. Many hunters in the field do not marinate young hares at all, but after washing them well, they immediately begin cooking.
The recipe for marinades is very diverse:
- The old way is kvass marinade.
- The simplest is a slightly acidic vinegar solution.
- Kefir or milk will make the meat more tender and soft.
Marinade before frying.
Based on 1 liter of water:
- 10 g each of salt and sugar;
- a bunch of chopped greens;
- 2-3 large onions;
- 1 glass of white wine or sauerkraut juice.
Large rings of onion are placed on the meat and the marinade is poured. Leave for at least three hours.
For stewing:
- a bunch of finely chopped greens;
- 150 ml vegetable oil;
- juice of 0.5 lemon;
- spices and salt to taste.
Leave for at least 3-4 hours.
Spicy:
- 10-15 g fresh grated ginger;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped);
- 2 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- 0.5 tbsp. semi-sweet red wine;
- 0.5 tbsp. low-fat broth;
- 0.5 tsp Sahara;
- a pinch of red pepper or chili pepper.
Marinate for 3-4 hours.
How to quickly butcher a hare. How to butcher a hare: rules and secrets
Here it is - the future trophy. You got a hare, or even two or three (oh yes, well done!) - and what to do with it? Well, firstly, you need to be able to properly skin and cut it. The second thing is to know how to cook it deliciously - there is nothing better than fresh food. The third point is how best to save the surplus. Well, you can put it in the freezer - but it's boring.
You got a hare, or even two or three (oh yes, well done!) - and what to do with it? Well, firstly, you need to be able to properly skin and cut it. The second thing is to know how to cook it deliciously - there is nothing better than fresh food. The third point is how best to save the surplus. Well, you can put it in the freezer - but it's boring.
After a successful hunt
But there are many ways to make very high-quality hare preparations and dishes. And then enjoy a natural, healthy product and surprise your guests with exclusive delicacies.
Already at the stage: how to deal with the trophy and how to cut it up - there are numerous nuances depending on the following conditions:
– do you eat game with blood or not?
– you need a skin and a head to make a stuffed animal;
- how broken the hare is.
If you want to bleed a trophy, hang a freshly killed hare by its hind legs from a branch and make a small cut in the neck so that all the blood drips onto the ground. The blood can be collected in a clean container and used separately to prepare blood sausage or boiled for dogs that have kicked out a hare (it is strictly not recommended to give it raw!).
After the hunt
How to properly skin a hare
A hare is processed completely differently from a large animal, such as a moose. They do this by weight and begin to remove the skin from the hind legs, tying each one separately. But, first you need to empty the animal’s intestines - holding the carcass by the head or ears, you need to move it along the stomach several times in the direction of the tail. If there are several trophies, you should never stack them on top of each other - the fur will be irrevocably damaged. Optimal transportation is suspended on hooks by the hind legs.
Hare cutting
First of all, one of the paws is cut off under the heel, leading this cut to the anus. Then do the same with the other paw. The next important point is to carefully trim the skin around the anus and genitals and completely remove the skin from the hind legs. The tail is cut to a third from where the vertebrae end.
