Parboil a Raccoon

[wyogoob]

Dangit, it's the last day of my bull elk and additional doe antelope season and I'm out running traps with my son-in-law.  Ah, it's fun...as long as I don't have to do it all the time.  :)

Had a small raccoon in a dog-proof trap that, I guess, tore his foot off.  All that was left in the trap was a coon foot.  "Never seen that before in a DP trap." my son-in-law says.

We did catch a fair sized buck for the stew pot.  He was making a living in the hawthorne trees out along the Bear River.  It will be a challenge to put this one on the table, the older ones have so much fat:


Always wear surgical gloves when handling a raccoon.  Avoid cutting into the intestines and never use coon meat that has come in contact with its feces, never ever.   

Remove the glands from the armpits and the groin.  Care should be taken when removing the glands to avoid cutting into them or bring them in contact with the flesh. Cut the raccoon into pieces to fit a large stew pot.  Trim off as much fat as you can and then rinse in cold water:


Make a solution at the rate of 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 gallon of water.  Soak the raccoon in the solution for 4 to 8 hours:


Remove meat from solution and rinse off in cold water. 

In a large stew pot make a solution at a rate of 4 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of baking soda to 1 gallon of water.  Simmer the raccoon in the solution for an hour or so, enough to help melt off the fat left on the coon.  Drain and then rinse the meat in hot water.  If necessary, repeat this step, change the water out again, if there's still fat on the raccoon.   

Drain the pot and rinse the raccoon meat off in hot water.  Set the raccoon aside and wash the pot.  Add some salt, 5 or 6 cut-up carrots, a sliced onion, whole Bay leaf and enough water to cover the coon. Bring the solution to a boil.  Reduce the heat and then simmer the coon for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat falls off the bones:


Remove the raccoon from the pot, drain and rinse with hot water.  Discard the vegetables:

 
Allow the coon to cool and then strip the meat from the bones.  Trim away any remaining fat or cartilage.  The raccoon meat is now ready for your favorite recipe:

An old coon may have to simmer for 5 to 6 hours in order to remove all the greasy, gamey-tasting fat.

[NePaSmoKer]

So did ya save the toothpick?

[wyogoob]

So did ya save the toothpick?

Funny you should ask.  I did save it.  I'm an old hog farmer from Illinois and raccoon hunting was a way of life.  We all had raccoon "stirring sticks" for our mixed drinks.  When I moved to Wyoming 30 years ago there were no coons; now they are a nuisance.  So we trap them.  My daughter has never had coon, so I butchered and cooked one especially for her and the grandkids.  And naturally, I had to show the "toothpick" to my 16 year-old granddaughter.  She threw up.  I got in trouble.  Geeze

[Keymaster]

Ok, I googled "Raccoon toothpick" and found out what it was :-X  :o

[Sam3]

I don't think I want to know.  :o

[Keymaster]

I saw this guy sells them tooth picks on ebay but what I thought was even cooler was this frog coin purse.

frogcoin purse

[ExpatCanadian]

Hmmmm... I haven't googled it yet, but I gots a funny feeling what might find. :-)

What an incredible post. SO far out from anything I've ever experienced... but jeez, I'd try it!

[ExpatCanadian]

Ok, just googled it... I was right.

Now... anyone made a corkscrew out of our most popular smoked animal's bits ;-)

[wyogoob]

Raccoon is not bad.  It's just a little bear, and like bear the fat is not too tasty.  A coon taken from off our sweet corn field ate good compared to a ditch coon living off frogs and crayfish.

Every wildgame feed I ever went to back home had raccoon.  There were 3 ways to cook it:  Iowegian BBQ'd coon, Texas BBQ'd coon, and BBQ'd coon with baked beans.   ;D

[mikecorn.1]

Ok, I googled "Raccoon toothpick" and found out what it was :-X  :o

Me too,  I'll give it a double  :o with a single  :-X

[muebe]

Ok, I googled "Raccoon toothpick" and found out what it was :-X  :o

Me too,  I'll give it a double  :o with a single  :-X

Well I just googled it too :o