Squirrel Skinning

[dogjaw]

Hey Sarge,

Saw your post in Sound Off asking about cleaning tree rats. Here goes.

Take a sharp knife and make a 1" cut through the skin across the middle of the back. Put both fore fingers in hole and pull each direction. You'll turn the skin inside out from the middle of the squirrel. Pull skin till it's over the head, front feet, back feet, and tail (you can either rip the skin in 2 at the belly or cut it). Cut off the head, tail, and feet. Then cut open belly/rib cage and remove guts.

I leave squirrels whole, and put them in a slow cooker rather than frying. They're a lot more tender that way.

[treehunter2]

mmmmmm.. that sounds good ..... slow cooked tree rats for dinner i'll go get a pack out of the freezer now ..thanks for the idea

[Jumpshootin']

A pressure cooker works wonders on squirrel & rabbits.

[Thunderhead]

The wife has the frying of squirrel down to a science, it's our favorite. Squirrel season around here is as exciting as opening day of deer season. We have a squirrel camp and the whole nine yards. Fresh squirrel over the camp fire and fresh cider
The key to frying squirrels is the heat. An electric frying pan works best as you can control it more. DO NOT BOIL. It takes away alot of the flavor. After cleaning and quartering the squirrel, coat in flour and fry at 225 degrees. Just till the oil starts to bubble. It takes about 45 min to cook a pan, but will come out so tender you can shake it off the bone.

Also, a great reciepe for squirrel ot rabbit is :

Boil quartered critter with onions, celery, and carrots. This is the only time I ever boil wild game. Anyway, when the rabbit starts to float, it 's about 3/4 done. Strain the water. Take a casserole pan and and coat it with butter. De-bone the squirrel or rabbit and put in dish. Add the veggies you boiled. Put FRESH UN-COOKED brocoli spears over the whole deal. Pour a large can of cream of mushroom soup over the spears and bake in the oven at 350 for about an hour or till the brocoli is done. Take out and cover with about 1/2 in. of cheddar cheese. Pop it back in the oven for aboout 5 min. till the cheese is melted.

This is an awesome recipe. Try it, I gaurantee you'll love it.

Good Eatin,
Thunderhead

[treehunter2]

thanks T/H that sound good !!!!

[Youper]

That's what I miss most about down state is the squirrels. For the most part we have only the red squirrels here, and very few greys. I've only seen the greys in a few areas, mostly in town and then rarely. I've never seen them hunting. The reds aren't as big, but they aren't very smart either, so you can get more of them.

[Sarge]

Thanks all we will definately be trying the suggestions here.

[HeavyChevy]

I bought a pair of game shears they work the best for cutting the head and feet off. There is 2 ways that i clean them the first is the way DOGJAW said.When I cleaned them that way the skin comes off like a little fur coat matter of fact i have salted them and let them dry and my daughters used them as fur coats for there barbies. Thats the truth guys im not BS ya. The 2nd way is to cut off the feet then slice the skin aroung he tail. But leave a little skin atached lay the squirell on the ground grab the feet and stand on the tail and pull up while standing on the tail the skin will come right off. Just make sure you dont pull to fast or you will tare off the tail.

[RealDcoy]

Seems to me someone posted last year about using compressed air blown in through a small cut through the skin, and blowing it up like a little fur balloon.

Any opinion/experiences?

[Joe D]

I saw this one on Fred Trost. I've tried it and it works well.

Grab the tail at the base, let him flop down so you're looking at the underside of the tail. Cut through the tailbone, but leave the back side of the skin attached. Continue the cut on the thighs about an inch along the outside. Now you've got the tail hanging by just the skin on the back. Lay him down on the ground on his back, stand on the tail, grab his hind legs, and stand up. It'll pull almost all the skin right over his head. There's a small "V" shaped piece left on the belly that goes down the inside of the back legs. Get enough of the top of the"V" started so you can clamp down on that with your foot, grab the front legs and stand up.

I'm just plain too weak to do the 'cut the middle of the back and pull both sides with your fingers' routine. Maybe I just need to do some pull-ups

! Sorry, I guess I didn't read all the way through HeavyChevy's post!!! JD