Who likes to eat squirrel?
 

I have not cooked squirrel often. Once I made a kind of stew which I found not too pleasing. But another time I ate it fried and liked it pretty well.


I have just heard from my son -- 26 years old living on his own -- who told me he thought squirrel tasted fantastically good. I'm not disagreeing with him, I just didn't have a clear recollection of the squirrel meals -- which we shared together as a family. Maybe he got to eat most of the squirrels?


Anyway. Among those who hunt squirrels how do you like to prepare and eat your squirrel meat? How many like squirrel fried?


I happen to like squirrel hunting but haven't done it much because I didn't recollect being impressed with eating squirrel meat. If I changed my thinking on that, I might get back to squirrel hunting and maybe do that with my son, as he has expressed interest in that.

Being of Italian descent it goes into the red sauce. What's not to like? Tastes like chicken :s2:

CI, I would be interested in hearing how you cook it. Sounds like something I'd like to try...

I typically do squirrel two different ways...


The first is just par boiled, breaded, and fried. I like it this way, and so has mostly everybody that has tried it.


The second is to boil it off the bone, then make it into a pot pie. This has also been popular at several wild game feasts that I've taken it to. I've tried lots of other ways, but these are the favorites.


-Jake

Just brown it and throw into a pot of sauce to cook further for a while just like you would do with some pork or chicken.

throw about 4 squirrels in a crockpot---add a sliced up onion a sliced up green pepper and a couple of jars or cans of gravey---slow cook all day add mashed potatoes and a veggie mmmmm good and easy

Squirrel like many wild critters can be cooked any number of ways useing recipes for demestic animals.
Biggest thing I have seen to ruin the meat is not keeping it clean when dressing.
Some of my favorite recipes.




Brined Squirrel

2 – 3 squirrels, quartered
~ 2/3 cup brown sugar
~ 1/4 cup salt
~ 1 heaping tbsp. cracked black peppercorns
~ 3 cloves garlic, crushed
~ 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
~ 1 small bunch fresh thyme
~ 1 hand full parsley
~ 1 1/4 cup cold water
~ 1 – 12 oz. bottle hard cider
With a rolling pin or the back of a large kitchen knife, bruise the rosemary, thyme and parsley. This releases their oils.

Place in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved.

Place the squirrel pieces in a large zip-lock bag. Pour in the brine.

Seal and place in a baking dish just in case your bag leaks.

Place in refrigerator at least 10 hours, 24 hours is better.

Remove the squirrel, rinse and pat dry.

You can now cook them anyway you want. Fried, baked, grilled, etc.

"I like to make mine as stew in the crockpot"


Cajun Squirrel

squirrels, cut into serving pieces, amount depends upon how many you can eat
~ olive oil
~ 1 large onion
~ 1 large green bell pepper
~ 2 cloves garlic
~ Cajun spice ~ 2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce
~ 4 tbsp. ketchup
~ 1 tbsp. Gumbo File seasoning
~ cooked rice
In a deep pot or dutch oven, heat some olive oil.

Season the squirrel on all sides with the Cajun seasoning. Add to the hot oil and turn to brown on all sides. Continue to cook until done.

Place the onion, bell pepper and garlic in a blender. Cover with water and chop. Add to the pot when squirrel is done.

Sprinkle the added vegetables with Cajun seasoning.

Add the Tabasco sauce, ketchup and the Gumbo File. Stir to mix well. Cover.

Heat and simmer until veggies are heated through stirring as needed.
Serve over the cooked rice.


Fried Squirrel with Mushroom Gravy

3 squirrels, cut into serving pieces
~ flour
~ salt and pepper
~ 2 eggs, beaten
~ 3 – 4 pieces bacon, chopped
~ 1 medium onion, chopped
~ 1 can cream of mushroom soup
~ 1 soup can milk
Season the flour to taste with salt and pepper. Place in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl.

Heat some oil in a large skillet.

Dip the squirrel pieces in the egg and then the flour. Repeat if you want. Add to hot oil.

Fry until golden brown. Remove and drain fat. Return to skillet.

Cover with the bacon and onion.

Mix the soup and milk together and pour over meat.

Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.



Squirrel Pot Pie

6 squirrels, quartered
~ seasoning salt
~ pepper
~ your favorite seasonings, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.
~ 1 – 15 oz. can Veg-All mixed vegetables
~ 1 can cream of mushroom soup
~ 2 frozen pie crusts
Place squirrel quarters in a crock pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add your favorite seasonings if desired.

Cover with water and cook on low until the meat starts coming off the bones.

Strain out the meat and allow to cool. Remove meat from the bones when cool.

In a large bowl, mix the soup with a little water until smooth.

Stir in the vegetables and meat.

Pour into a pie crust and top with the other. Cut a slit in the top.

Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.


Grilled squirrel.


Dress the squirrel do not cut into pieces, season and spread Eagle it on the grill over a flavor wood like Hickory, Apple, or other fruit wood. I like to soak the chips in water and put them in a foil pack with a few vent holes in the top.
Grill till done.




:D Al

Sounds good! I like to fry them on cast iron, gray/fox squirrel is delicious game in my book. My Grandma used to pressure cook them a bit before pan frying them if they were a bit tuff.

I boil them till meat starts to separate from bone.
Then put them on a flat pan and spread honey bbq sauce on them and put in oven for 20-25min to get sauce sticking to meat.

If you use a pressure cooker it is much quicker process than boiling.

I grew up eating squirrel. We prefer it fried, but I have eaten it in potpie which is good, but not my favorite. I got tired of boiling them all day an got a pressure cooker, that's the way to go, like said above.

There is a small gland under the forearms that you want to remove during cleaning to improve the taste. I like squirrel better than venison actually!!

we wash them after skinning put in a bowl of salt water over night in frig take out roll in flour have a hot cast iron skillet with lard ready drop in and deep fry take add milk and little flour in skillet with drippings for gravey bake biscuits fried taters and apples with blackberry jam make you want to smack your grandma lol

..... Thanks for sharing

I don't eat it often (about once a yr), but the key from what I've seen is par boiling long enough. If not, it will be tougher and chewy. Good recipes above, will have to try some!

Lots of good suggestions here. I use a pressure cooker to make them more tender and to remove meat from the bones for any of the recipes and uses listed above. I do the same thing with pheasants, turkey legs, venison shanks and any other meat that is tough to prepare. 8-10 minutes in a pressure cooker solves a lot of problems.

If they are young (you can tell by their genitals) I like them in Italian Bread Crumbs and fried.

I love em. Last year at the farm I got a half dozen and skinned, cleaned, and clipped hands and heads. Then washed really good. Soaked 2 days in brine. Then made a cheez-it batter and deep fried in Peanut oil whole. served with dirty rice and gravy. Oh yeah baby my mouth is watering right now!

Tufrthnails, That sounds delicious. They were a favorite meal for us growing up her in WV. We'd freeze for winter and with 4 hunters we had enough. My mom basically boiled them, dipped them in flour with salt and pepper and fried them. Don't ever forget the gravy over fried bread. Worth fighting for.

Fried squirrel, I use the same recipe for rabbits.

Clean and cut the squirrel into six pieces, the four legs and the back cut in half with the rib cage removed. In a pot put salt,5 or 6 pepper corns a carrot or two cut in half and two or so stalks of celery cut in half. Bring the pot to a boil and back down to simmer. Cook the squirrels until a cooking fork passes easily through one of the thighs. While you are simmering skim the foam and cruddy stuff off the top with a slotted spoon or small strainer. While the squirrels are simmering put some flour in a bowl along with some salt and ground pepper and mix well, put some bacon fat in a skillet along with about an equal part of butter and bring the heat up enough to melt the fat and butter. When the squirrel meat is tender and a fork will easily pass through a thigh take pieces out of the water and pat dry with paper towels, then dredge the pieces in the flour, shake off the excess, bring the bacon fat and butter up to medium high and put the meat into the skillet and fry on one side until browned but not blackened, flip over and do the other side. The meat will be crispy on the outside and white and moist under the breading. Rabbit is even better than the squirrel. Of course you must save bacon fat so you have enough to fry with, I just pour it in a jar and keep in the fridge. Simple and delicious.

jake, when i was a kid my brother would bring a limit of them home every weekend. we would skin them as mum said they looked too much like rats and wouldnt touch them. she would soak them in salt water for a day or two then boil them until the meat fell off the bone. the meat would be shredded and and any BB's removed. she made the best pot pies. also home made bread to go with it. YUM YUM!!!

Boil till meat easily pulls off the bone , taste similar to dark meat turkey, use in recipes sub in chicken soup, pot pie, etc.

jake, you beat me to it as far as the pot pie. my mother used to make pot pies out of squirrels when my brother would bring them home. also after skinning and washing them off, she would soak them in salt water over night. then cooking them until the meat fell off the bone and then made into pot pie. that was some good eating.

hi mr.slim this is tom s formerly from avonmore how have you been? are getting ready for bear or deer season ? i'm about ready for ohio gun season on nov 26 just been busy @ work not much bow hunting this year but have taken a couple of deer from a deer damage farm. yeah i'm like you can remember mom fixin squirrel fried or cooked . i think my brother jim enjoyed squirrel hunting the best.

Alstian
When I clean the squirrels I mark one of the hind legs with a cut if it is an old squirrel. When preparing for cooking I cut the squirrel into 5 pieces. 2 front legs, the ribs and back bone (The back bone cut just below the last ribs) the tenderloin and hind legs with the tenderloin split down the middle. I score the membrane on the outside of all the pieces with a paring knife.
If it is an old squirrel I boil it till it is tender.
I beat an egg in a dipping bowl and add butter milk to it.
I keep a 1 gallon zip lock of seasoned flour in the door of the freezer.
(Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Cavender's Greek Seasoning, Tony Chachery's Creole Seasoning. Be sure to wait till last to add the salt because the greek seasoning and the creole seasoning both have salt in them. Taste the flour mix and continue to add black pepper and salt till it is just slightly hot and salty after a minute on the tip of the tongue. It is easy to get the mix too salty so be careful. The good thing is that you can adjust the remaining mixture in the bag after cooking the first batch of squirrel)
I put about 1/4" of olive oil in a cast iron skillet and set the burner to high.
Once the oil is hot place the pieces of squirrel in it. Let it cook on high just long enough to crisp up the flour on the bottom side. Turn the burner to low and place a lid on the skillet. The lid keeps the steam in the skillet and helps with making the squirrel tender. Keep checking the squirrel for tenderness with a fork. If the pieces are from a very old squirrel you might have to add just a bit of water to the skillet to allow it to remain moist during the longer cooking process. Once the squirrel is tender and cooked remove the lid and set the burner to high. When the bottom side is once again crispy turn the pieces over and let the second side crisp up and you are done. Very tasty.

A bonus to keeping the flour mixture in the freezer is that it works great for other meats as well as making gravy.

Thanks
Mr-Pirk

Why would we eat them if they were not safe to eat?

I will take wild game meat over store bought meat any day of the week. Its range free with no additives or lord knows what else an just plain tastes great! I have killed one fox squirrel that was eat up with the mange, never knew it as he was up in a tall hickory tree eating nuts. Needless to say he didn't come home with me, figured I did him a favor...
Seriously, squirrel is a great meat, fun to hunt an not hard to prepare. I will hunt squirrel long after I'm too old to drag an ole deer from the woods!!

Tree rats, what to say?
They are pretty darn good eating, though I've only tried them fried. So extra thanks for the recipes, going to try them. A good fellow of mine love to cook them wrapped in a slice of a beacon.