How to Cook a Raccoon

When was the last time you cooked a raccoon? For most people that would be never. Yet for many years, raccoons were on the menu for the Native Americans and the pioneers. In parts of the south, raccoon hunting is still popular.

Raccoons have a wide range, living all over North America. They are easy to trap; my neighbor has caught quite a few when trapping to cut down the skunk population. He uses live traps and most of the time just releases the raccoons. These traps are humane and quite inexpensive.

But raccoons are edible, and if cooked right, they’re quite tasty. Most of us aren’t used to eating many wild animals with deer and elk being the major 2 exceptions. This book explains not only how to cook many different types of wild game but how to butcher them as well. It would be a good addition to your collection of survival related books.

When you dress the raccoon, be sure and remove the brown bean shaped glands under each front leg and on both sides of the spine. Then remove as much visible fat as possible. Then go ahead and roast it or make a stew. Here is a recipe for roast raccoon.

  • 1 raccoon cleaned and cut up
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ cup cooking oil
  • 2 medium onions peeled and sliced
  • 2 bay leaves

Set several boney pieces aside and bread the rest in the flour seasoned with the salt and pepper. Then brown the pieces in the cooking oil in a good frying pan. Drain off the excess oil. Put the meat in a roasting pan; add the onions and bay leaves. Cover and bake for two hours at 350f or until tender.

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Take the boney pieces that you set aside and cover them with water. Simmer the pieces until the attached meat is tender. Use this broth to make gravy.

As with any animal, if it looks sick or in poor condition do not eat it or skin it. Raccoons do carry rabies.

Howard

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2 thoughts on “How to Cook a Raccoon”

  1. Here we treat groundhog, raccoon and possum the same way, brine overnight in water to cover, 1/4 cup of salt and 1 cup vinegar. Salt and pepper liberally and then grill wrapped in foil over indirect heat with onions, apples, carrots, celery, potatoes and bell peppers inside the foil and slow cook until meat falls off bones. Strip carcass with fork and serve with the roasted veggies. Ummm good!

  2. Good article. Groundhog , especially a young one is “good eats”. We always soaked them in salt water overnight, then cooked them like you would a rabbit or squirrel . These animals are good to eat and should not be wasted.

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