BBQ raccoon

My dad alsways told me how great BBQ coon was when I was a kid so I had to give it a try….for him.lol



I cleaned one of coons I caught trapping for bobcat last year. Cut all the fat off and into smaller boneless chunks. I soaked the meat in vinegar and salt water for a few days then froze it. Took it out the other day and soaked it in milk for a few days. Rubbed it in BBQ sauce, virgin olive oil, some seasoning, and some vegetables. Wrapped it in tin foil and added a 1/2” of water. Baked it at 350 for 3 hours. The texture was still pretty chewy. Threw it in my crock pot for a half day. Pops made a BBQ sandwich. I had 2 pieces and tossed the rest. It reminded me of the crow I made. Also like “gizzard” taste. Well, I won’t make any coon in my lifetime again.

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That's interesting. Don't give up! With the right seasoning AND enough celery-yes celery, it can be quite tasty!

I ran a trapline in high school. I decided to make jerky out of a yearling and darn if it didn’t come out excellent. My friend was the one with the dehydrator so we partnered peddling it. Long story short this jerky became legendary at our small country high school. I told him the night the first batch finished and we tried it that it’s “jerky” when we get asked at school the following day. We sold quite a few ziplock bags with free jerky for a few weeks. Rumor started that it was possum (the color was lighter than the deer jerky they were accustomed to getting and the deer jerky sellers never made the sweeter style homemade recipe I had that most kids preferred) The gym teacher/basketball coach was my best customer. He pulled me aside after the possum rumor started and I assured him it wasn’t possum. He said it was the best jerky he’d ever had just wanted to make sure it wasn’t roadkill possum and knew it wasn’t deer (this teacher took his car to have the muffler bearing replaced as a student advised). I let him know what it was. He hounded me every year to make him a couple gallon bags just keep it down low and don’t let anyone know I’m buying it was his only request.
I’ll make some again someday as the yearlings and younger sows were quite tasty just as my father told me they would be. He grew up eating coon sausage.

I trapped one last year.
I quartered & trimmed it well, then seasoned it like you would a pot roast and ran it in a crock pot for several hours.
It was pretty good, and I'd do it again.

I've found that doing all sorts of fancy preparation really doesn't make enough difference in taste to make the effort worthwhile.

I normal eat coon , once the glands and fat is trim off and cook right you will not know what you eating, I rather have beaver it is less work to work on the is alot leaner then coon and leaner then deer. If you want to make burgers out of beaver you need to add some pork , coon no problem. once you got the beaver ground up you can add it to anything you want and will not know the different. some years ago we had a family reunion and one of my sisters had bought some ground beef and said she can not afford anymore and need more for all who show up . I told her about the beaver I have in the freezer , so we debone it and mix it in with the beef and made meat balls for spaghetti , after all was done they all went back for more and said it was the best meat balls they had , they did not know what they were eating. There was another time when I help my dad to make up some meat loaf for my lunch meat and we had coon and muskrat in together and the spices , he had cook it up in loafs and when I got home from work ,my nephew was eating it on me. my dad said do not say anything thing and my nephew loved it. After my mom said next time put on it for Paul lunch that way everyone knows that it is not what they would normal eat but me. My dad did ate some of the meat loaf with me.

The coon I cleaned was the biggest coon I’ve ever seen and caught. I’m sure that didn’t help with the flavor. I was going to attempt jerky. Sounds like that should have been the route I took with it.

The absolutely most important part is getting those glands out! I grew up with a boy who's mom could cook a coon you couldn't tell from pork!

My grandmother's brother loved raccoon, smoked over a low fire for many hours, like brisket. He had a way of cleaning them where they didn't have any bad taste. I never really cared for it - probably because I knew what the source animal was...LOL

Well I could tell you it tasted Miles better over the bobcat. I can still taste what cat pee smells like in my mouth….and I did remove the glands.

Coon chili is pretty good, use to eat some that way when we lived down in America. Dont change anything about your chili recipe, just use coon meat instead of whatever. Ground or pre-cooked didnt matter.

Not eating any of those those critters until I’m sitting around with the other survivors around a camp fire.

I still have bobcat back straps left. I’ll have to thaw them out next week and give ‘em the sniff test. The pelt for both of these critters are off getting tanned.

Last year my uncle caught a coon in his chicken coop in live trap. Not sure how he cooked it up. I found it to be a very mild meat. He had mixed the meat up with some mayo, garlic salt and pickle relish. spread on some toast it was not too bad. I have often wondered about rabies, does cooking kill it?

Cooking kills rabies ... but if they are acting funny and you suspect they are infected don't risk picking up rabies thruogh a cut or scrape on hand / finger while skinning and processing ... just kill and bury the carcass . a cut + the coon's blood and you possibly could get rebaies ... it might be super remote chance but rabid coons are nothing to play with ...If I knew a coon was rabid ...I wouldn't eat it no matter how long cooked ... just leave them .

Now something very important if you do want to eat a coon ...
You have to make sure to remove the scent glands that they develop ...around the armpits of both back and front legs ...look like a large grain of rice or pea ...whitish in color and under skin ...they make the meat taste ... unpleasant ! If you don't properly de-gland a coon you will not enjoy the meat ... I don't care how long or what you soak it in ... it will be Un-Pleasant and not fit for consumption ...
I know first hand - by Experience !!!
Gary
I forgot ...don't cut the glands open and keep any gland secreations away from the meat and wash your hands after de-glanding ...the stuff can wonky up whatever it touches .

P.S. If you don't like coon ... you aren't going to care much for Possum .
Gary

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

I still have bobcat back straps left. I’ll have to thaw them out next week and give ‘em the sniff test. The pelt for both of these critters are off getting tanned.

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You gonna make a "Coon Skin Cap " ?
I made one but my tanning job ( I was 10) left a lot to be desired and it started smelling funny .
Gary

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Originally Posted by gwpercle

You gonna make a "Coon Skin Cap " ?
I made one but my tanning job ( I was 10) left a lot to be desired and it started smelling funny .
Gary

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I already have one! I had one made into a super trooper coon hat! Had them made by Rocton Fur Co. I had them make me a mountain man hat out a coyote, a bobcat, and a red Fox. Great conversation pieces that I’ve never worn in public.lol. The coon cap is my favorite. I think I will just hang the pelts on my wall this time around. I also sent in a grey Fox I shot with my crossbow this past season to be tanned.

The place I had my hats made…

https://www.wildthingsfur.com/

They do an excellent job. They even make furkini’s!

This is a good post. Took me a long time to read it because I was laughing so much. I’m with Randy though not eating any of those critters unless I’m starving. They rank up there with gizzards and livers. No thank you. You all can have my share of them.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill 7

This is a good post. Took me a long time to read it because I was laughing so much. I’m with Randy though not eating any of those critters unless I’m starving. They rank up there with gizzards and livers. No thank you. You all can have my share of them.

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Ah now, you had to bring gizzards into this, I love those things. I cooked one, many years ago and while eating it my kids joined in, not caring what it was. Haven't killed another since, but wouldn't hesitate to eat an other if I ever do.

Reminded me of when my daughter was about 4 or 5 her favorite thing to do was to get the chewy things (gizzards) at the gas station.

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Originally Posted by Omega

Ah now, you had to bring gizzards into this, I love those things. I cooked one, many years ago and while eating it my kids joined in, not caring what it was. Haven't killed another since, .

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I've heard they're similar to naugas. There isn't much meat on them, but their hides are worth a fortune.

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Originally Posted by Omega

Ah now, you had to bring gizzards into this, I love those things. I cooked one, many years ago and while eating it my kids joined in, not caring what it was. Haven't killed another since, but wouldn't hesitate to eat an other if I ever do.

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Are you talking about Gizzards or Buzzards? It’s tough to kill a gizzard without killing the bird it’s in.

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Originally Posted by Bmi48219

Are you talking about Gizzards or Buzzards? It’s tough to kill a gizzard without killing the bird it’s in.

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Nah, sorry, I was talking chicken gizzards, and killing and eating a racoon...should have made it clearer :-) Buzzards? Now that I would be hard pressed to attempt to dine on.

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

I already have one! I had one made into a super trooper coon hat! Had them made by Rocton Fur Co. I had them make me a mountain man hat out a coyote, a bobcat, and a red Fox. Great conversation pieces that I’ve never worn in public.lol. The coon cap is my favorite. I think I will just hang the pelts on my wall this time around. I also sent in a grey Fox I shot with my crossbow this past season to be tanned.

The place I had my hats made…

https://www.wildthingsfur.com/

They do an excellent job. They even make furkini’s!

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:goodpost: LIKE !
Gary

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill 7

This is a good post. Took me a long time to read it because I was laughing so much. I’m with Randy though not eating any of those critters unless I’m starving. They rank up there with gizzards and livers. No thank you. You all can have my share of them.

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I have a great Louisiana Cajun Gizzard Gumbo recipe if you would like it ...made with chicken gizzards and hearts and andouille sausage ... you might like it !
Gary

My favorite soup was something my grandmother called risotto. Cut up gizzards, hearts, onion and garlic sautéed then par boiled then added to chicken stock with a little tomato paste and simmered until the gizzards were tender. Almost thick as gumbo and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. Mom made it too but w/o tomato paste. Too bad the wife is opposed to organ meat.
I’ve had well prepared coon a few times. Don’t think I’d go through the trouble myself unless I was really desperate.
My buddy had coon dogs and we had lots of coons around. I believe most were subsisting on our garden crops. Nothing like knowing your corn would be ripe tomorrow, then finding every stalk broken and each ear sampled to make you a confirmed coon hunter.

You know? I'm sure it's delicious, but I think I will just stick with pork and beef.
Not so much into gizzards and hearts either, but I do love Spam.

again I'm no expert but its all about what the critters been eating and how its cleaned and prepared.
had bad experience just this week with home prepared meat. a friend gave me about 10 pounds of whole hog sausage. its so disgusting even the dog won't eat it.

When properly prepared BBQ coon is a fine meal.
We only cook young ones.

My Dad was a furbuyer for several years and had a buyer from either K.C. or ST. Louis that would purchase all the coon carcasses he could get.
My Dad only kept carcasses from coons that he knew had been trapped or shot the night before. Anything suspect got tossed onto a pile on a trailer outside to be hauled off. He told me that one time there hadn't been much activity so they didn't have but just a few in the freezer for the guy so after he had paid and loaded up his coons my Dad's partner looked out the door a few minutes later and the guy was going through the pile on the trailer digging out the coons from among all of the foxes, coyotes, possums, mink etc. Sometimes that trailer didn't get dumped for 2-3 weeks or even longer if the weather was cold.

An active duty army Captain I met had been raised in Alabama, and stated flatly that coon is really good.

I have never tried coon, but had several jack rabbits, regular bunnies, and once, rattlesnake. Snake was good, by the way.

Wayne

Young small coon great!!!!!!!!!! Big coon I skin and use for coyote bait.

I've had coon twice and it was fine. Once cooked in wine and once in chili.

With the way meat prices are going I might cook some this fall.

Love pickled turkey gizzard with Tabasco.

We always made BBQ pot roast with potatoes and carrots with BBQ sauce with coon growing up and it was delicious

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

I've heard they're similar to naugas. There isn't much meat on them, but their hides are worth a fortune.

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Naugas are much too ferocious to hunt. Guess that is why their hides are worth so much.

Naugas are closely related to pleathers. Around here we have a plethora of pleathers. Hides are usually multi stained and smell like beer and cheetos