Well rabbit season is a month away and I am seriously itching to go hunt, so I'm thinking about pursuing the ever annoying squirrel starting next week. My current plan revolve on par-boiling the little fella's dressed carcass then tossing it on the grill. Any thoughts on marinades/sauces?
BBQ Tree rat?
- Thread starter Navy joe
- Start date
Mannlicher
New member
Squirrel is not a good candidate for the grill. The lil critter is almost all muscle, no fat, and tough. They cook up real good in a stew though. If ya do just HAVE to grill one, first parboil it, with a little baking soda in the water, then wrap a piece of bacon around it, and grill it on the upper rack on the grill, not on direct fire.
In a slow cooker on a meat rack whole. Put water in bottom, just about to the rack. Add a bay leaf to the water. I spice mine with a little red pepper, black pepper, garlic, and onion powder. Cook the little rat for about 3 hours. The little fella's meat will fall right off the bone.
i've BBQ'd squirrel, and to tell you the truth, it turned out right good. you have to watch them carefully though because they don't have much meat and they cook fast. and good BBQ sauce will work fine, like bullseye or jack daniel's bbq sauce. i like to use italian dressing as a marinade for chicken and pork, and since squirrel tastes some what like chicken, i believe that it would work fine too.
Mannlicher
New member
Cookhj thinks: "since squirrel tastes some what like chicken, "
I don't know where you get YOUR squirrels cookhj , but I have never eaten one that tasted even remotely like chicken.
I don't know where you get YOUR squirrels cookhj , but I have never eaten one that tasted even remotely like chicken.
MeekAndMild
New member
We used to soak them overnight in a wine marinade or in water with a pinch of salt to get the blood out. Tender young tree rat were fried like fish with cornmeal batter crust or like chicken with a flour/cornflake crust. Older ones were boiled until they fell apart, best in a vegetable stew or with dumplings.
You might as well barbecue a rock.
You might as well barbecue a rock.
Al Thompson
Staff Alumnus
The store bought chicken and turkey tastes like styrofoam to me. "Real" or free range chicken and wild turkey has a much better taste IMHO. I can see the comparison with free range barn-yard pimp and tree rat. 
For wild stuff in general, I'm a crock pot sort of guy.
For wild stuff in general, I'm a crock pot sort of guy.
yankytrash
New member
My recipe for tree rats, ground rats, swamp rats, and house rats:
Split pelvis so the rat lies flat on it's back, but stays in one piece.
Slather with extra virgin olive oil, lotsa garlic, some onion (not too much), and your favorite brand of honey BBQ sauce. A shot of apple cider vinegar or whiskey might not be a bad idea either.
Roll him up so that his limbs are inside the roll, tie him with a string (shoestring works fine, and is reusable).
Sear the outside of the ratball on the frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil, making sure to cover him good in salt (Dollar General Cajun Spice or Soul Food spice is better if you have it around).
Put him immediately into a 350 degree oven, cover, and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours. Make sure to check his progress, and keep him basted with water, beef broth, or olive oil so he don't burn.
Serve in small cut-up pieces with a watery mixed sauce of BBQ sauce and italian salad dressing - that fools your girlfriend and kids into thinkin it's some more socially-accepted animal fer eatin. Also won't make your wheels start turnin either. I've pushed many a plate aside when I got to thinkin about it too hard.
Oh - you can substitute the pan fry and oven time with some serious skills behind the grill, keeping careful tabs on the grilling temperatures (much like wok cooking). Despite popular opinion round here, an adept griller can make a five-star chef's oven-time look like horsecrap.
Split pelvis so the rat lies flat on it's back, but stays in one piece.
Slather with extra virgin olive oil, lotsa garlic, some onion (not too much), and your favorite brand of honey BBQ sauce. A shot of apple cider vinegar or whiskey might not be a bad idea either.
Roll him up so that his limbs are inside the roll, tie him with a string (shoestring works fine, and is reusable).
Sear the outside of the ratball on the frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil, making sure to cover him good in salt (Dollar General Cajun Spice or Soul Food spice is better if you have it around).
Put him immediately into a 350 degree oven, cover, and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours. Make sure to check his progress, and keep him basted with water, beef broth, or olive oil so he don't burn.
Serve in small cut-up pieces with a watery mixed sauce of BBQ sauce and italian salad dressing - that fools your girlfriend and kids into thinkin it's some more socially-accepted animal fer eatin. Also won't make your wheels start turnin either. I've pushed many a plate aside when I got to thinkin about it too hard.
Oh - you can substitute the pan fry and oven time with some serious skills behind the grill, keeping careful tabs on the grilling temperatures (much like wok cooking). Despite popular opinion round here, an adept griller can make a five-star chef's oven-time look like horsecrap.
Right you are Gizmo ...................I kinda like a crock pot myself.............or lonnnng slow cooking on the stove. I have one of those "flat top" lectric stoves and you can turn it wayyyyyyy down, and cook things over nite. To me thats the way to cook a meat that is inherently tough like tree rats. Rabbits, deer, duck, doves etc. can be cooked for less time and be "no knife needed" tender. Tree rats take a lil longer except for the young ones. Real young "cat" squirrels or even "fox" squirrels even can be deep fired like chicken, but if you try yhat with a mature one you may pull your teeth out trying to eat it.
My daughter just called me and said son-in-law killed a "bunch" this morning and they are smothering them down for supper. After Hurricane Lily tore some of the leaves off the trees they are easy to see
.
She can cook em, she has a gas stove....................I got lights, fridge, microwave, and A/C in my bedroom but still no commercial power...........generator cant handle an electric stove even with all else shut off. Good I was getting tired of microwaved smoked sausage or ham sandwiches!
this is what I mean by "flat top" stove...its just to the left of the sink that black thing................sure is easy to clean
My daughter just called me and said son-in-law killed a "bunch" this morning and they are smothering them down for supper. After Hurricane Lily tore some of the leaves off the trees they are easy to see
.She can cook em, she has a gas stove....................I got lights, fridge, microwave, and A/C in my bedroom but still no commercial power...........generator cant handle an electric stove even with all else shut off. Good I was getting tired of microwaved smoked sausage or ham sandwiches!
this is what I mean by "flat top" stove...its just to the left of the sink that black thing................sure is easy to clean
Mannlicher
New member
Yankeetrash,
I am just guessing, but you DO skin them first? Down here in the deep South, we call that 'dressed'.
I am just guessing, but you DO skin them first? Down here in the deep South, we call that 'dressed'.
For a follow up fellows................just got back from my daughters..............wish I had brought the digital to take a pic of the pot of squirrels all smothered down in a real brown gravy (not the one with flour and all that stuffin it) and onions........she had a generator hooked to their "camp room" behind the trailer...........gas stove, A/C, satellite TV, fridge full of cold bud lite, stereo. etc. I listened to my grand son tell about his first kill.............he is 5............got one with his 20 gauge. He aimed, and shot it while son-in-law helped hold it. You don't know what that does to me....................GRIN!!! All the time we were watching the UGA/Bama game, sipping cold Bud Lites and enjoying the A/C...............I had a plate that almost collapsed from being overloaded with squirrel, rice with the gravy, white beans, cooked down with salt meat, and fresh hot jalepeno cornbread!
Hurricane? what hurricane?
Hurricane? what hurricane?
short shot
Inactive
squirrel gravy mmmmm I truly beleive thats why the little bushytail was put here.