Shooting squirrels

[F.G. Ford]

I have hunted squirrels in years past, but with no intent to eat them.
Today is different.
How many squirrels are needed for a one person serving.
And what is a "GREAT" recipe?
Thank you
Fred

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I have hunted squirrels in years past, but with no intent to eat them.

Fred

Wow start with a curve ball..

How many squirrels are needed for a one person serving.Fred

What squirrels? And what with?
Pine, Abert, Gray, red?

Served as a meal with a starch & 2 sides, one "fat Abert" would make a meal, while 3 pine squirrels with nothing else might leave you hungry.

 

[Ron LaClair]

In deer camp on squirrel night we figure on a squirrel per man. Here's 8 fox squirrels, browned and ready to put the lid on and pop in the oven for a couple hours.

Make gravy with the drippins and serve with mashed taters

 

[F.G. Ford]

Thank you for your reply Sean !
I should have specified what type of squirrel.
Here in eastern Ontario, Canada we have lots of red squirrels and the larger black squirrel.
Way back when the gun of choice was the .22, today it would be .40 cal. or .45 cal., even a nice 1840 vintage Bond double 12 gauge, percussion.
I'm not bragging, just older and many more toys,
:redface:
To NTWF Longhunter:
That looks delicious! Thank you !
Any secrets to that fine looking dinner?
Best regards!
Fred

 

[Britsmoothy]

I just pan fried two greys saddle and legs. The browned meat added to a dish with onion garlic half a lamb stock cube and some curry powder.
40 mins in the oven with a little added water.
Then the meat is forked off the bone.
Great added on a slice of toast at work. :hatsoff:

B

 

[Vaino]

Squirrels are one of my favorite game animals to prepare and eat.

First off....this is the only animal that I segregate by age....easy to tell the difference. Have found that the old big squirrels need more cooking and if the young squirrels are included in the pan, they're way over cooked.

Any animal that can climb vertically as fast as a squirrel will be well muscled and requires slow cooking.

So, I braise the squirrels after a good browning w/ flour and spices that leaves plenty of fond in the bottom of the pan which contributes greatly to the taste. Braising {wet cooking} allows the hot moisture to penetrate the meat and yields very tender game. The tasty gravy w/ onions is wonderful on potatoes of choice.

Mostly eat grays w/ some fox squirrels thrown in which are found near corn fields. Fox squirrels don't "squirrel" away their winter food as do grays so in the north are less plentiful and depend on corn to fatten them up. Shot one old very big fox squirrel that I couldn't even skin....too slippery due to an over abundance of fat.

Never ate chikarees or pine squirrels...always seemed too small......Fred

 

[54ball]

Seasoned and simply cooked over an open fire on a stick spit is remarkably good.

Young squirrels can be fried up with gravy as pictured. Older ones need to cook slow as Fred said.

You can boil the older ones until tender, brown them. You an serve then like the younger ones fried up or you can make squirrels and dressing.

For squirrels an dressing you can boil the smaller parts and peel the meat off and add this to your dressing.

 

[don hepler]

Ask any of the old county folks, and they'll tell you that squirrel gravy, is by far the best gravy you can eat. Gotta have biscuits, if you're having squirrel.

My father-in-law, was a masterful squirrel skinner. He shucked them hides, without getting a hair on them.

 

[robert reed]

Lots o ways to cook em up. Round here mostly grays. For a party, I smoke a mess of em whole. Sure gets quiet when when they come off the smoker.

 

[htredneck]

Brown them in a pan, cover them in Cream of Mushroom soup and stick them in the oven for a bit. Finger licking good!

And now I'm hungry...

 

[Billnpatti]

As for a great recipe, if they are young tender squirrels, they are ambrosia when fried. Older squirrels are tougher and require a moist cooking such as being cooked in a stew or making squirrel and dumplings. I prefer squirrel and dumplings. It is a delicious dish and will make your squirrels feed more people. :hatsoff:
www.allrecipes.com/search/default.aspx?qt=k&wt=squirrel&rt=r&origin=Home Page

 

[wvbuckbuster]

I like to cook them in the crock pot until falling off the bone. Separate the meat than thicken the broth like a thin gravy, add the meat back into it and spoon over biscuts.

Also good to can. 3 to a jar(remove the ribs) 10lbs. pressure for 30 mins. You can warm them up in a pan, brown and fry or whatever suits you. Dan.

 

[Curt]

My favorite way is too boil them for an hour then dip then in ranch dressin,then roll em in corn meal ,fry them about 5 minutes on each side.One squrriel plus beans bisquits gravy and taters is fine dinin.Curt

 

[Rat Trapper]

Cut the squirrels into quarters. Put your grey or fox squirrels in a pressure cooker 20-30 min untill meat is ready to fall off the bones. roll in flour and then brown up in pan with butter. Make sure ya get some meat to stick to the pan for gravy. Squirrel gravy and mashed potatoes is great!

 

[Spikebuck]

requires slow cooking.

The process can be substantially sped up using a pressure cooker. Brown and Season squirrel pieces. Put in the cooker with a can or two of cream of mushroom soup with water to cover the meat. 20 minutes after the weight starts rocking and done. Meat falls off the bone. You have squirrel and the gravy.

Another method I tried last year (this one takes hours) was to first boil the squirrel until the meat falls off the bone. I then took all the meat and browned it in a skillet with lots of butter. Salt and Peppered. Next,I made up a batch of Wild Rice Soup and mixed in the squirrel pieces with some fried bacon. All I can say is the guys in camp did NOT stop with just one bowl.

Squirrel is a great meal and there are many recipes. Fred is right about the old squirrels...tough. For old squirrels I think the pressure cooker method is best for making it edible.

 

[BrownBear]

Back in my squirrel hunting days (western grays), all the old squirrels went into squirrel and dumplings or my favorite, squirrel pot pie. Man-o-man....

 

[Robert Egler]

Seasoned and simply cooked over an open fire on a stick spit is remarkably good.

That is the only way I eat squirrels :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

While squirrels cooked over an open fire are delicious (if they are young and tender), don't let that be the only way that you fix them. If you do, you are missing out on some good chow. Take a look at how others here on the forum are fixing them. There are some excellent ideas and recipes here for squirrels. :thumbsup:

 

[Vaino]

Hopefully you have good teeth and well muscled jowls. As was said....open fire spit cooking of squirrels is suitable for the very young of the same year. Can/t imagine open fire spit cooking most of my squirrels which are older and thereby tougher. Do you parboil them first?.....Fred

 

[Bougalee]

Like to cook them down in a heavy roux, for a couple of hours. Think I'll see what I can find in the freezer, the thought of it all is making me hungry. :wink: