|
HD has it right.
Gator gets cleaned, a project that we'll deal with this afternoon. All the meat, even the ribs & legs. Meat off of these larger ones can be tough unless you stick to the prime cuts, the loin, backstrap, tail and jowl. A couple of the smaller pieces of regular body meat are also fryable.
The legs are TOUGH. We've a well mixed customer base at the market, good number of folks from SE Asia. Gator leg soup is a tradition there. And to tell you how tough the legs are, I've been told that the soup gets made and then only the liquid is used......???
The ribs can be tough unless you do them right. One option is the same as we do with a fresh hog ham. A couple of hours on the smoker, lots of smoke and some spice. Then double wrap in foil and stick in the over for another few hours at a low heat. Will come out tender. Meat is very white. You can also use a pressure cooker but it seems now days that few folks, except for those of us who hunt, have them.
Someone will also come along and have to have the head. In the "raw" like that they are worth little.
In the open water lakes we hunt snagging is what we do. The harpoon is simply a hand tossed affair. We made what we use from drilled 3/8 hardened bolts. Have to have at least one, we use 2 when they are big, in him before you hit him wth the bangstick. Soon as they are dead they sink like a rock!
The skins are not worth much this year. So far I've not found a buyer willing to pay enough to even cover the cost of shipping them. Very frustrating as we have 5 skins that total a little over 53 feet. In years past they have brought between 20 & 40 dollars a foot...........
|