Are squirrels good eatin ?

[Handyman]

I've never bothered hunting them but now I have 3 of them living in the attick and they are becoming a pita . I'm going to borrow a pellet gun to get them so I don't shoot a hole through the roof or if I get a good shot at them outside , it has to be quiet and safe [ live in a thickly settled suburb ] .. I hate to waste good meat if they are worth eating . Maybe I'll just feed them to the dog .
If they are good to eat , whats the best way to cook them ?

[Dave Haven]

Squirrels are delicious.
They're a bit lean for grilling, but frying or stewing with your choice of seasoning works well.

[longtooth50]

If they are young you can fry them if you like it that way. Much of the time fried Squirrel is a little dry for most people.
Here is the way I like to cook them.
Place a small potatoe inside the body cavity. Let the legs "hug" the potatoe. A couple of pieces of carrots & then put a couple of large slices of onion on the upper side. Add 2 strips of bacon long ways on the top. Bake in the oven for 3.5hrs at 275 degrees. The bacon will keep it moist. Fat will run through the onion & soak into the meat. The potatoe & carrots finish the meal.

No doubt you will get others.

[joab]

Big Brunswick stew fan here, simple fare and easy to cook


Be careful about shooting them with a pellet gun
Make sure you have enough gun and can make a one shot kill

I make a lot of money digging three day dead ones out of walls for people

[Edward429451]

I hear that. Squirrels are pretty resilient unless you hit em in the head.

Sure they're good. Stewed, chicken(squirrel)salad, deboned & lightly fried with cheese & mustard on a sandwich...mmm. If they're skinney I'll grill em for the dog, he loves em.

[crowbeaner]

Sure they are edible and prepared right down to earth good fare. I cut mine into quarters and lightly saute them and bone out the meat. Then into the crock pot with small taters and cut carrots, pearl onions and various veggies. Thicken the stew and ladle over Bisquick biscuits. YUM. CB.

[Hawg]

They taste pretty gamey and look like a rat when skinned. I tried one once but I don't care for it.

[Bigfatts]

I like the legs fried up like chicken wings. Fantastic. Just had some the other night.

[12-34hom]

Tree rats, yum yum.....:barf:


12-34hom

[JWT]

The critters are very good eating. Not much meat other than the hind quarters and a bit on the front quarters, but fried or stewed they're delicious. Fix then just like you would rabbit.

[hoytinak]

Big Brunswick stew fan here

same here, gotta love the stew

[Buzzcook]

Soup or stew.

[Sgt.Fathead]

I have been eating squirrels off and on for a couple years since a neighbor fed me some stew. I use a Gamo or Winchester 1000 fps rifle with PBA Raptor gold plated pellets to either head shoot them or zap them off trees by hitting them dead center, base of the head, top of the spine. A one shot kill is certain with shooting like that + the high velocity + (most important for me) a good scope.

The wife won't try them but I joke that she's gonna' love 'em come the Apocalypse!

[teeroux]

love squirrel in rice and gravy or gumbo.

i dont care to eat-em like my uncle Jerry though he throws the heads in the gumbo too.

[oldbillthundercheif]

I like to toss them in a marinade of beer, garlic, salt & pepper, a little splash of apple cider vinegar, and something spicy (peppers / hot sauce / cayenne / ect...).

After they have soaked for a while I dust them with flour and pan-fry them in a combo of butter, bacon grease, and olive oil until they start to pick up some color, then pull them out, add some more flour, and make a roux in the pan.

When the roux starts to smell nutty and pick up a little color I toss in a bunch of onions and a little celery, carrot, and green pepper, all finely chopped except for some of the onions that I leave in rings, add some salt and pepper, and cook the mixture until the veggies start sweating and the roux hits the darker side of golden brown.

Then I pour in one or two bottles of fairly dark beer depending on how much squirrel is going to be cooked (anchor steam works great for this), stir it well, and put the squirrel pieces back in.

Toss in some potatos and whatever other veggies you have laying around (big chunks of carrots are great for this too), cover the pan, and toss it into a 250 degree oven for a long long time (minimum 5 hours, but 8+ is better).

When you dive into a big plate of this stuff you will not understand why so few people eat squirrel. It's damn tasty, and this method is one of the tastiest.

[king.460]

If you put squirrel in a frying pan, the key is to first BOIL them for 30-45 minutes. Then batter and drop -- great eating!

[ZeroJunk]

We were so poor we saved the rims off bologna to boil and make soup. Squirrel was a feast.

You parboil the squirrel. Then flour and fry in oil in a frying pan. Take a mixture of the water you boiled it in ,the grease in the pan, and sweet milk and flour to make some gravy.
The gravy and biscuits have a flavor that is just fantastic.The squirrel itself is so so.

[CajunBass]

love squirrel in rice and gravy or gumbo.

That's the way my wife fixes 'em. Good eating..

[SavageSniper]

Zerojunk has it right. Boil with onions to make them tender then fry like chicken. Fine eatin'

[Arub]

1. It depends on how hungry you are.

B. Gravy improves the taste of most anything.

[FirstFreedom]

They taste pretty good (I wouldn't say great), when prepared properly, but the problem with squirrels is the meat-to-butchering/skinning-work ratio is rather low, since they're not real easy to butcher, esp. as compared to other animals yielding about the same amount of meat, such as quail or doves, which are easy to rip the flesh back and expose the breast.

[WeedWacker]

ANY small game + crock pot = best easy eating EVER!!!

1 squirrel, cleaned, skinned, decapitated
5 chopped carrots (~8" each)
2 sliced onions
1 package mushrooms sliced - any kind, morels are best (~15 +/- mushrooms, I love stewed mushrooms)
4 sticks chopped celery
1 tspn garlic salt/pepper
1 clove garlic
shot of brandy

Let stew slowly for 4-5 hours

[Reliabilityman]

make sure you have enough gun. In my experience a .22 isn't enough unless you shoot them in the head. I have some wild stories about wounded one's. THey go farther than you expext.

[williamd]

Ate a lot of squirrel years back. Great in stew as others have noted. Not bad broiled on a spit but takes some time to get it done. I have added them to freeze dried foods when packing and that really helps the freeze dried! Have done the same with porcupine and more!

[CajunBass]

make sure you have enough gun. In my experience a .22 isn't enough unless you shoot them in the head. I have some wild stories about wounded one's. THey go farther than you expext.

In my experience a 22hp kills them DRT with a solid body hit. I've lost a few when using a shotgun and shot too small, but never with a 22. (No 5 shot works well out of shotgun.)