can you eat coon?
 

Ok - no one laugh! Wondering if you can eat coon. If so how does it taste? How do you prepare it?

You can eat anything. The answers will range from "Ish NO!" to "Best BBQ ever!"

That said I can say with certainty DO NOT cook them in a crock pot.

yes

Raccoon Recipes

yes I can
 

,but I may not! as long as i have so much chicken an pork an squill, an wabbit an deer around here...
Ate it as a very youngin, can't remember what it tasted like some 59 yr. ago...

You can cook it like any other meat and it taste as good as any other wild game. seasonings will make a difference in the taste also. I like wood chuck better they are vagans.

RACCOON FOR CROCKPOT

1 med. size raccoon
1/4 c. honey
1 c. chicken broth
3 tbsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. cream sherry
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Clean raccoon, quarter, and remove all surface fat. Put pieces into crockpot. Mix all other ingredients and pour over meat pieces. Cover and cook 6 to 8 hours. Remove grease and discard before thickening remaining liquid for gravy. Meat will brown and be tender and delicious.


:D Al

Coons are like any meat animal, that is; what they eat can affect the taste. Live-trapped and corn-fed is good, if they eat a lotta fish and crawdads, not quite so good.
The age at harvesting is another big factor. Beef, pork, chicken etc are usually eaten young, and the males castrated. An old boar coon will be dern near inedible, depending of course on how hungry ya are, lol. Any game meat it helps to cut it up and let it sit in the fridge for a day, then parboil it for a few minutes, then bread and fry or bake the pieces.

When I was a little kid in the 80's we had a rabies outbreak around here, it was drilled into our heads as kids both at hame and school to stay away from racoons. We have a bad coon problem at the barn they are always around tearing into feed and getting in trouble and I have shot many a one but I won't touch them with anything but a pitch fork. I am sure you could eat it if you were hungry enough but I think I would hold out for atleast a squirrel!

Yes coon is good. I like mine BBQ

Ate Coon and Possum all my life.Hate it BBQ.

Take Parboil,Bake with Sage,Salt and Pepper.

Makes good sausage.

big rockpile

Slow baked in oven, with sweet taters onions and carrots, and bell peppers.

If it is an older, adult, coon, boil it first then toss the water. Then you can cook it as you like. Actually, we always did that with young coon too, but some people just fry it up.
You have to take out some nasty glands under the arms too.

well , PrairieComfort , coons are good eating , but you got to take care in how you field-dress it . If you cut into a musk gland , you may as well throw it away , cause it won't be fit to eat .

Best way is to take a stout bolt-cutter , and cut the back legs off below the meat , and then do the same with the front legs . then , take the head off with an axe , then skin it out like you'd do with a squirrel , once you got the hide off , put the coon in a big pot and par-boil it , throw the water out , and par-boil it again , and then you can either can the meat or bake it like you would a chicken .

coon meat ain't much tasty , I've had coon meat a few times , didn't think much of it , but meat is meat .

Coons eat carrion , so I'd put that in as a caution .

granpa
 

granpa ate hundreds of coons but very much prefered young ones.......

groundhogs also he said the ole ones were good in oct.

Cook in roasting pan, the only problem it looks a lot like a dog in the baking pan, if you buy one it must have it;s foot on for a sale......at least in Delaware

Reminds me of the time me and my Ex went to my Grandparents for Christmas Dinner.My Grandma had cooked up a bunch of Coons and Possums.My Ex looked at them made a face :confused: Sugar you like Coon and Possum? Yea but not sure about them Grining back at me.Grandma always left the Heads on :pound:

big rockpile

LEAVE THE FAT ON THE DARNED THING!!!! Raccoon fat is very soft and tasty!

I hang by the back feet, skin, gut and then take the head off. Then I take the front legs CAREFULLY off the body. When you are cutting them free there are several grey marble sized glands. Cut them free and toss them. Be careful not to miss any.

Then I cut the loin off and then the back legs free of hte spine. Any spare meat on the ribs I cut off the bone with I take off the loin and belly meat.

All that meat is now ready to cook adn looks NOTHING like a dog in the roasting pan.

I fry young 'coons as nuggets of meat breaded and pan fried with gravey made from the drippins and old 'coons go into a pan with mushroom soup, onions and root vegitables and cooked really low and slow all day.

Or old ones go into the stock pot to simmer so slowly that the stock is only just moving. That turns into a big pot of raccoon tomato soup and served with corn bread.

To us, raccoon tastes very like beef.

And again, save that fat, its fantastic!

My new 'coon trap is due in the post tomorrow so I will have a chance at a few nice big ones that have been bothering my rabbits. Mmmmmmm yummy!

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. My boys are planning on trapping some this winter and then tanning the hides. I don't want to waste the meat and will be trying some of the recipes posted here. How many lbs would you say a older coon average?

First-year coon may not top 7 or 8 pounds live while two-year may go 15 live. Both weights depend upon diet and available food. Then goes up about 5 pounds per year after that. Figure at least 50% non-edible and you'll be close to what's left for the pot. Five-year old would be as old as you'd want to roast but makes surprisingly good coonburger or BBQ. That meat will be closer to purple rather than red. Now and then you'll find one in the 40-50 pound range and those are probably around 10 years old. The closest color that you could call their meat is black!

Martin

That is REALLY helpful! A quick way to age coon by way of meat color will help me tell when I can fry and when I should slow cook.

Oh, and the meat to bone ratio of raccoon is really good, they have really fine, strong bones and LOTS of meat!

You are quite correct about the meat to bone ratio. That's why large older coon were designated for coonburger. Lots of meat on the hind legs and easily de-boned. Not so much on the front but enough to bother with on an animal which may weigh 30# live at that point. Back also easily fileted into two big slabs and neck is as big around as the head. Heart would be added as the final bit of sweetness. Don't knock coonburger unless you've tried it.

Reminds me of a story from years ago. An uncle would never think to eat a coon. One morning I had 5 or 6 big ones to skin out and butcher and I always saved the livers. My aunt offered to cook them up for the rest of us. My uncle said that they smelled just like pork liver when they were cooking. Since he loved pork liver so much, he decided to taste one. Big smile came to his face and he said that it even tasted like pork liver. I knew that!

Martin

Speak of hte devil, there is one in the live trap this morning :dance:

Last sow I killed weighed 26 lbs. plus...

Ron, I always thyought they had 4 feet. Does Delaware have many one footed coons?

I have never eaten coon but I have eaten oppossum. That is why we raise cattle now, lol...

No but you only need to keep one foot on for proof it is a raccoon....for sale purposes, I would suggest cutting it off after purchase and prior to cooking....

Not in this house. I can't get past what I saw when I skinned them for DH. After all these years he can clean his own coons, and he can eat the greasy, smelly thing some where else. I know some people like them, I just can't.

Caught another one last night! This time I used live quail in a cage attached to the live trap as bait. I figured if it enjoyed the FIVE it snatched out of the brooder it would be back for more.

Shall enjoy eating this one as it ate my quail dinner I have been working on for NINE MONTHS!!! :flame:

Did he devour the one last night...if so it was his last meal....

When a guy was buying them from me for the Chicago market, he wanted both hind feet left on. In addition to showing that it wasn't a dog, easier to pick up by the hind legs when both feet were attached.

Martin

Nothing wrong with eatting dog either. Many countrys around the world eat it.
This recipe is for coyote but would work well with dog.


INGREDIENTS:
* 2 cups vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
* 2 tablespoons dried Italian-style seasoning
* 2 tablespoons lemon pepper
* garlic powder to taste
* 2lbs of fresh thawed coyote meat - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large shallow dish, mix the oil, Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and lemon pepper. Place the coyote meat in the dish, and turn to coat with the mixture. Cover, and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Drain coyote, and discard marinade. Place coyote on hot grill and cook for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear.


:D Al

My kids made me promise NOT to eat the dog the day I found her half in and half out the screen door after her dragging garbage all over the house and forgetting she was house broken I yelled "I am going to cook you for DINNER you stupid dog!"

I turned around to find all three kids in floods of tears sobbing "Please dont kill the dog mummy! Promise promise!"

:pound: My kids know me well :pound:

One young female 'coon now in fridge :D

Made some coon jerky last night!!

Now that is just not fair! To tease us like that with out a recipe is just mean!

I thought you weren't supposed to eat carnivores? Do people eat bobcats and other members of the big cat family? My grandparents never did, but they ate pretty much everything else.

Why would you not eat a carnivore?