5 Step BBQ Rabbit

Step 1 – Marinade. What you marinade your rabbits in is your choice. I mixed a half can of beer, 1 cup orange juice, 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 2 thinly sliced cloves of garlic and about ¼ chopped green onions. 

I mixed it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The orange juice helps break down the tissue, tenderizing the meat for grilling, while the beer and Worcestershire adds great flavoring so salts can be left out.

Step 2 – Grill. I put my rabbits on the grill whole to begin with. With only 1 out of 2 pilots lit on the grill, I let the rabbits cook on low, turning every 5 minutes or so, for about 40 minutes, until they were nearly cooked all the way through.

Step 3 – Cut up and section the rabbit. Here is a picture of what it looks like after it’s done. Many people cut up the rabbits before they cook them and when you do it that way it looks like this. I like to let the outside get crispy before I cut it up. The grill also burns off any leftover fur or fuzz, so I don’t bother to remove the skin.

Step 4 – Add sauce and grill until cooked. This takes 10-20 minutes; depending on how well cook the rabbits were when you took them off the grill. Normally I make my own sauce from ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce and beef broth, but I got a great deal on bottle bbq sauce at the store recently, so this is a thick n spicy sauce from Heinz. It was really good. I put the meat on our Yoshi grill mat on the grill before adding the sauce. Make sure you keep a close eye on the rabbit and keep it on low or the bbq sauce can burn and make your rabbit taste scorched.

Step 5 – Enjoy the fruits of your hard work! Everyone loved the grilled rabbit. It also went great with the grilled squash, onions, tomatoes and peppers that came from our backyard. An entire meal grown and raised on our backyard farm.

Meet the Rabbits!

Welcome to Pepperwood Rabbitry;
Meet the Rabbits

           

Here at Pepperwood Rabbitry, we take great pride in our rabbits. I’m also very particular about the rabbits I breed. I have found a line of rabbits that breed very well and I don’t ever have any problems with. I’ve had a couple rabbits that have caused me trouble, one just sold and the other is up for sale, once I find a replacement breeder.

            

For the most part my rabbits make me very proud and I treat them very well, to make sure that they are happy and healthy. So here’s my rabbits. (Note: almost all my rabbits are named after fertility gods from different countries, regions and beliefs)

          

This is the mother of all my rabbits (sort of), Iroquis. She is named after a Native American fertility goddess. She is a very simple rabbit, she doesn’t require much attention or care, she loves to play in cardboard boxes and eat food. Not big on attention but she’s very friendly when we want to pet her and interact.

         

  

Her daughter, and my favorite breeding doe is Partulah. She is named for the Scandinavian goddess of fertility and rebirth. And boy has she lived up to her name so far! She was just old enough to breed when I got her and with her first litter she gave me 6 albinos and 1 brown Dutch, all of which survived to adulthood, and were sold or put in the freezer. 

Her second litter is 8 black and white Dutch kits, all healthy and strong so far. Partulah is a bit more interesting of a rabbit, as she litter box trained herself and has a lot of personality when you interact with her.

          

  

  Next is Partulah’s daughter, Tabitha. She’s not named after anyone in particular. When she was born, I thought she looked like a Tabitha. I knew from the second I saw her that if she survived and was a female, I would keep her and breed her; maybe try to show her someday. She’s old enough to breed now and may be pregnant with her first litter, due in two weeks. 

           

My bucks are polar opposites, but both reliable when it comes to breeding.

 First is Hyperion, he is an American Chinchilla & American Albino mix. He is crazy! He’s named after a titan, which we really should have thought about when we named him because he has lived up to it. He chews his way out of cages, through wood and wire, terrorizing all the does and my buck. I can only breed him with Iroquois because the other does won’t even be in a cage near him. He’s a sweet rabbit to humans, interacts and does all sorts of cute things. But as a breeder, he’s becoming almost useless. I hope to find him a home and bring one of my young bucks up to bat in his place.

            

Our other buck is Hopi. He’s named after the Native American god of fertility. And he’s done well. He’s sired both of Partulah’s litters and hopefully there will be more in the future. He’s very docile and social, very friendly with humans and the does (and the cat). Just a very laid back attitude, which works very well for us, as he never gives me any problems with trying to escape or becoming aggressive. 

This is the newest member to my brood of breeders, Ostara. A doe from Iroquis’ last litter. I’m hoping she will follow in the footsteps of her mother and sister and be a good breeder. Time will only tell, but she sure is cute in the mean time!