Handling rabbit meat
Handling rabbit meat
Take rabbit home immediately and refrigerate at 40
degrees F or below.
Use it within 2 days or freeze at 0 degrees
F.
If kept frozen
continuously, it will be safe indefinitely; however, quality will diminish over time.
It is safe to freeze
rabbit in its original packaging.
For prolonged storage, overwrap as you
would any food for long-term storage.
For best quality, use frozen whole rabbit within a year, pieces within 9 months
Safe thawing
There are three ways to safely defrost
rabbit: in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave oven.
Never defrost at room temperature.
Refrigerator:
It is best to plan for slow, safe thawing in the refrigerator.
Bone-in parts or whole rabbits
may take a day or longer to thaw. Once thawed, rabbit may be stored
in the refrigerator for 2 days before
cooking.
During this time, if you decide not to use the
rabbit, you can safely refreeze it without cooking it.
Cold Water: To defrost rabbit
in cold water, do not remove
the packaging.
Be sure
the package is airtight or put it into a leak-proof bag.
Submerge the rabbit
in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes so it continues
to thaw.
Small
packages may defrost
in an hour or less;
larger packages may take 2 to 3 hours.
Plan to cook the rabbit
immediately after thawing.
Microwave
oven: When defrosting rabbit in
the microwave oven, plan to cook it immediately after thawing because some of
the areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook.
Safe cooking
•
When roasting
rabbit parts, set the oven temperature no lower than 325 degrees F.
A 2-pound, cut-up rabbit should
take about one hour to cook.
•
A whole,
2-to 2 ½-pound rabbit should take about one to one and a half hours to roast.
Stuffing
it will add about half an hour to the cooking time.
•
Braising
rabbit (cooking it in a small amount of liquid in a covered pan on the range or
in the oven) also takes about an hour.
Rabbit
can be broiled about 15 minutes on each side.
•
For safety, USDA recommends cooking rabbit to
an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees F.
The use of a food thermometer is recommended to make sure your
rabbit is safe to eat.
•
It is
safe to cook frozen rabbit in the oven or on the range or grill without
defrosting it first, though the cooking time may be about 50 percent longer.
•
Do not cook frozen
rabbit in a slow cooker;
thaw first.
Cut whole rabbits
into smaller pieces so heat can penetrate the meat more quickly.
Safe handling of leftovers Refrigerate leftovers within two hours after
cooking.
Use within
three to four days or freeze.
Use frozen, cooked
rabbit within four to six months for best quality.
Reheat leftovers to 165 °F.
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