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Caligula | 01-15-2009 05:01 PM
The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59566.html He rolls into the parking lot of Leon's Thriftway in an old, maroon Impala with a trunk full of frozen meat. Raccoon — the other dark meat. In five minutes, Montrose, Mo., trapper Larry Brownsberger is sold out in the lot at 39th Street and Kensington Avenue. Word has gotten around about how clean his frozen raccoon carcasses are. How nicely they’re tucked up in their brown butcher paper. How they almost look like a trussed turkey … or something. His loyal customers beam as they leave, thinking about the meal they'll soon be eating. That is, as soon as the meat is thawed. Then brined. Soaked overnight. Parboiled for two hours. Slow-roasted or smoked or barbecued to perfection. Raccoon, which made the first edition of The Joy of Cooking in 1931, is labor-intensive but well worth the time, aficionados say. "Good things come to those who wait," says A. Reed, 86, who has been eating raccoon since she was a girl. "This right here," she says, holding up a couple of brown packages tied with burlap string, “this is a great value. And really good eatin’. Best-kept secret around.” Raccoons go for $3 to $7 — each, not per pound — and will feed about five adults. Four, if they’re really hungry. Those who dine on raccoon meat sound the same refrain: It's good eatin'. As long as you can get past the "ick" factor that it's a varmint, more often seen flattened on asphalt than featured on a restaurant menu. (One exception: French restaurant Le Fou Frog served raccoon about a dozen years ago, a waiter said.) Eating varmints is even in vogue these days, at least in Britain. The New York Times reported last week that Brits are eating squirrels with wild abandon. Here in Kansas City, you won't see many, if any, squirrel ads in the papers. But that's where Brownsberger was advertising his raccoons last week. The meat isn’t USDA-inspected, and few state regulations apply, same as with deer and other game. No laws prevent trappers from selling raccoon carcasses. As for diseases, raccoon rabies doesn't exist in Missouri, state conservation scientists say. It's an East Coast phenomenon. Parvo and distemper kill raccoons quickly but aren’t transferred to humans. Also, trappers are unlikely to sell meat from an animal that appears to be diseased. "Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," says Jeff Beringer, a furbearer resource biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones. And when people eat wild meat, Beringer says, "it reminds the modernized society — people who usually eat food from a plastic wrapper — where food comes from.” Statewide, consumption of raccoon meat can be tracked somewhat by how many raccoon pelts are harvested each year. In 2007, 118,166 pelts were sold. But there are plenty more out there, Beringer says. The raccoon population "doubled in the '80s. There's more now than when Missouri was first settled." He estimates there are about 20 raccoons per square mile of habitat. In the wild, raccoons typically live five or six years. Populations that grow too dense can be decimated by disease, especially when temperatures drop, Beringer says. "The animals huddle together, passing on the infections. In the winter, we sometimes have massive die-offs. If we can control the fluctuations in the populations by hunting and trapping, we can have healthier animals." Fur trappers, who harvest most of the raccoons sold in Missouri, "try to kill as humanely as possible," says Beringer, a trapper himself. "It's part of the culture." Pelts last year sold on average for about $17. They're used for coats and hats, and many are sold to Russia. But the conflict between Russia and Georgia severely cut into the fur-trading market, Beringer says. "Pelts will probably be less this year." For the average person, who probably doesn't spend much time thinking how a steer or a pig or a chicken might meet its maker, raccoons may seem too cute to eat. Until you try one. At the Blue Springs home of Billy Washington, raccoon, fish, bison and deer are staples on his family’s table. On this day, it's raccoon. All night he has been soaking a carcass in a solution of salt and vinegar in a five-gallon bucket. Now he rinses the raccoon in his kitchen sink. "Eating raccoon has never gone out of style. It's just hard to get unless you know somebody," he says as he carefully trims away the fat and the scent glands. "My kids love eating game. They think eating deer and buffalo make you run faster and jump higher. My grandkids will just tear this one up, it'll be so good." The meat is almost ready to be boiled, except for one thing: Although its head, innards and three paws have been removed, it still has one. That’s the law. "They leave the paw on to prove it's not a cat or a dog," Washington says. He cuts off the paw and drops the carcass into a stew pot, slices up a carrot, celery and onion, and sprinkles some seasoning into the water. Two and a half hours later, he transfers it to a Dutch oven. It looks a lot like chicken. He bathes the raccoon with his own combination of barbecue sauces. Stuffs the cavity with canned sweet potatoes and pours the rest of the juice from the can over the breast. "I follow the same tradition I watched when I was little. My uncle would cook 'em all day, saving the littlest coon for me," he says. "If stores could sell coon, we’d run out of them. It's a long-hidden secret that they're so good." After several hours, a delicious smell — roast beef? chicken? — drifts from the oven. A mingling of garlic and onion and sweet-smelling spices. And when Washington opens the lid, a tiny leg falls easily from the bone. “See that? Tender as a mother’s love,” he says with a grin. “Good eatin’.” And the taste? Definitely not chicken.

SLV>GLD | 01-15-2009 05:04 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Caligula (Post 1513833) "Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," says Jeff Beringer, a furbearer resource biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.
I wouldn't say this of suburban raccoons seeing as they eat suburban garbage which should be full of these things.

Lucky225 | 01-15-2009 06:38 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table yah good point. Good article nonetheless. I just saw small game traps at harbor freight. Might have to pick me up a couple :):coolbeer:

Ag_man | 01-15-2009 07:14 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table That part about leaving one paw on the carcass is true. My boss's brother has sold raccoon to the negroes on Rockford's West side for many years and they are always worried about being sold a dog or cat.

latemetal | 01-15-2009 09:10 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Coon trapping alive and well in my part of Fla, possum and turtles too.:bear_tongue: Tasty too

scholarcoon | 01-16-2009 09:07 AM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table :no_ma:Nooooo! :36_1_25:

Lt Dan | 01-16-2009 10:10 AM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Mom used to fix 'em for us when I or my brother would get one, something neither of our wives have ever done. It's not all that hard to fix, just a lot of work compared to going to the store and buying chicken all cut up and ready to cook and serve. And no, it doesn't taste anything like chicken.

Conk | 01-16-2009 10:52 AM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table It's just muscle tissue. All in the head. My co-worker will bring in some 'coon on occasion. I've only been able to try it cold, but it wasn't bad.

Weho Dave | 01-16-2009 11:44 AM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table I trapped two coons a couple months ago that were eating my chickens' food. I re-located them. I used a hav-a-hart trap with dog food as the bait. One of them was as big as a medium sized dog. It was huge and heavy. That one would have made quite a meal. Now my mom used to live next to an old man who had lived in his house for 50 years. He brought her over some squirrel that he skinned and gutted. He would eat them all the time. Free meat.

ruprick | 01-16-2009 11:47 AM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table I agree - it is all just muscle tissue..... Why will people love fish....that eat worms and bugs.....but not eat squirrels, rabbits and racoons? I think chickens are 50% chicken shit!!!

Lt Dan | 01-16-2009 02:47 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Weho Dave (Post 1514902) I trapped two coons a couple months ago that were eating my chickens' food. I re-located them.
Bad idea relocating raccoons, they just become someone else's problem. Anytime we catch one in a live trap around here we relocate it to 'coon heaven, no exceptions. There is sound reasoning about relocating actually being cruel. The locals don't except them into the family. They are left to be loners. Kind of like it'd be for a person to be trapped and dumped in another country where the locals would not except you.

Ralleia | 01-16-2009 04:23 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Something was getting into my chickens last year. Back then when the weather was nice we'd leave the door to the chicken yard open overnight. Something was climbing the fence and would grab a chicken. Figured it out one morning when it left a carcass in the yard. We made the fence higher and made a rule of closing the door every evening. If I had caught that I would have found a way to eat it, no matter what it was--fox, coon, cat, snake, whatever!

Weho Dave | 01-16-2009 04:56 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Dan (Post 1515109) Bad idea relocating raccoons, they just become someone else's problem. Anytime we catch one in a live trap around here we relocate it to 'coon heaven, no exceptions. There is sound reasoning about relocating actually being cruel. The locals don't except them into the family. They are left to be loners. Kind of like it'd be for a person to be trapped and dumped in another country where the locals would not except you.
I thought about shooting them in the head with my .22, but one looked me in the eye and seemed to prefer to live. I took them to a nice wilderness spot, not where they will be around people or livestock. I wouldn't mind them on my property, but I lost at least one chicken to coons and they were eating quite a bit of food when I used to leave it out all night. I also read that coons will slaughter an entire flock of chickens "just for fun" and only eat the heads. The hawks are bad enough, but at least they only kill what they will eat and they eat the whole bird.

ShortJohnSilver | 01-16-2009 05:24 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Can anyone try to describe the taste?

Lt Dan | 01-16-2009 09:04 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Weho Dave (Post 1515269) I thought about shooting them in the head with my .22, but one looked me in the eye and seemed to prefer to live.
Can't fault you for having a soft side. I get accused of being cold and heartless. It is, however, unbelievable the amount of damage a family of raccoons will do once they locate a food source. Study the social order to the life of raccoons and you'll understand what I meant about relocating them. One night you'll be missing a few ears of corn, the next night it will be a total waste. Ears pulled to the ground partly eaten - row after row, They even got in my field corn patch and wasted a lot this past year. My wife and I were camping in a state park one summer past. One night the people in a camp site next to ours left their food and stuff out on their picnic table. They went across the road to visit with some other campers that were in a group. We watched out the window as one raccoon came and found the booty. It wasn't but a minute and he left. About five minutes later he came back with his whole family :signs1: and totally wasted their camp site in just a few minutes.

Raven Dancer | 01-17-2009 03:06 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table I had a raccoon live with me for over a year after I saved it when it's mother was hit by a transport truck. He was adorable and very loving, but I let him go in the summer so he could live wild and free even though I still miss the little guy, Raccoons are VERY intelligent and they learn things very quickly. I could no more eat a coon than I could a dog or cat. besides, raccoons eat EVERYTHING. It's difficultfor me to eat any meat knowing that most suffer horrible lives and deaths, but as humans I believe we need some meat in our diet. Eating a raccoon would make me very ill, just knowing what clever animals they are.

Ag_man | 01-18-2009 05:16 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortJohnSilver (Post 1515296) Can anyone try to describe the taste?
Best I can do is imagine very gamy domestic rabbit and greasier. It's always hard for me to describe tastes, kinda like trying to describe what a color looks like. For those not raised on wild game, see if you can find an Isaak Walton League (or similar org) that has an annual wild game feed. That's how I tried raccoon, bear, caribou, elk and beaver (please, no jokes!). They had muskrat too, but I passed on that, as did most everyone else! The elk was absolutely delicious, but the other meats that I mentioned, I really didn't care for. Naturally, they had all kinds of fish, upland birds, venison and waterfowl as well. Well worth the $20 to get in.

electric-amish | 01-18-2009 05:27 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortJohnSilver (Post 1515296) Can anyone try to describe the taste?
Kill the taste with Gravey or spices and Eat hearty---Yummy! I've had it at my Great Uncles Farm back in the 70s. My Aunt Cooked up any dang thing he brought in---Lived thru the Depression I remember it was dark and had long fibers and maybe a little greesy. The taste was not terrible I would guess because I do not remember. Possum, Rabbit, Squirl, Raccoon, deer--it was all on the menu at their place. E-A

Avalon | 01-18-2009 06:07 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven Dancer (Post 1516330) I had a raccoon live with me for over a year after I saved it when it's mother was hit by a transport truck. He was adorable and very loving, but I let him go in the summer so he could live wild and free even though I still miss the little guy, Raccoons are VERY intelligent and they learn things very quickly. I could no more eat a coon than I could a dog or cat. besides, raccoons eat EVERYTHING. It's difficult for me to eat any meat knowing that most suffer horrible lives and deaths, but as humans I believe we need some meat in our diet. Eating a raccoon would make me very ill, just knowing what clever animals they are.
Raven .. ditto for possums. I did possum rehab and lived with injured possums as house pets for 10 yrs.. I cant imagine eating them...:bawling: They were sweet, intelligent curious and very affectionate. It would be like eating the family dog.

Avalon | 01-18-2009 06:09 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Dan (Post 1515580) My wife and I were camping in a state park one summer past. One night the people in a camp site next to ours left their food and stuff out on their picnic table. They went across the road to visit with some other campers that were in a group. We watched out the window as one raccoon came and found the booty. It wasn't but a minute and he left. About five minutes later he came back with his whole family :signs1: and totally wasted their camp site in just a few minutes.
I bet they didnt leave there food out again.

Weho Dave | 01-18-2009 09:20 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Dan (Post 1515580) One night you'll be missing a few ears of corn, the next night it will be a total waste. Ears pulled to the ground partly eaten - row after row, They even got in my field corn patch and wasted a lot this past year. My wife and I were camping in a state park one summer past. One night the people in a camp site next to ours left their food and stuff out on their picnic table. They went across the road to visit with some other campers that were in a group. We watched out the window as one raccoon came and found the booty. It wasn't but a minute and he left. About five minutes later he came back with his whole family :signs1: and totally wasted their camp site in just a few minutes.
Something got into my corn year before last. Ate everything. But the ears came out small, so I didn't care too much. Next time I will put traps out. We went camping in the Florida Keys one year and had some bread in a corner of the tent. Darn if a coon didn't keep trying to eat the bread right through the tent. Gnawed a hole in it. We kept slapping it and it kept coming back. Finally had to lock the food in the truck so the coons would go away. That was the camping trip from hell. Mosquitos were terrible, and it rained and the tent leaked. Had to cut the trip short.

Goldeneye | 01-30-2009 08:29 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table 1 Attachment(s) :452: How could eat a cutie like this ? It would be like eating one of my cats !

Godcopp | 01-30-2009 08:53 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldeneye (Post 1540955) :452: How could eat a cutie like this ? It would be like eating one of my cats !
I'd eat your cat if I was hungry enough. :signs14:

Ag_man | 01-30-2009 09:04 PM
Re: The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldeneye (Post 1540955) :452: How could eat a cutie like this ?
Easily, slow roasted at 300'F. with red-eye gravy over it in the last 20 minutes.

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