Boning a rabbit

[pcolbeck]

Is flaming difficult. Anyone got any tips on how to do it ?  I made Spanish Rabbit stew last night using this recipe and it was delicious but boning the rabbit was a right royal PITA. I'm sure there must be a better way than the hack fest I indulged in.
It's a great recipe by the way and fairly healthy I would think, lean meat and lots of chick peas.

[Wowbagger]

I thought for a moment that this was a confessional.

[Basil]

Last time I made rabbit stew I used an axe.     Really.

[Wowbagger]

Last time I made rabbit stew the rabbit went in whole. It was this rabbit.

Bloody hell! Where do three years go? That's 10% of the way to 84! We don't get a lot of time to ride our bikes, do we?

[Kathy]

For stew, I usually cut the rabbit into six (shoulders, saddle, haunches, and then split down the spine) and cook it, bones and all. I then tell people that it is their responsibility not to swallow the bones in their serving.

 

[Pancho]

Rabbits are notoriously bony. Most people I know (we're talking domestic kitchens not restaurants here) follow Kathy's approach.

[Basil]

I then tell people that it is their responsibility not to swallow the bones in their serving.

+1

[a lower gear]

I allow half a rabbit per person and just chop them (the rabbits) in half across the tummy using my largest kitchen knife. A long slow stew results in the meat almost falling off the bones. You have to be a little careful of the small bones but no one's choked yet. If they're frozen and you want to retain a half in the freezer, just use an electric jig-saw!

[Nightfly]

[Tim]

And squirrels are even worse for this being a bit smaller...

[Jaded]

And squirrels are even worse for this being a bit smaller...

I suppose  two of them could work together holding the jig-saw?

[Ham]

I had to check this wasn't in NSFW.

My favourite option is not to bone, and to try not to chop to avoid small shards of bone. On the occasions I've wanted to, I just bone the larger pieces with a boning knife as if it were chicken, which results in a lot of waste IMO.