I've eaten a good many of them. Young of the year are good battered and fried just like you'd do rabbit or squirrel. Funny the people that will eat a shyt eating bird like a turkey but won't eat a woodchuck. Woodchucks are vegetarians, don't pick through/eat shyt and are actually a pretty clean animal. Older ones are good in a stew slow cooked in a crock pot. They are a bitch to skin. If you like liver take note that a woodchuck has a big one for it's size and they are very good. Just be sure to remove the bile sacks before you fry it. Much better/ milder flavored than beef, calf or deer liver.
Fascinating. I have never eaten one but my knee jerk reaction to the idea wouldn’t be “yuck”, for all the reasons you state. Beavers taste good…
I don't have any experience with woodchucks, but I have a lot of experience with nutria rats. They're all just big rats (or squirrels). I like squirrels okay...but don't really care for a big slab of squirrel meat.
This guy’s Georgian (Russian). One of my favourite YouTube cooks. Good channel but he’s started to recycle stuff on the 3-4 different channels he runs now.
There's no doubt some of my ancestors ate Whistle Pig. In the Southern Mountains, every critter was tried (and fried) at one time or another. Hard times call for desperate measures.
I was born right after the depression, on a farm that I was raised there were very few groundhogs to be had . but we ate them when we got them... If you para boil them and dump the grease off they are good when pan fried like chicken...some people left the grease with the meat and made gravy with it... that was also good....
I've eaten a good many of them. Young of the year are good battered and fried just like you'd do rabbit or squirrel. Funny the people that will eat a shyt eating bird like a turkey but won't eat a woodchuck. Woodchucks are vegetarians, don't pick through/eat shyt and are actually a pretty clean animal. Older ones are good in a stew slow cooked in a crock pot. They are a bitch to skin. If you like liver take note that a woodchuck has a big one for it's size and they are very good. Just be sure to remove the bile sacks before you fry it. Much better/ milder flavored than beef, calf or deer liver.
Gerald Almy, IIRC, had an article in the Washington Post many years ago in which he claimed their livers were very good. Never tried it, but I have fried a couple like chicken, and thought it was similar to chicken thighs. Like you said, skinning them is a chore.
I think I’ll pass on any more until maybe the Zombie Apocalypse.
One might think that because woodchucks share the same habitat and diet as cows, that they'd be just as tasty, but there's a reason people don't eat them.
Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
I don't have any experience with woodchucks, but I have a lot of experience with nutria rats. They're all just big rats (or squirrels). I like squirrels okay...but don't really care for a big slab of squirrel meat.
This guy’s Georgian (Russian). One of my favourite YouTube cooks. Good channel but he’s started to recycle stuff on the 3-4 different channels he runs now.
That was great Wannabe.
Someone needs to show him some garlic peeling videos though.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
There's no doubt some of my ancestors ate Whistle Pig. In the Southern Mountains, every critter was tried (and fried) at one time or another. Hard times call for desperate measures.
On the 2nd to last day of a grueling moose hunt in NH's White Mountains (D1) after some 14 hours and at least 10 miles in rough terrain, including humping neck deep beaver swamps, we finally busted through the bush near the Canada border on rt. 3. We were into the 90th hour of what was for me the most brutal and physically demanding hunt of my life. We were out of water, completely gassed and half delirious when we arrived at the state trout hatchery. The live-in employee had just arrived at the caretaker's cabin as we staggered in. The 1st thing he said was, 'you kids look a bit dehydrated. Want some cold spring water?' In the next 15 minutes I literally downed 2 GALLONS of water. After, Natureman Jim as he called himself, offered me, Mrs. KG and our 72 years young guide a pile of sandwiches. "Thanks for your kindness and generosity, Jim", I told him. "No worries, gang. Just got done whipping up a batch. God knows a freshly killed 'chuck sandwich always hits the spot!" I think it was then both me and Mrs. KG lost concsiousness and collapsed in his parlor. Ever since been curious about eating the overgrown rats. True story.
I do believe your life is more interesting than mine, and many people have commented that mine is more interesting than they ever wanted to try.
Cool story there L.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
One might think that because woodchucks share the same habitat and diet as cows, that they'd be just as tasty, but there's a reason people don't eat them.
Years ago I went to a cookbook signing written by a guy that taught survival at Fort Bragg. He referred to them as "cave dwelling cows".
I started to skin one but as someone else mentioned "It's a chore". About half way through the process I decided "this one maybe to old to eat... ". I did ask an old farmer living way back in the Mountains of NC if he had eaten any of them. He replied, "They were the main source of meat we had back in the day. He described them as pretty good" but mentioned taking the glands out first.
One might think that because woodchucks share the same habitat and diet as cows, that they'd be just as tasty, but there's a reason people don't eat them.
Years ago I went to a cookbook signing written by a guy that taught survival at Fort Bragg. He referred to them as "cave dwelling cows".
I started to skin one but as someone else mentioned "It's a chore". About half way through the process I decided "this one maybe to old to eat... ". I did ask an old farmer living way back in the Mountains of NC if he had eaten any of them. He replied, "They were the main source of meat we had back in the day. He described them as pretty good" but mentioned taking the glands out first.
"Pretty good"? lol Mrs. KG's mom when encountering any foodstuff she finds reprehensible, revolting or otherwise disgusting to the point of being totally inedible will declare it to be, 'not very delicious!'. LOL she's a riot.
There's no doubt some of my ancestors ate Whistle Pig. In the Southern Mountains, every critter was tried (and fried) at one time or another. Hard times call for desperate measures.
On the 2nd to last day of a grueling moose hunt in NH's White Mountains (D1) after some 14 hours and at least 10 miles in rough terrain, including humping neck deep beaver swamps, we finally busted through the bush near the Canada border on rt. 3. We were into the 90th hour of what was for me the most brutal and physically demanding hunt of my life. We were out of water, completely gassed and half delirious when we arrived at the state trout hatchery. The live-in employee had just arrived at the caretaker's cabin as we staggered in. The 1st thing he said was, 'you kids look a bit dehydrated. Want some cold spring water?' In the next 15 minutes I literally downed 2 GALLONS of water. After, Natureman Jim as he called himself, offered me, Mrs. KG and our 72 years young guide a pile of sandwiches. "Thanks for your kindness and generosity, Jim", I told him. "No worries, gang. Just got done whipping up a batch. God knows a freshly killed 'chuck sandwich always hits the spot!" I think it was then both me and Mrs. KG lost concsiousness and collapsed in his parlor. Ever since been curious about eating the overgrown rats. True story.
Freshly killed chuck sandwich—I think he was fugkin with the Japanese people.
Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
I don't do rodents...Some folks up in PA do eat them. I'd pass..
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
I don't have any experience with woodchucks, but I have a lot of experience with nutria rats. They're all just big rats (or squirrels). I like squirrels okay...but don't really care for a big slab of squirrel meat.
Let this serve as official notification: LTPP's former certification of lifetime Coonass (honorary emeritus) is hereby revoked.