[AL9426]

How do you guys feel about eating beaver. Some guys were trapping on my grandfathers farm in the creek (Station Camp in KY) and offered us some beaver to eat. So they cleaned some and brought it too us, I will be eating this on the 28th before we go squirrel hunting.

Thoughts, Suggestions, Anything?

[eliphalet]

Always heard it was scrumptious.

[Myles]

[Edited to remove any snarkiness or ribald puns.]

I can't say that I've ever had the opportunity to try it, but I can't imagine that it's too bad. After all, they are not scavengers or bottom feeders. Being herbivourous, the meat should be tasty.

[EShell]

One thing to consider is the risk of the giardia parasite, which is the cause of "Beaver Fever". It can contaminate the meat from being on the wet fur when the animal is dressed . . .

Just keep uncooked meat away from cooked food, be careful of surfaces/utensils used for the uncooked meat with regard to exposure to cooked food, wash hands thoroughly between prep and eating, same old good hygiene suggestions should keep you safe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia_lamblia
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/giardiasis/factsht_giardia.htm

[oklahoma caveman]

iv eat it several times. its good

[AL9426]

Is that parasite common...we will be cooking it fully through so should that kill it if the beaver had it?

[AKCOP]

Low bush moose is quite tasty, the tail plopped on a bd of coals until it splits open is also a great treat.

[Fisherman_48768]

The few times I've eaten 4 legged beaver it reminded me of turkey dark meat, could be the way it was cooked. Dutch oven in a ground pit with veggies.

[GCW5]

I fix beaver the same way I do coon, possum & skunk.

Boil it with a couple of sliced potatos & carrotts with 1/2 an onion till it will fall of the bones. Pour out the water, throw away the veggies(they'll taste bad), and bone the critter. Put the boneless meat in a pan with your favorite BBQ sause and cook it @350 for about 2 hours. YUM YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have fun!

[zinj]

Is that parasite common...we will be cooking it fully through so should that kill it if the beaver had it?

Giardia is almost everywhere, and you can ingest it just from drinking contaminated water. Causes gastrointestinal upset, but the protozoan is easily killed with heat.

[JG2000]

GCW5 I think you could make an old sneaker taste good with that method.

[uk roe hunter]

of all the meat i've eaten i think my favourite must be beaver.

[Reyn]

UK roe, I just about cramped up laughing so hard.

[plexreticle]

I love beaver.

[AL9426]

Thanks again for all your help, the countdown will be starting until I get to taste beaver for the first time to kick off my squirrel hunting weekend. So I will get back to you on the 30th about it. If you have anything else to add or someone reads this and wants to post again that would be great.

[countertop]

I do say, I think I've had a long running case of beaver fever myself.

As for the taste?? Well, its always stuck me as having a hint of tuna.

[stevelyn]

It's surprisingly good. Pretty popular in bush Alaska, particularly along the Yukon and Koyukuk.

[hacksaw]

MMmm Beaver.....yum

[TehK1w1]

mmmmm....beaver :D

[Alagator]

Beaver backstraps and hams are delicious if cooked in a tomato based sauce. I like to cut slices of the ham across the grain, dust them with seasoned flour, pound them with a meat tenderizing hammer, and brown them in bacon fat. Remove the browned meat, saute some onions and peppers, add some garlic, then some chopped tomatoes-- a couple of cans. Put the browned meat into this sauce and simmer until the meat is fork tender. Serve over rice, or with buttermilk biscuits.
A note of caution-- on either side of the beaver's rectum there is a large scent gland called the castor gland. When skinning the beaver and removing the hams, be sure you don't cut into these glands. The secretions have a strong medicinal odor that will permeate anything they touch.

[uk roe hunter]

...pound them with a meat tenderising hammer.... yes i do that sometimes...

[SHOOT1SAM]

Once you taste beaver, you'll never want to eat anything else!!

[hunttheevil]

I like the short haired beaver better than the long haired beaver.

[Eric F]

O'de to the beaver,

Beaver is tasty beaver is great bever is best served on a plate.

You can bake broil and baste it but you never know until you taste it.

Weather your beaver is fat or thin if you eat it you will have a grin.

Beaver is tasty yes indeed a friend with out beaver is a friend in need.

So share beaver and be warm felt but the best way to eat beaver is with a fresh shorn pelt:D

[bavarianbrit]

You naughty man UK roe hunter, the threads now gone off on a tangent (gritty tuna).
They were selling beaver steaks in vac packs in the frozen food section of the supermarket in Trollhattan, Sweden when I was over there in 1982.

[islandphish]

Pre-lock,

Giardia can be found in a lot of water.

I know a guy who fell in a stream and wound up in the hospital with giardia.

So unless you never want to flyfish again or cross a stream don't get too worked up about giardia, just take the proper precautions.

[moosehunt]

Another real good way to eat beaver is to cure the ham (rear leg) just like a pork ham. A bit of hassle, but very good.

[Byron Quick]

OK, guys, the choice is yours. I can lock the thread and issue some folks their one and only warning prior to being banned or you can keep the banter within the scope of The High Road. You know, the contract you entered into when you joined?

[1911NM]

Thanks Bryon. I will try to stay Highroad. What beaver I have cooked has been fairly comparable to ground hog (marmot). Seemed the taste was rather specific to what they had been eating though. Lots of willows, and the meat was fairly sweet. Some places in the high country of CO there is a bitter low brush growing along streams, and beaver from those areas had a more bitter taste. Kinda like the difference in a corn field deer and one from sagebrush country.

[Zeke/PA]

Try the hind- quarters to make a vegetable soup.
Meat texture is very close to soup grade beef and the flavor is awsome.
Zeke

[razorblade31]

It is delicious, especially the tail. A friend of my uncle's who traps was kind enough to let me try some.

[stevelyn]

Some of the native folks along the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers half dry them in the smokehouse for a few days with a light cottonwood smoke on them. They are then taken down quartered and oven roasted and served with sauerkraut and mustard.

Early spring during March/April time frame is when beavers are taken for food.
The gf's family always have a couple hanging during that time.