As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Squirrel season is upon us here in California, so I reckon it’s time to offer up to you how I cut up a squirrel for eating.
As with any sort of butchery, different people do it different ways. Some people simmer them whole. The Hmong hunters I know actually scald their squirrels and scrape off the hair — or just toss them into the fire to burn off the hair. I need to try that scalding sometime to see if squirrel skin is any good.
Until then, I skin and cut up my limb chickens. If you’ve never done it, skinning a squirrel is a bit harder than you might think. Squirrels have a thick, dense hide, whereas rabbits, their woodland colleagues, have more of a light pelt. Skinning a rabbit takes seconds. Skinning a squirrel takes a few more seconds.
To skin, gut and break down a squirrel properly, you will want to have handy:
- Water
- A cutting board
- A small, sharp knife, such as a pocket knife or small paring knife
- kitchen shears
- A trash bin
- A platter or tray to put the finished squirrel pieces on
Start by snipping off Mr. Squirrel’s head, feet and tail with the shears. Use the bone-cutting notch at the base of the shears if you have one. I do the same thing with the head, but it a) requires some hand strength and b) deprives you of that Appalachian delicacy, squirrel brains. I am not a fan, so I toss those heads. If you happen to be a squirrel brain enthusiast, by all means skin and split the skull in your own way.
You are now left with a sad-looking, tailless, headless squirrel. Take your knife in one hand, and with the other pinch up the loose skin at the center of the squirrel’s back: Use the knife to make an incision perpendicular to the squirrel’s backbone about 2 inches long. (Incidentally, the process is similar for cutting up rabbits for cooking. )
To skin the squirrel, work two fingers of each hand under the skin through the incision you just made. Now pull – I mean really pull! — and the skin will come off in either direction. You’ll get it most of the way, but the skin will hang up under the legs and at the center of the belly.
Poke your finger through under the legs to free the skin off them. Use the knife to carefully start the belly skin going, then pull it, too. It takes a little practice, but it’s not rocket science.
To gut Mr. Squirrel, use the knife with the blade facing away from the guts to open up the wee beastie. His guts will spill out. Reach with your fingers upwards toward the heart and lungs and wrench them out. Save the heart. If you want, save the liver and kidneys, too. They’re tasty. Use the kitchen shears to split the pelvis so you can get the remaining bits of poop chute out.
Wash the squirrel under lots of clean, cold water and you are ready to break him down.
I start by removing the legs. The front legs of most mammals are completely free of the rest of the skeleton. Trippy, eh? But not you and me — we have a collar bone. So does Mr. Squirrel. He’s the only game animal I know of with one.
Even so, use your knife to slice down to the ribcage behind the front leg, then slice along the bones toward the squirrel’s neck until you free the foreleg; you will have to slice through a skinny little collar bone at the end. Do this on both forelegs.
The hind legs on pretty much everything, including us, are attached with a ball-and-socket joint. So too with Mr. Squirrel. Use your knife to slice the meat on the inside of the squirrel’s leg where it attaches to the body until you can see the ball joint. Bend the leg backwards until you pop that joint out. Slice around it to free the legs. Do this with both sides.
You’re almost done. You are left with the torso and belly flaps. I slice off the belly flaps and save them for either stock or for stir-fries. That leaves the ribs and backstraps.
Use kitchen shears to snip off the ribs. Save for stock. Now you want to portion out the backstrap. A big squirrel might give you two pieces, but most are just one. You can either use your shears for this, although it requires a bit of strength, or you can use a cleaver and whack it into pieces. One thing you definitely want to do is chop off the hips and the neck portions, as there is not much meat there; again, save these bits for stock.
When you’re done, it should look like this:
Don’t sweat it if you mess up the first couple times, or if it takes you a while. You’ll get the hang of it, and when you do, this process can be done in less than 10 minutes per squirrel.
Now that you have a squirrel ready for cooking, here are all sorts of squirrel recipes to choose from!
I managed to figure out your way was the way to skin a squirrel by treating them the same way as I did a rabbit. Head and tail and feet off split and skin.
The little swines do like to hang onto their coats though!
@curiousforager
Growing up in south Alabama, we would never hunt squirrels before the first frost. They might have “wolves” in them, which is botfly larvae that burrow under their skin. Not sure if that’s an issue on the pacific coast.
Try the skin on. The skin makes everything taste so much better!
i agree with Libby, I shot my first two squirrels today, skinned and cleaned them, but cant find a way to get all the little hairs off the meat. I’ve read people suggesting using a blowtorch to singe them off, or letting it soak in salt water over night, but have yet to try either. Anyone know a good way to get these hairs off?
My husband is an avid hunter and your blog has helped me find ways to use his game in creative culinary ways- I love your breadth of cooking experience with game because it makes it so much less intimidating for me!
I just made Hmong squirrel stew last night, and it was great! My one issue is how long it took to remove those darn hairs from the sticky little squirrel! Any tips to help make the hair-removal process go faster post-skinning? Thanks,
What is the middle cut of the torso is it the ribs or is that the bottom cut
do you have to break them down so far before you cook them? by that second picture it looks pretty edible to me. i’ve never cooked squirrel but i seem to remember they’re on the tough side. i’m pretty lazy so i’d be inclined to just throw them in the slow cooker overnight to stew and pick out the little bones later.
Great timing Hank! Minnesota’s season just opened this morning and I’ve got my first squirrel to deal with. Linking to it in my blog. Of possible interest to you and your readers: There’s a growing concern among a number of Hmong hunters that the squirrel population is being over-hunted in Minnesota. State wildlife officials are skeptical, but they’re planning studies. Here’s a link to my story:
https://www.twincities.com/outdoors/ci_24097585/squirrel-hunters-worry-theyre-disappearing-from-minnesota-forests
I live in Seattle where the non-native Eastern grey squirrels are overly abundant. Because their diet appears to be just as clean as those that roam the woods, I dine on them regularly. Dispatching them is a bit more tricky in the city as we can’t fire guns, but the result is much the same: delicious. I use a slightly different method for cleaning my catch, but I’m not always successful. Really looking forward to trying your method out. https://www.essentialbread.com/2011/10/meat-mr-squirrel.html
You need to try using an air compressor. Makes skinning 20 times easier. Get an oilless compressor and attach a needle like you would use to inflate a basket ball. Make a small incision at base of neck insert needle just under skin and pinch shut. Give burst of air until the squirrel inflates, which is separating the skin from muscle. Pull needle out and skin as normal. Another suggestion is to dip squirrel in water before skinning. Tends to keep the hair from flying around and getting on meat.
I grew up in NW AR squirrel hunting every weekend from the time I was 8 years old and the meat provided was a supplement to the meager meals of my poor family. I am somewhat appalled that the head is discarded in this article and each of these posts. To me the head was the best part as the tongue and jaw are tender and tasty not to mention the brains. Guess in this world of “plenty” waste is a given.
Hi,
I have been working on my squirell murder skills since hunting season opened here in KY. As of now, I have not managed to shoot one. I plan to dedicate more time and effort to the process this weekend. Thanks for the recipes and these directions. Without them, I would be unable to procede.
Use a sharp knife. I’ve two quality scars on my fingers from attempting to skin a squirrel with less than sharp tools.
I learned how to skin them on YouTube. Takes just a few seconds to do. Lay them flat on their stomach and step on the back feet. Lift tail and cut the skin, cuttin in about an inch. Flip over, step on the skin flap and pull up on the back feet. Cut the feet off when the skin is pulled over them. Cut the head off as well. Grab the rest of the skin and pull it off as well and cut the feet off, then gut as normal. YouTube cleaning a squirrel. Look for the video with Sarge in it.
That is the same basic method I use, except I cut the feet, tail and head off last. I know a lot of people who refuse to eat them because of the hair that is left over from the skinning process. I just hit them with a stiff vegetable brush under the tap and they turn out completely hair free and delicious!
This one never gets old!
https://youtu.be/9Nn0UkdDArM
Same way I was taught in Michigan by a friend’s father.
I do like these ‘how to’ posts that are a little more intimate to the hunting itself then just the recipes.
-D
I haven’t ever gone hunting (only foraging so far), but am interested to know if there are any issues to be conscious of when hunting squirrel. (Rather, are there any diseases/issues I should be aware of that can’t get cooked out?) I suppose the same goes for other small game. I live in California, too, but a bit further down the coast from you in the Monterey Bay area.
Matt,
I think the way that you are talking about is also the way my cousin showed me a couple of years ago. Hank have you tried it this way? Here is a link to a video for reference. It really speeds up the process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrU62kMTR5s
The first time I went hunting with my in-laws we had a mess of squirrel and rabbits. Being the outsider they wanted to know how I clean them. So I pull out my sharp little pocket knife and get to work peeling the skin off not unlike you described. I was almost done when I looked up to confused eyes. I asked what was up and they said they have never seen someone skin a squirrel like that. So I asked what the “right” way was. I will never forget what I saw next. A squirrel was picked up and a small incision was made in the skin at the back. Two men stood face to face and played tug of war peeling and ripping the skin off. Then one of the men would take and cut off the head tail and feet and remove the guts. They did the same with the bunnies but no incision was needed. I must admit it was fast and efficient if not messy. I still prefer your method.