One of My Co-workers Bob Kroontje has been raising rabbits and a while back gave me a couple. They were enormous rabbits, probably twice the size of any of the smaller wild rabbits I have gotten. As soon as I get them I started planning out what I wanted to do with them and I knew at least one of them was going to get smoked. I have never smoked a rabbit before and to be honest am still pretty new to smoking as a whole. I new that I was going to want to brine the rabbit prior to smoking it and I didn't want the rabbit to dry out so I was going to drape it with bacon as I smoked it. Other than that I really didn't know what to expect.
For my brine I really wasn't sure what to put into it. I didn't want to over power the flavor of the rabbit and the smoke with other flavors so I kept it pretty simple. Water, bay leaves, garlic, lemon, salt and sorghum and that was it. I let the rabbit brine for 48 hours and then smoked it over apple wood. When I pulled the rabbit out it looked beautiful and the meat easily shredded off the bone. I really could have eaten the whole thing right there but I wanted to try something else. A while back I had made
Buffalo Heart Dzik, The sour orange marinade that is added to the Dzik seemed like a good fit with the smokiness of the rabbit.
The sweet, sour, smokey, and spice were a perfect combo and these were some of the best tacos I have ever had.
Smoked Rabbit
Half gallon of water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sorghum
1 head of garlic, cut in half
1 lemon cut in half
3 bay leaves
Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a large pot and stir till the salt dissolves. Let the brine cool to room temperature before placing the rabbit in the brine. Brine the rabbit for 48 hours.
Remove the rabbit from the brine and dry completely. Place in a pan and drape a few slices of bacon over the rabbit. Heat your smoke to 225 degrees and add the apple wood chips. cook for about 4 hours or until the meat easily shreds off the bone.
