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Rabbit Garum Theory in Testing… (The "Essence of Rabbit" Project)

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
As requested, a thread on garum along with my theory on using rabbit.



So garum was extensively produced during the times of the Romans and traded far and wide. The known process was to chop up fish with salt and sea water, and then let this mixture ferment in the warm/hot summer temps for 6-8 months to liquefy. The solids are strained out and the salty liquid left over is packed with ‘wow’ flavor, essentially all the glutamic and amino acids from the flesh.

This umami flavor blends with existing flavors in your foods/sauces and massively increases their complexity and satisfaction effect. You get the same type of effect today with a high quality soy or fish sauce.

The problem when making garum from other meats are the human pathogen issues. The guts of most animals breed bad stuff for humans, so traditionally fish is the only animal which you can use the guts of to do this. The guts have all the digestive enzymes and bacteria needed to break down the flesh and release the essence. Adding fish guts to a beef garum still brings across the fishy flavor, and lets face facts… fish flavor does “not” go with everything. ;) The cheat is to use koji for the digestive enzymes and bacteria, but this also means diluting the meat out with rice. This means the ‘wow’ flavors will be diluted, and this is not what we want. All non-fish 'garum' style sauces are 'weak sauce' compared to a real fish or soy sauce.

Enter rabbits. The only concerns with rabbits are tuleremia and pneumonia type diseases, and it’s easy to spot rabbits who are sick with them because they will not be active and happy bunnies. Considering this process takes 10-12 weeks at 140F, that’s plenty of time for the rabbitry to show signs of being sick and have the batches dumped. Our rabbitry is full of healthy, happy and well kept bunnies. With this in mind, the research I've done has led me to conclude rabbit is a viable alternative to fish when making garum.

A lot of fish sauce is made at room temp, and the salt content is higher because of it. Less salt and it would putrefy and (even though it is fish) create a biological nightmare. Using heat means you can use less salt and the end sauce will be less salty. I learned from the Noma restaurant how temps of 140F are enough to keep bad bacteria from invading/thriving during the garum fermentation process. They also explained the process in detail with a few different base materials. So far I’m unable to find a single shred of info on fermenting rabbit, aside from a research paper using bacteria on meat for 18hrs to soften it.

Here’s the first jar of rabbit garum in process. It’s approximately 16% salt by weight, the rest is rabbit meat, kidneys, heart and liver, ground up with the stomach and mixed well. It’s packed in a container with plastic wrap on top of the mix to cut down exposure to oxygen.

Prepped for Heating
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End of Day 1
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Every day during the first week, all fat must be ladled off and the remaining meat stirred thoroughly. After 24hrs, the fats have liquefied and was skimmed off the top before stirring. This is the highest volume of fats in the process. All skimming after the first day of this week was minimal.

End of Day 4
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You can plainly see it has become almost like a creamed hot dog consistency. Everything broke down quickly and the change has become one of a slow color change. I'll take a pic on Tue or Wed when I ladle the fat and stir it again. ;)

When it's finished in another 10-12 weeks, there will be a separation of solids which will float to the top. I've read the solids make a great addition to soups and other dishes, as well as a nutritious topper for dog and cat food dishes.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
Thanks bud! dont know if ill ever do this but ill sure learn something! Thanks! Old bastard you! you find this in an old mummy tomb recipe? maybe its the secrect of youth! its gotta be good for you if done right.
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Thanks bud! dont know if ill ever do this but ill sure learn something! Thanks! Old bastard you! you find this in an old mummy tomb recipe? maybe its the secrect of youth! its gotta be good for you if done right.
Welcome. ;)
I've been getting back into the fermentation game for my food supply, and ended up coming across a book called the Noma Guide to Fermentation. That's where I found the info on garum and making meat (and other) garums using koji and why. I made the jump to rabbit being a viable angle, after all the research papers I've read on rabbits over the last 6 months.

Edit: A bit of complex and healthy meat on top of their regular meal, granted a bit salty, is a terrible thing to deny a loved pet. ;)
 

crimsonecho

Well-known member
yeah my guy is old just gave him some plain turkey breast yesterday bc soon its his birthday and he is goin to be 12 so i spoil and sure thing i got woken up in the middle of the night with poop barks. you guessed it diarrhea. i guess no salty rabbit treats for my special guy but for normal dogs yeah a small amount could be a treat haha
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
yeah my guy is old just gave him some plain turkey breast yesterday bc soon its his birthday and he is goin to be 12 so i spoil and sure thing i got woken up in the middle of the night with poop barks. you guessed it diarrhea. i guess no salty rabbit treats for my special guy but for normal dogs yeah a small amount could be a treat haha
My boy is about 12 too. I messed up with my other dog.spoiled him rotten and gave him diabetes. My boy now is doing pretty good.think he will be 16 no problem.strong and as fast as ever
 

crimsonecho

Well-known member
My boy is about 12 too. I messed up with my other dog.spoiled him rotten and gave him diabetes. My boy now is doing pretty good.think he will be 16 no problem.strong and as fast as ever
what a good boy!

i mean except a bit of glassy look in his eyes and white in his fur mine is doing pretty good too blood tests look normal etc hope my guy makes it to 16 and more.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
what a good boy!

i mean except a bit of glassy look in his eyes and white in his fur mine is doing pretty good too blood tests look normal etc hope my guy makes it to 16 and more.
i hope so too! i gotta take him to the vet though.he is getting these skin sores. hope its not a big deal.i need to start giving him wet food i think. I just heard a bad story the other day. This guy named Frenchie,hes a chef and kinda big on youtube. He said he bought his dog Blue Buffulo brand dog food cause they said its supposed to be good. And he says when he switched to that dogfood his dog got cancer. It could just be a coincidence but he thinks it was the dog food. I dont know but i was surpised when i heard this yesterday. just wanted to throw this out there to people
 

crimsonecho

Well-known member
i hope so too! i gotta take him to the vet though.he is getting these skin sores. hope its not a big deal.i need to start giving him wet food i think. I just heard a bad story the other day. This guy named Frenchie,hes a chef and kinda big on youtube. He said he bought his dog Blue Buffulo brand dog food cause they said its supposed to be good. And he says when he switched to that dogfood his dog got cancer. It could just be a coincidence but he thinks it was the dog food. I dont know but i was surpised when i heard this yesterday. just wanted to throw this out there to people
sorry for hijacking your garum thread @Douglas.Curtis :)

yeah mine has allergy to just about everything so skin sores are very common since he was a puppy. cancer thing is very sad but i think its more than likely just a coincidence though i wouldnt mind feeding my doggies that raw homemade diet tbh. i think that would be better than all premade industrial bs i keep buying for them. tbf i try to buy the best always but i have my doubts about if even the best of the best is the best for a dog.
 

singlecoiled

Active member
Interesting thread as we have a house trained rabbit. I am not using my actual rabbit to grow, but did use 4 cups of crushed rabbit manure for my current grow. I've hardly needed nutrients at all and if anything, its a little too high in Nitrogen.

Rabbits are great pets, she uses a liter box just like a cat. They love to have their heads pet and purr if you do it just right. You can also feed them all the defoliated leaves from your plant.
 
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Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
;)

As promised, end of week 3 photos...
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As is from the fermenter. I can see how having a full jar would work better, because there are some minor losses each time this is stirred and repacked.

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View from the top before stirring. A lot of salt has come out of the mix and crusted up on the sides of the jar. The only oil/fats to be found were on the plastic wrap itself, so cleanup was a breeze. lol

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All stirred up and ready to go back in the fermentation chamber. The color is more pink now, and I added a second layer of plastic wrap to help seal against additional salt losses.

No liquid has separated yet, but it smells gooooood. ;)
 
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