Thought I would put this together for anyone who likes Squirrel but has troubles cleaning and getting it tender with out having to parboil,pressure cook then fry. 90% of my squirrel done this way will come out tender like fried chicken. Every once in awhile there will still be a tough one but it still edible and not like 10 year old jerky
Skinning
Opening cut right at the base of the tail. Pry the tail back and cut between the joint of the bone to get through. It takes me a couple of pry’s and working with knife to pop through.
Now open the back I go about 1/3 across each hip on the back side of the leg
For those that have the tail break off this is how to keep that from happening. Take your knife and push it straight down right between the hide and back bone till you bottom out. Now work it up and down and go around the small of the back turn your knife around and do the other side.
Stand on the tail bone and peel out For those with back trouble take a piece of para cord slip knot it over the tail and pinch the cord in a bench vise and pull horz. While standing on the tail get your fingers under the belly skin and pull it over the hips. Then hang up to dress
Kitchen prep
I separate the back legs from the back. This is first step to having it pan fry chicken tender. Score the meat about every 3/8 of an inch to the bone. The 2 little pieces of meat are sides of the belly from removing the intestines. I use kitchen shears cut put a few slices in them.
This is the second step for tender
Put everything in a big bowl and cover with a salt brine. ¼ cup of salt for every quart of water mix well and get the salt dissolved. Put in fridge over night make sure everything is covered with water.
Cooking
Rinse off squirrel pat dry or drain
I roll mine with a mix of flour, pepper, onion and garlic powder The squirrel will pick up a little salt from the brine so I don’t add any to the mix.
Put in skillet with about ¼ inch hot oil, meatiest side down fry for 7 minutes flip and fry 5 more minutes
Justin