Rabbit Sausage
Also known as Cured Rabbit Sausage
International
Overview
Rabbit Sausage is a cooked link built around the clean, delicate flavour of rabbit meat. Because rabbit is notably lean, a measured pork-fat fraction supplies lubrication, carries the spice aroma and prevents a dry, crumbly slice. The developed branch is cured, lightly smoked and seasoned with pepper, allspice and nutmeg. The result is finer and gentler than most strongly smoked pork kielbasa.
Where it's from
The cut
Identity and terminology
The name describes the principal species, not a single national style. Rabbit sausages exist in farm, game and restaurant traditions across several countries, with fresh, cooked and fermented forms. Curesmith uses Rabbit Sausage for the cooked cured branch only and states the supporting pork fat openly. It is not equivalent to lapin terrine, rabbit pâté or a fresh rabbit link intended to be cooked by the consumer.
Composition and characteristics
Boneless rabbit contributes pale lean muscle and a subtle savoury flavour. Firm back fat creates discrete fat points and supports juiciness, while a small starch addition holds the added ice. Allspice and nutmeg suit rabbit because they add warmth without overwhelming it. The finished interior should be pale pink from curing, evenly bound and free of large pockets, bone fragments or smeared fat.
Production and process
Rabbit must be lawfully slaughtered and wholesome; inspection arrangements differ from those for federally inspected livestock in the United States. The meat is deboned carefully, chilled, ground and mixed with accurately weighed cure. After a refrigerated hold, links are surface-dried, smoked, cooked until the cold point reaches 71°C and cooled under time-and-temperature control. Smoke never replaces the cook.
History and regional forms
Domestic rabbit has been valued as an efficient source of mild meat in household and small-farm systems, especially where larger livestock were costly. Sausage offered a way to use trimmed carcass meat while correcting leanness with fat from another species. Modern production adds a stricter identity question: a rabbit-labelled sausage containing pork fat must still declare that supporting species clearly.
Use, storage and related products
Serve Rabbit Sausage gently warmed, browned briefly in a pan or chilled and sliced with pickles, mustard or a light herb sauce. Its delicate flavour pairs better with restrained accompaniments than heavy smoke or aggressive chilli. Keep the cooked links refrigerated, use clean slicing utensils and freeze surplus promptly. Curing salt and smoke do not make the product shelf stable.
Recipe and cure
This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, run it through one of our curing calculators so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.
Make this — the measured Curesmith version →“Make this” opens the same cure as a measured recipe, scaled to your batch.
- Meat
- Inspected boneless rabbit meat
- Cut
- Inspected boneless rabbit meat
- Salt (%)
- 1.8
- Curing salt
- Cure #1 as specified in the recipe
- Fermented
- No
- Starter or mould
- None; this product is not fermented
- Smoked
- Yes
- Maturation
- Refrigerate at 0–4°C; use within 4 days or freeze promptly
- Basis
- per 1,000 g inspected boneless rabbit meat
- Style
- cured smoked rabbit sausage with pork back fat
Ingredients
- Inspected boneless rabbit meat100% · 1000 g
- Pork back fat25% · 250 g
- Crushed ice9% · 112.5 g
- Fine salt1.8% · 22.5 g
- Cure #1, 6.25% sodium nitrite0.25% · 3 g
- Ground black pepper0.2% · 2.5 g
- Ground allspice0.2% · 2.5 g
- Ground nutmeg0.1% · 1.5 g
- Potato starch0.4% · 5 g
Method
- Weigh and chill meat, fat, liquid and equipment to 0–2°C.
- Grind rabbit and semi-frozen back fat separately through 6 mm.
- Mix rabbit with ice, salt, Cure #1, starch and spices until tacky, then distribute the back fat without smearing.
- Fill 32–36 mm hog casing firmly, remove air and refrigerate 8–12 hours.
- Dry the casing under controlled airflow, then apply moderate hot smoke until evenly coloured.
- Poach, steam or finish in the smokehouse until the cold point reaches 72°C.
Safety. Source wholesome rabbit, debone carefully, weigh cure against the full animal block, cook to the cold point and chill rapidly.