There were a couple of winters when the cottontails were thick on some public land north of the Black Hills. It was not unusual to come home with a limit of bunnies (15 at the time). I quickly ran out of freezer space, leading me to research canning rabbit.
I would start by skinning and washing the rabbits, throwing the front legs and ribs into a kettle of water with celery, carrots, and onion along with a gallon or so of water, salt and pepper to taste. I would stew those down, pick off the meat and freeze for making wingless-chicken salad sandwiches. Broth was reserved for canning.
The back ends were separated into the two legs and the "backstraps". They went into a bucket with a quarter cup of salt per gallon of water to brine overnight. Two legs and the and the backstraps (bone in) went into a quart jar, then the jar was filled filled with the reserved broth made from cooking up the front ends. A quarter teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder plus a little Italian herb blend and a half teaspoon of salt before putting the lids on and the band barely screwed on.
This went into a water bath pressure cooker for 75 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure, but you will want to confer with your County Extension office for times and pressure requirements for your particular altitude. It doesn't sound like much, but it is the difference between food safety and botulism.
A jar of pressure canned chicken makes a pot of soup in less time than it takes to describe. Pour off the broth in a pot, dice in one large red potato and bring to a boil. Meanwhile dice half an onion, and toss that in the pot while the potatoes simmer. Open a 12 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables and add those when the potatoes are tender. Pick the meat off the tender bones and add to the pot.* Bring to a boil once again and it is ready to serve. If you need more broth, add commercially available chicken broth.
Nice additions are home made noodles or spoon dumplings.
*As you pick the meat off the bones, you'll get that little bit of gristle/cartilage that you will pick out. If you are older and your knees ache, eat it! It is a natural glucosamine/chondroitin supplement. Otherwise, toss it to the dog who will perpetually love you for the yummy treat!
