How do you cook rattlesnake meat?

[Deb15]

Got a 4 foot rattler this weekend and wanted to prepare the meat to eat.  ANyone know how to cook a snake?  

Deb

[IntrepidWizard]

Cut into 3" sections,add butter and fry with a lid.

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

Cut into sections, dip it in a milk/egg mixture then roll in seasoned flour then fry it up.

Tasty!

[Redhawk1]

Fry it like chicken.  

[oso45-70]

Deb15

I like to Marinate over nite with a good BBQ sauce, cook on a cookie sheet in the oven, cook it slowly at 275Deg for about 30 min,s should be a little crispy, WATCH FOR BONES because there are plenty of them.

They are called Serpiente de cascabel in Mexico.........Joe.........

[mr.frosty]

watch out for bite marks i heard the rattler may bite itself so becareful

[oso45-70]

Mr.Frosty

Yea Right, Not in this life..........Joe.........

[mr.frosty]

like i said thats what i heard. never said it to be true. who knows i may have biten the rattler, my wife says i am meaner than one :grin:

[TScottO]

I read the same thing in a survial books once. When snakes are wounded and about to die it was said they will bite themselves so that whatever is killing them will become ill if they are to be made into a meal. Who knows though... I've killed a ton of snakes in my life and have never seen one attempt to bite themselves.

Take Care,
Scott

[Deb15]

Thanks for the tips on cooking the snake!  Yes, I did notice when skinning it, what a lot of thin little rib bones it has to be careful of.  Easier to skin than a mammal, though.  I don't think it bit itself.  Boy do snakes die slowly...this one was still moving even after I cut its head off.  Kind of freaky, reminding me of scary movies!

Deb

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

A snake has a primitive nervous system and will move around a lot as it's dying. I suspect that if a snake bites itself it is unintentional, rather a side effect of the primitive nervous system. My understanding is that snake venom is a complex protein and cooking it renders it fairly harmless. I have also heard that you can basically swallow snake venom and your digestive juices will break it down and render it harmless. Just don't have an open sore in your mouth!

Someone besides me will have to try this first though!

[oso45-70]

Deb15

You can boil the bones of the snake and bleach them out and make a rather unique neckless. The Navajo Indians make them and sell to the tourists for big bucks. The bones will have to be bleached before threaded.
Good luck..........Joe..........

[Doc T]

A snake will occassionally bite itself when you try to kill it but I think it is just a reflex to bite whatever is near.  I cut a big coral snake in half with a shovel one time.  The front half whipped around and bit the back half faster than greased lightning!  As far as the possibility of poison in the meat, the cooking should breakdown the proteins in the venom and make it harmless.

[rockbilly]

I found this the best way to prepare a good meal of rattlesnake.

First, skin and draw the snake, you can strip the meat off the bones but a lot will be lost so I usually leave the meat on the bones, cut into about three inch pieces and then marinate overnight in Tequila and lime juice.

When ready, preheat the oven to 250 degrees, pour the marinate off reserving the mixture,  Arrange the pieces of meat on a mesquite board and bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours removing occasionally to baste with the reserved marinate.

When done, remove from the oven, throw the snake meat in the trash and eat the mesquite board. :roll:

[Tom W.]

Don't deep fry it for too long, they get very chewy that way.....

[catblaster.375]

I have killed 12 this summer. One this morning. All with 22 pistol,45auto, and 44mag. Have not tried eating them.

[Tom W.]

If they're big enough, you're missing out on some mighty tasty eating!

[St. Thomas Paine]

Mmmm... Rattlesnake.  I learned to like rattlesnake quite a bit when I moved into a little ranch house that ended up being nothing more than the roof of a snake den.  Before I left that place, I went from scared to death of them to wreaking revenge on the little @#$%'s by snacking on them and selling their hides.  

IHMO, it is a pain not to make either shoe leather or grease rags out of rattlesnake when frying it, so avoid all of that by trying it this way:

Soak overnight in white wine, then steam until the meat is full white and just beginning to loosen from the bone.  If the water was to a full boil when you started steaming, this should only take a few minutes, maybe ten or so.  Fresh off the steam, while still very hot, season the snake with Old Bay (and lemon juice if you like) and let it soak up the flavor as it cools.  Rather like fish if you cook it this way, and very tender and spicy.

[Hooker]

I like to kill them by running them over with my truck.
Then let them slowly simmer on the asphalt until done. The buzzards
just love them this way. :grin:

Pat

[catblaster.375]

The 12 that I killed were between 2 and 4 feet most being about 3 feet.

[Locoweed]

oso45-70, I think you're wrong about the Navajo snake bone necklaces.  I recently returned from living with the Navajo for seven years in Chinle, AZ, and let me assure you that the Navajo think all snakes are very bad medicine.  They will never kill a snake and will not wear or fool around with any articles like belts or boots with any snakeskin.  It's sympathetic magic; the presence of the snake skins, bones, dead bodies, etc, will attract the relatives of the deceased and they will be set on revenge.  Some bad Navajo will practice witchcraft by sprinkling powdered dead rattlesnake around the hogans of their enemies.  When bitten by a rattler they think the swelling is due to the snake having injected them with a large quantity of air.  They will go to the hospital for treatment but as soon as possible will seek out a medicine man for a Lightning Way ceremony  (because snakes and arrows are related to lightning).  The Hopi, neighbors of the Navajo, do use rattlers in religious ceremonies and the Navajo claim that the Hopis will even eat snakes (so the Navjo look down on them).  Now, since snakes are related to lightning (which accompany rain storms), when one comes across a snake it is proper to show respect for the snake and ask it and its relatives to help bring the rains.  During my years on the Rez I had many close encounters with rattlers, including having one crawl across my foot when I was exploring an abandoned cabin out in the desert.  My Navajo friends assure me that his happened because I had an hour earlier taken a picture of another rattlesnake and the image in my camera caused this one to appear.  Now I'm living in the hills of Alabama where there are many more varieties of rattlers and where they grow gigantic compared to their brethern in the desert. Far removed from my Navajo friends I'm waiting to get one large enough to eat.  So... thanks for all the great cooking tips.

[oso45-70]

Locoweed

I was born in Ramah New Mexico and raised at Atarquei, I speak Navajo and have been around them for most of my life, I have worked them in my line of work. Now Down to the nitty gritty, You are almost right, The older folks are very superstitious but like the white man the younger generation has found lots of ways to make money. The facilities you worked at i built, chinle Az, Are you a school teacher. And no I am not wrong, Before you make a statment like that you need to make sure of the facts. I sure don't need a lesson in Indian lore........Joe.......

[Locoweed]

oso45-70 -- Nope, not a school teacher but a social worker formerly with the counseling services at the Indian Health Service hospital.  Hung out with medicine men for a living (we had several on our staff) and became deeply involved in lots of traditional matters.  Never saw any Navajo mess around with any kind of snake parts (or lizard parts, or antlers for that matter), never saw anything for sale by local vendors or at flea markets, motel gift shops, etc.  I knew plenty of younger Navajo infected with "the Navjo Worm" who wouldn't dare to mess around with such taboo practices for fear of being branded a "skin-walker."  Yeah, I know about them making a buck any way they can.  But, if you say they were doing it, then I guess they were doing it -- just very surprising news to me.