Maple Bourbon Glazed Camp Raccoon
Trapline meat, a coffee rub, and a maple glaze over slow campfire coals.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 90 min
- total time
- 110 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Young raccoon, quartered | 1 (5-7 lb live weight) | trim every bit of fat, it carries the gamey flavor |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee-based BBQ rub | 2 tbsp | a big-game blend works |
| Maple syrup | 1 cup | |
| Bourbon | 1/4 cup | |
| Shallot | 1 | minced fine |
| Oil | 1 tbsp | for the glaze pan |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Heavy foil | 1 roll |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame, and a grate set high enough that your hand lasts five seconds over it.
- Trim the quarters hard. Fat is where the off flavor lives. Dry the meat, then coat it all over with the rub.
- Lay the quarters on the grate away from the hottest coals. Turn every fifteen minutes and feed the fire small splits to hold a low, steady heat.
- While that goes, sweat the shallot in oil in a small pot at the edge of the fire. Add the bourbon and let it cook down for a minute, then stir in the syrup and simmer until it coats a spoon.
- At about an hour, wrap each quarter in foil with a spoonful of glaze and set it back over the coals for the last stretch.
- It is done when the meat pulls off the bone without argument, roughly 90 minutes total. Open the foil, brush on the rest of the glaze, and give it five minutes back over the coals to set.
Raccoon runs lean and stringy, and the fat is where the flavor people complain about actually sits. Trim it off, then cook low and long. Ninety minutes over coals breaks down the connective tissue and the texture lands somewhere near pulled pork.
The glaze is doing two jobs. Sugar browns and gives the outside something to hold onto, and the acid in the bourbon cuts the richness. Apply it at the end, not the start, or the syrup burns black before the meat is anywhere near done. Foil for the last stretch traps steam and finishes the tough parts without drying the rest.
This is a car-camp or basecamp meal. It needs a cooler, a real fire, and time you would not have on a hiking day.
Packing
Quarters go in the cooler on ice, double-bagged. Rub, syrup, and bourbon travel in small screw-top bottles. Bring more foil than you think you need.
Variations
- Pull the cooked meat off the bone and pile it on rolls with the glaze as sauce.
- No bourbon? Cider vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar gets you close.
- A dutch oven with the lid on and coals on top does the same job if the wind will not let a grate hold heat.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/maple-bourbon-glazed-grilled-raccoon-recipe