Pulled Barbecue Squirrel Sandwiches
Smoked squirrel cooked down over onions until it pulls apart, piled on buns at camp.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 180 min
- total time
- 200 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
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Skinned squirrels | 4-6 | whole, cleaned, kept cold until they hit heat |
|---|---|---|
| Onions | 2 | sliced thick so they hold together |
| Beer or canned chicken stock | 1 can | |
| Barbecue rub | 1/4 cup | |
| Barbecue sauce | 3 tbsp | optional, added at the end |
| Sandwich buns | 6 |
Method
- Build a small fire and let it burn down to coals off to one side. You want smoke and low heat, not flame. Add a chunk of hickory if you brought one.
- Rub the squirrels all over and set them on the grill grate over the cool side. Keep the temperature low, around 250F, and let them take smoke for an hour.
- Lay the onion slices in the bottom of a dutch oven or a foil pan. Set the squirrels on top and pour in the beer or stock.
- Cover tight, with a lid or a crimped sheet of foil, and set it back over low coals for about two hours. Check once that liquid is still in the bottom; add a splash if it has run dry.
- Pull the squirrels out and let them sit until you can handle them. Pick every scrap of meat off the bones and drop it back in with the onions.
- Stir in the barbecue sauce if you brought it, put the pot back over the coals for ten minutes, then pile the meat on buns.
Squirrel is lean, tough, and stuck to a lot of small bones, which is why frying dominates. Two stages of heat fix all three problems. The first hour uncovered over coals puts smoke on the meat while it is still dry enough to take it. The next two hours sealed over onions and liquid is a braise, and braising is the only thing that turns that connective tissue soft enough to pull.
The onions are not garnish. They hold the meat off the hot bottom of the pot and give off enough moisture to keep the braise going if the beer cooks down. This one needs a cooler and a real fire, so it belongs at a drive-in site, not in a pack. Pick the meat carefully when you get there. Squirrel bones are thin and easy to miss.
Packing
Squirrels go in the cooler in a sealed bag, on the bottom, on ice. Rub and sauce travel in small screw-top jars. Buns ride on top of everything or they arrive flat.
Variations
- Pork shoulder cut into fist-sized chunks works the same way if the hunting was bad.
- Skip the buns and spoon the meat over instant rice or tortillas.
- A splash of cider vinegar in the pot at the end cuts the sweetness of a heavy sauce.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/barbecued-smoked-squirrel-sandwiches