>>17389506The texture of squirrel meat is highly dependent on the age of the animal and the cooking method used by the cook.
If you shoot a tough old squirrel with a nutsack larger than a grown man's, bread it, and pan-fry it, the texture will remind you of eating the dismembered finger of a lean 53-year-old framing carpenter. You know the kind of guy I mean. He doesn't give a shit about owning his own business or working for the union, or even having medicare or social security deducted from his wages. He shows up when his boss calls him and when he feels like it. He takes two weeks off every year to trap coons. He doesn't talk much and he goes home when he's got something better to do than work.
The flavor of that old squirrel will be like a deer leg sliced too thick and put in the dehydrator with no seasoning crossed with an overcooked turkey leg.
Now a young squirrel fried up the same way has a texture like a barbecued suckling pig and the flavor of perfectly cooked goose legs crossed with a rare breed of dark-fleshed pork. It's divine.
You can improve on the older squirrels by slow-cooking them for hours or days in another animal's fat (i.e. bacon, or fatty beef) or a sauce. We love them cooked in wing sauce. The texture, when done right, is fall-off the bone tender. The flavor is earthy, like a calf finished on portabella mushrooms and rutabagas, and just delicious.
