You may want to try not frying too long, then steaming them for about 2+ hours. I put them in a small roasting pan on a wire rack fill bottom with water up to the rack and 300deg oven for 2 hours or more. Makes the meat fall off the bone tender. No rubber band feeling.
Wow they really are black Squirrels! Never seen any like that before. I've got a Grey in the freezer waiting till I bag another to make a meal. You've given me ideas of how to to make the most of it.
This may be just the quickie version of Bam86's suggestion, but may I suggest to salt and pressure cook them briefly in an inch of water, at least until the cooker comes up to pressure and starts "tiss-tiss-tissing"? That insures the meat and any contamination problems are cooked (!), and puffs it tenderly from the bone. Then it can go into whatever recipe you have, without having to cook it so long in that recipe. Taste the pressure-cooker water to see if you want to include it in later steps; from something like squirrel it may taste good, but from other game you may prefer to dump it, like from possum or rat, bleagh.
I agree 100%. I age all my squirrels(small game) for a week before eating or freezing.
Would love an invite to partake and would contribute some squirrels to the feast. Just a former city old boy looking to be schooled…
