Goat recipes

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I have a couple of wethers I would like to butcher but not sure how to prepare them. Do any of ya'll butcher your goats and how about some recipes? Is it just like beef. No, wait, tastes just like chicken, right? Years ago at a high school Rodeo cookout I had bbq'd goat and it was very good. Also any ideas on how to get them butchered would be appreciated i.e. what parts to get ground, what parts to roast, and whatnot. Sal

-- Sal (jdavis@vol.com), March 02, 2001

Answers

Actually I think goat is a lot more like working with lamb.

Basically empty your spice rack on it. :-)

I like to use a lot of rosemary and a very little bit of mint. Using a syringe I fill the meat up with a cheap cabernet sovignon and cook it for a couple hours on the rotisserie until the internal temperature is right (sorry don't know the temp my thermometer has a cheat indicator for lamb doneness).

The leftovers reheat better than beef. Slice it really thin for cold cut sandwhiches. I like to reheat thicker slices and serve with boiled potatoes, butterbeans, and corn.

If this is an older goat you'll probably end up making some stew.

-- Chris Hedemark (chris@yonderway.com), March 02, 2001.


Look back in the archives, in Goat (general) and 2/3 of the way down is a great thread on -butchering a goat. I was just looking at it the other day. Lots of great info.

-- Marci (daleb@kent.net), March 02, 2001.

Hi Sal, We've been butchering our wethers for the past few years. I look forward to some good ideas on this thread. This is what we do, we take them to the local processing house. They charge a $10.00 kill few , then 40cents per pound hanging weight . I get chops, round steaks and the rest ground. Most of the ones we've butchered have weighted about 100 pounds, up to that point they had been on there mama's , separated at night with plenty of feed. At all times they had browse, hay and plenty of fresh water. The age and feeding will help you decide how you want to have it cut. I broil or grill the steaks and use the ground chevon as i would beef, makes killer spaghetti and chili. The next I get done I think I'll get some cut for the smoker and try some barbque myself..sounds yum Sherry

-- sherry mullins (chickadee259@yahoo.com), March 02, 2001.

Hi Sal, I actually only save rear legs whole for bar-b-que. I also save the loin (back strap) and cut it into slices, pound flat, dredge in seasoned flour and quickly chicken fry. The rest is deboned and ground. I use it to make chili or add sausage seasoning for breakfast patties. It works really well in very well seasoned dishes, anything mexican especially.

When we bar-b-que we jerk it first (boil it done in water) then we bar-b-que it over hickory, wrapped in foil until it is falling from the bone, open foil the last hour of cooking and apply your favorite sauce, this way the meat doesn't dry out and the sauce doesn't burn. After our initial meal, I pull all the rest of the meat off the bone, and use it for sandwiches the rest of the week.

12 week old kids are the tenderest for eating like a roast or just bar-b-queing without jerking, anything older than that needs to be cooked into dishes that require some cooking time. I am not a fan of lamb and feel exactly the same way about goat chops. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 02, 2001.


We butchered our own wethers for the 1st time this past year, I just basically treat it like you would beef, we cooked the front shoulders and leg quarters like you would a roast, slow in the oven, with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. The ribs we cooked on the grill along with a shoulder, the backstrap was really hard to cut so everything else got ground into goatburger meat which i also used like you would hamburger. Next time I plan to boil a lot of the meat off the bones which we wasted this 1st time. Also everyone tells you not to get hair on the meat or it will taint it, well we had hair all over the meat and it didn't effect the taste, ours were cut though. Heres a website with some recipes www.4dranch.com/goatrecipes.html

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), March 02, 2001.


We put two wethers in the freezer each year.We have ours killed at a custom slaughter house and I then cut up the meat.I disagree with a couple of the other post.First goat doesn't taste like lamb to me and you definitely should not dump the spice cabinet on it.Treat it as you would very good beef.I usually cut roast,loin,stir fry and stew meat with just a little ground.We like goat better than any other meat and it has the plus of being one of the healthiest. I always let the wethers get to be at least a year old before butchering.The flavor is better.

-- JT (gone2seed@hotmail.com), March 03, 2001.

I love it! I knew this line would have as many culinary opinions as it would if someone asked "What's the best way to make chile?". We butcher some kid at 9 weeks, some at 5 to 6 months, and we will trade a doeling for a fat yearling wether once in a while. We find kid to be a delicate meat.. I think of lamb as having a meadowy flavor, kind of a sweet grassy tang.. goat tastes to me like a Mediterranean hillside smells (or chaparral out here in CA).. kind of mildly herby. We have quarter our 9 week olds, marinate and grill the hind, herb and roast the forequarter. Older kid we cut like a lamb.. the loin and rib chops are heaven marinated for a few minutes in balsamic vinegar, or red wine or sherry.. with garlic and black pepper. I'll reduce the marinade while the chops are on the Weber, stir in some apricot jam and fresh spearmint for a mint sauce.. good! We roast the legs after larding them just under the skin with slivers of garlic, then I'll roll them in balsamic vinegar or?? and pat on black pepper and thyme.. roast just like a leg of lamb, open on a rack. The other delicious leg method is to bone it, butterfly it, marinate it, and grill it. The shanks are great slow roasted winter food.. treat them like pot roast.. just know they cook in half the time. We grill the ribs most of the time but sometimes I'll cut them in strips then 2 riblet pieces and cook them in a chile verde or some other delicious sauce.. serve over rice or polenta.. finger licking food. The shoulder we usually remove whole.. I love braised shoulder in the winter. I'll brown the shoulder then put it in the roaster with sliced onions, grated carrots, and sliced cabbage that I've cooked down in the browning drippings.. maybe carraway, black pepper, a splash of apple vinegar.. cover and slow cook at 250 degrees all day.. raise temp to 350 a half hour before serving.. wonderful with boiled potatoes or noodles.. The livers are absolutely delicious. We cook kid just like lamb.. or veal.

We've butchered a few elderly or defective does.. the youngest was three and the oldest was 8 years old.. Even the loin chops required some braising (browning then slowcooking covered with liquid)but were really tasty. Now we have the older animals ground up.. half a coarse chile chop, the rest a hamburger grind. It IS awesome burger.

-- Ellen (gardenfarm@earthlink.net), October 28, 2001.


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