[kuan]

Curious about how I would begin to butcher a whole goat as close to a "classical way" as possible and more important, is it worth the time?

Comments, suggestions, and heckles, all taken with a grain of salt.

[CrazyTATT]

All heckles aside....goat is good eating...

you break it down into primals like fabricating any animal, and the cuts are the same, just not that big.

I'm not affraid to say it..."I LOVE CURRIED GOAT HEAD!", thanks be to a few jamaican people I had as employees. Went to one of there cook outs, some of the best food EVARRRRRR! Thank you Ritchie. And Sous (pr: Sow-sse), good caribibean street food.

Goat is good, it makes awesome stews, and thing of the low and slow nature. I wouldn't recomend eating a steak of goat persay, but who knows?

Whyza Kuan? Got some goat to git rid uf?

[diane]

I have had goat only once, from a halal butcher in Mt Roskill. It was fine eating, we must go back, this silly city is so spread out. We are at the other end of it.

[kuan]

Yeah friend of mine has goats and I'm wondering if you can do goat steaks, use the loin or even the tenderloin for a more refined presentation. We get the leg whole from the processor but the rest of it is basically undifferentiated hunks.

I love it though, goat curry is awesome!

Originally Posted by diane

this silly city is so spread out. We are at the other end of it.

You're in en-zed. I doubt you've encountered urban sprawl like we have here in the US.

[CrazyTATT]

Originally Posted by diane

I have had goat only once, from a halal butcher in Mt Roskill. It was fine eating, we must go back, this silly city is so spread out. We are at the other end of it.

Ahhh...Halal, the musslim "kosher"...There is a turkish grocer right down the street from my hotel...he does a $5(U.S.) pr lb lunch buffet...I love it. I eat it like 3 times a working week.

Goat tenders are good, I have had em stewed, I have never had goat in steak form, and cooked to temp. I am assuming that is for a reason. I know the meat can be tendenous, and grainy. For obvious reasons, stewing breaks down the sinue, but as far as flavour, I think stewing is the best. Longer the better, render the marrow, and all the pectin.....good stuff. Like venison meets cow, meets N.Z.Spring rack o lamb...=GOOD STUFF!mmmmm

[diego]

I should think goat could be treated just like mutton, my favorite. Barbecued on pit or in smoker at 225 F for eight or more hours until center is up to 190F.

[Cheri]

Every summer when I was growing up my uncle would drive from CA to AL and bring back a goat, we would then have that sucker on the BBQ good eatin' is right, I love it in any form! Don't ask me how we didn't die with it in the back of his truck in one of those cheap styro coolers though, he'd bring back a hog to and make hog head cheese...oh the good ol' days!

[diane]

It is good news that someone likes mutton Diego. I think it is a misunderstood meat, which responds to long roasting or casseroling. And it makes the best gravy going. When we order a home kill, the lamb must be one year old. Otherwise the flavour is indifferent IMHO. Hogget is a sheep one to two years, and mutton thereafter. I like them all. Our Halal butcher knew we didn't know "that lovely looking meat" was goat, so he told us, it was cut into pieces too. We slow cooked it. 'lish. We purchased a lot of meat that day, filled the freezer with his product. Must return to him.

[diane]

Yes Cheri, the 'good old days'. We didn't die, we didn't get sick. Mutton used to be brought up from the Waikato then. From my uncles farm, a somewhat torturous journey then, the roads were mostly gravel and there was the Bombay Hills to negotiate. All cars carried spare water, and mothers packed large lunches. Mum and the kids got water, and Dad had usually tucked a couple of bottles of beer away for himself. We had no fridges, and certainly no freezers. We did have a kitchen safe and two others on the cold side. My uncle organised a couple of men and their wives to do the milking for him. We ate ourselves stupid, and so did our neighbours. It was frightfully illegal, the rationing was still on. And he brought eggs. My grandfather had 1/2 an acre in cultivation, so veg was not a prob. Nanna bartered for eggs, flour, sugar, and so on. Bottled humungeous amounts of fruit. jams , and made ghee. We did rather well in those skinny times. Every (Seasonal) Sunday we went berry picking, and had a luscious pie for evening dessert.

[even stephen]

Kuan,

are you going to slaughter the goat at home or are you just looking
for advice on how best to utilize specific parts of your goat?

[kuan]

Originally I was thinking of getting a front and rear quarter from the processor and seeing if I could get some more elegant cuts, ie., like steak, or even an arm steak.

Now I'm not so sure.

[even stephen]

kuan,

I have always done mexican style barbecua de Hoya. BBQ cooked
in a large pot. I have also done spit or pit roasted goat as well.
Rotisseries are also great, if you have one that size. As for the cuts
you mention, I just don't know. I kinda treat them like young lambs.
I would honestly go with a young lamb, although there is nothing like
hanging a goat up in the back yard, bleeding him, gutting him, and
skinning him. Of course neighbors complain about the noise. Most
people will block off the slaughter from the neighbors vision with a
couple of clotheslines and old sheets. Good luck!

PS: If you do bring one home live, don't let the kids play with it before
you slaughter it. It tends to make them sad, especially if they have
named it, even if they grew up on a farm.

[kuan]

Man my kid has already been to the farm and played with them. He's known these boys since they were 2 weeks old. But he's not even three years old so he has no clue... yet.

So how big are lambs when they're slaughtered and you think I can get a "rack of goat" from a similiar size goat?

Here's where we get our goat meat, my friend Monica's place. http://www.doremifarm.com/

[even stephen]

Kuan,

I reckon about 20 to 25 pounds. The problem is the amount of
fat on the animal. I just don't think it has as much as lamb. A
slow roast with butter, lemon, white wine baste would be nice.
you are going to want to keep it moist. Most will cook goat slowly
in a big pot like I said. The end product being pieces of simmered
tender meat. Its going to absorbe the majority of flavor from baste
or marinade. Give it a try, but, don't use goat just to use goat.
I think a cutting it up in large pieces and slow cooking on a grill
with the aformentioned baste would be great. Its a simple baste
so you don't lose out on any flavor the goat had in the first place.
Let me know how it comes out. I would ask the people at the farm
how they cook it, unless they are vegetarians, which many goat farmers
are. Do they have cheeses?

[shroomgirl]

there's a difference between dairy goats and meat goats....one is bonier. Goatsbeard farm has offered me the boy kids....Savor had an article with 19# splayed roasted goats in Mexico....looked and read tasty.