The Goat Topic: Tips & Techniques

[kayb]

I had curried goat in a Caribbean restaurant in Memphis once. It was excellent. Lots of bones, but excellent.

 

[Smithy]

I had barbecued cabrito in Texas a year or two ago and thought it excellent. This was at a place that really knew its 'cue. The meat was tender and delicately flavored, different from anything else I'd had. I would eat it again, but since my DH wouldn't touch it I would only get it again if I could have a small serving at some restaurant or somebody's home. Interesting that there's a slaughter-your-own place near Fontana.

[paul o' vendange]

I’ve really enjoyed goat when I’ve had it, which has usually been as barbacoa  in Chicago Mexican eateries. 

 

 

[heidih]

Our @chardgirl showed us a Michoacan style birria goat feast with one of their goats.https://forums.egullet.org/topic/78851-eg-foodblog-chardgirl-21st-century-peasant/?do=findComment&comment=1073521  (wonderful eGblog - read thru when time permits)

 

[Wait. Wot]

I have made curry goat with the recipe on a Jamaican culture website. https://jamaicanfoodsandrecipes.com/curry-goat-recipe/ The goat was frozen cubes from Australia, complete with bones and some skin with hair.

 

It was very good, quite hot enough for me and the smell took nearly a week to dissipate from the kitchen. Next time I make it it will be outside.

[rotuts]

@Wait. Wot 

 

I did goat a couple of time

 

got the goat from the hi-Lo  

 

now gone , in an ethnic area of Boston.

 

I did it outside on a weber, many many hours

 

low and slow.

 

it was  quite aromatic 

 

I had to 'burn it off ' the weber :  450 F , covered 

 

30 minutes.  brushthgrates, nd do t again

 

"" the smell took nearly a week to dissipate from the kitchen.  ""

 

I can understand this foe sure.

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

As suggested above, goat is a delicious and very approachable meat.    And since it is often the prime protein of Muslim cultures, it is frequently Halal butchered.  I.e., you go to the farm/ranch choose, making eye contact with the animal of your choice, and it is dispatched for you.   Else, goat is available in Halal meat shops.    The frozen goat parts I have bought in random butcher shops have been disappointing.   Best wait for culturally authentic,

[heidih]

Eater LA did a great piece on barbacoa including goat. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/162822-californias-barbacoa-trail/  In particular for goat this pit master  

 

[btbyrd]

I've had it a few times, mostly at Indian buffets, and thought the taste was fine (as far as one can judge the flavor of something swimming in curry). The form factor, however, was terrible: bone-in cubes. This is also the only format I've seen goat for sale in supermarkets. I like bone-in meat as much as the next person, but I prefer the bone to be more or less intact -- or for there to be so much meat around the cut bone that it's worth eating (like on a cross-cut shank). But these boney, unidentifiable cubes from every part of the animal are a chore to eat and seem to be a sad artifact of industrial butchery. I'm sure it's more efficient to deep freeze a goat carcass and hack it into cubes than it is to cut it into primals and individual cuts. But I'm sure it's not more delicious.

[KennethT]

16 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

I've had it a few times, mostly at Indian buffets, and thought the taste was fine (as far as one can judge the flavor of something swimming in curry). The form factor, however, was terrible: bone-in cubes. This is also the only format I've seen goat for sale in supermarkets. I like bone-in meat as much as the next person, but I prefer the bone to be more or less intact -- or for there to be so much meat around the cut bone that it's worth eating (like on a cross-cut shank). But these boney, unidentifiable cubes from every part of the animal are a chore to eat and seem to be a sad artifact of industrial butchery. I'm sure it's more efficient to deep freeze a goat carcass and hack it into cubes than it is to cut it into primals and individual cuts. But I'm sure it's not more delicious.

I think it's more of a cultural divide rather than an artifact of industrial butchery - even in countries that have no industrial butchery, you see the same thing.

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I think it's more of a cultural divide rather than an artifact of industrial butchery - even in countries that have no industrial butchery, you see the same thing.

 

You beat me to it.

I'd also add that in many cultures, including China, India, Jamaica, Cuba (to list somewhere I've eaten goat) most people would send any boneless goat meat straight back. They would find itf most suspect.

Most countries have their own butchery techniques and cuts. The USA, Britain and France are all different. China and India ain't gonna change. Here in China, nearly all meat and fish comes on-the-bone.

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I think it's more of a cultural divide rather than an artifact of industrial butchery - even in countries that have no industrial butchery, you see the same thing.

That’s very interesting. I don’t know a thing about goat anatomy but they don’t look like they carry a whole lot of flesh on their bones. So I wonder if the butchery performed on pigs and cows etc. makes little sense with goats. 

[btbyrd]

Huh. Maybe it's just cultural. 

 

In any event, I find cubed goat to be artless butchery and a tedious eating experience. The "hack the whole thing into unidentifiable tiny bits and throw it in the stew pot for ten hours" approach to cookery will never be my favorite. Grind it, for God's sake. Goat burgers are delicious.

 

I'll add that there are plenty of delicious ways to cook goat on the bone that don't involve mincing the carcass. Put the whole thing on a spit and roast it over coals. Or throw it on the smoker. Braise the legs and shanks. I've heard the ribs are supposed to be pretty good. So is the neck. Rack of goat, anyone?

 

Heritage Foods started a yearly celebration of goat meat that happens every October, when male kids are prime for harvesting. It's called "Goatober." The original idea was to raise awareness of this delicious and sustainable meat by showcasing it in restaurants in New York, but it's been growing beyond that mission in recent years. Goatober has a website and an instagram feed, both of which are worth exploring if you're keen to get inspiration on how best to prepare goat. Chef Stephanie Izard is also a good place to look to for inspiration on goat preparations. Hers is the only goat I've eaten that didn't fall into the "hacked and boiled" category; I had a goat burger and confit goat belly. Both were incredible. I wish more placed cooked goat and more markets sold it. I'd certainly eat it more often.

[rotuts]

I understand very young goat is a sort of delicacy , if you can get it

 

Cabrito I think its called , in TX

 

I also have  read that the sex of the goat has a lot to do with its mature

 

flavor :  "  Billy " is  very full flavored 

[liuzhou]

Goat with Fuzhu

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

54 minutes ago, Anna N said:

That’s very interesting. I don’t know a thing about goat anatomy but they don’t look like they carry a whole lot of flesh on their bones. So I wonder if the butchery performed on pigs and cows etc. makes little sense with goats. 

Some years ago I broke down a goat for a barbeque in the country.   This was a medium sized animal   A neighbor had raised the goat, killed it and hung it but had no idea how to butcher it.    Somehow I was elected.   I just considered it a large lamb, breaking it into limbs and cage, then into smaller cuts for grilling.    The main thing I remember is that it took a lot longer than we anticipated, like maybe 4 or 5 hours, with sit-down wine-breaks.  

[KennethT]

Goat sate anyone?

[heidih]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

That’s very interesting. I don’t know a thing about goat anatomy but they don’t look like they carry a whole lot of flesh on their bones. So I wonder if the butchery performed on pigs and cows etc. makes little sense with goats. 

it is my understanding that the "meat goats" are not the cute athletic ones you see in the trendy "goat yoga"  videos. Rather they are more heftily built like these "goats in the mist" up my road brought in for weed clearance.

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

That’s very interesting. I don’t know a thing about goat anatomy but they don’t look like they carry a whole lot of flesh on their bones. So I wonder if the butchery performed on pigs and cows etc. makes little sense with goats. 

 

The farmer who sells at some of the local farmers markets around here offers a range of conventional cuts of goat so it would seem that it can be done:  Jimenez Family Farm goat

[kayb]

I've had goat several times. There's a Caribbean restaurant in Memphis that makes a FINE goat curry (and a pretty good Dark and Stormy to go along with it). I did notice the butchery issue mentioned upthread, with small bits of bone in almost every piece of meat. And goat barbecues are pretty common up and down the Delta. In those, the goat is split open down the belly, ribs cracked away from backbone -- a reverse spatchcock, if you will -- and the critter laid out flat on a rack. He's basted with barbecue sauce and the rack is flipped every couple of hours. Good barbecue; obviously much different from pork. Have never had it ground; have had shoulders braised.

[KennethT]

I wonder if this whole thing is being caused by the cuts being used?  Obviously, there are no bony bits in a tenderloin no matter how you butcher it.  But if you take the ribs or the shank or the neck, etc. and cut them into small chunks, there would be bits of bone in every piece.  When you buy non-specific "goat meat" I'd assume that it would be cheap cuts broken into small pieces - especially if labeled "goat stew meat" or something like that, but wouldn't that be true of just about any animal?  Maybe not a cow since it's so big that you can physically get lots of cubes out of a cheap cut which won't all be bony...

[rotuts]

Ive had curried goat in Jamaica 

 

several times.

 

bones for sure , but Id say not so many

 

to make the eating a trip.

 

Im guessing goats that make it to the pot in Jamaica 

 

are at then end of this usefulness 

 

and a bit scrawny   its possible a few cuts where butch3d whole

 

and never made it into the curry.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

The farmer who sells at some of the local farmers markets around here offers a range of conventional cuts of goat so it would seem that it can be done:  Jimenez Family Farm goat

I am sure it can be done. I am just not sure that it is profitable to do it unless you can reach a niche market who can afford to pay for the labour needed. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 7/14/2021 at 5:41 AM, Anna N said:

That’s very interesting. I don’t know a thing about goat anatomy but they don’t look like they carry a whole lot of flesh on their bones. So I wonder if the butchery performed on pigs and cows etc. makes little sense with goats. 

Makes more sense to compare goat to lamb.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

22 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

The farmer who sells at some of the local farmers markets around here offers a range of conventional cuts of goat so it would seem that it can be done:  Jimenez Family Farm goat

The link is instructive.    Note that prices for properly (i.e., American style) butchered goat is comparable to prime lamb, as it should be.