# Meat goats and bucks



## freemotion (Nov 23, 2009)

Does anyone know if it is advisable to use an uncastrated buck for the freezer?  Will it taint the meat?  Just chatting with my dad tonight, and that is where the subject went, for some reason.....now I need to know, being a curious creature!


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## OHMYKIDS (Nov 24, 2009)

I've heard it taste bucky..never tried it though..don't know if I would.


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## crazy4cochins (Nov 24, 2009)

I met a guy at the sale barn and he bought a nubian buck for a guy that wanted some goat meat and he told me that he will band it for about two weeks until he is castrated and then butcher, becasue of the bucks testosterone. You don't want to use them until the Test. is out of there system.


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## BDial (Nov 24, 2009)

I am unsure if I want to try goat meat again because the first one I had was a buck. I didn't know that till after. I found out that it was an ethnic food. Some cultures (the friend I got it from) eat intact males.

ETA I thought it was gross.


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## big brown horse (Nov 24, 2009)

BDial said:
			
		

> I am unsure if I want to try goat meat again because the first one I had was a buck. I didn't know that till after. I found out that it was an ethnic food. Some cultures (the friend I got it from) eat intact males.
> 
> ETA I thought it was gross.


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## mully (Nov 24, 2009)

Butcher a doe instead.  Buck can be tough and have a wild flavor.


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## freemotion (Nov 24, 2009)

That is what I thought.....I wonder if it is different when they are not in rut?  Or just worse when they are in rut.....

I have no interest personally in eating bucky meat!  I've had many meals of young whether, and it was delish!


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## cmjust0 (Nov 24, 2009)

Let me preface this by saying that I've never had goat meat..  

That said, people make these same claims about deer meat...that old bucks are tough and gamey while young does are mild and tender.

Well...personally, I think that's hogwash..

In my experience, 99.9% of the table experience depends on what happens between the time when the animal dies and when it's served.  I killed a big old gray 10pt rutting buck two years ago and a young doe last year, and they both ate the same because they were handled the same..  By me, after aging about a week to 10 days in cool conditions, then thoughtfully and carefully processed and packaged with great attention paid to detail.

Conversely, I've eaten beef from my ex-FIL's farm that was killed and mishandled at a local butcher shop, and it was gamey -- just exactly the same taste as mishandled venison -- and it was frankly pretty disgusting.  

I say if you want to kill a buck goat and eat it, go for it.  Just kill it efficiently when the weather's cool -- 40's for highs -- then gut it immediately, hang it and skin it immediately after you gut it, and forget about it for about a week.  Pick up an instructional book on butchery to pass the time.  Then go back and take the meat off in large muscle groups, bring them to the cutting board, and process them thoughtfully.  

I dunno if it's the same with goat, but with deer, if you avoid cutting through bone and exclude as much tallow and silver seam as possible, the finished product will be 1000% better for the effort.  Knowing at least little bit about what muscle is what is also important..  

For instance...I'm no pro, but I know there's a big green gland hiding just on top of the eye of round.  If you didn't know it was there and maybe set that entire section aside for a roast, you'd be roasting the contents of a big green gland into your meat and it would be utterly disgusting.  Since I know it's there, however, I can remove it and save a goodly portion of meat from the trash can.  I also happen to know that the eye of round to which that gland was connected is generally pretty tough, but is a nice large piece of meat nonetheless....so, I cube it and set it aside for stew meat.  

Anyway...point being, my experience is that bad meat has less to do with the animal and more to do with the butcher than anything else.


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## freemotion (Nov 24, 2009)

Well, no one here is in line for the chopping block, but great info!  I am considering meat goats in the future since dad said he would butcher for me, and my folks are moving here in a few weeks.

Good to know, cmjust0, I'll have to ask my dad if the goats he butchered in the past had a gland like that.  He didn't like to hunt, so I don't think he ever processed a deer.  Not since I was born, anyways.


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## Goatzilla (Nov 24, 2009)

Absolutley spot on!! I usually shoot and process 4 or 5 deer every fall. I have to agree 100% that preparation is everything. A common mistake that many hunters make is to overlook how clean that cavity has to be after it's gutted. I always take a bucket of cold salt water and a rag and "spit shine" the interior of the carcass. Any remnants of fouled blood or spilled internal juice will surely marinate that thing into some strong, nasty, venison. If properly processed, and hung/aged, long enough for the enzymes to break down the fibrous tissue, an old 10 point buck tastes the same as a yearling doe. I don't know if the same applies to goat meat, but with anything, good processing practices ensure a much better final product on the table.  





			
				cmjust0 said:
			
		

> Let me preface this by saying that I've never had goat meat..
> 
> That said, people make these same claims about deer meat...that old bucks are tough and gamey while young does are mild and tender.
> 
> ...


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## cmjust0 (Nov 24, 2009)

freemotion said:
			
		

> Good to know, cmjust0, I'll have to ask my dad if the goats he butchered in the past had a gland like that.  He didn't like to hunt, so I don't think he ever processed a deer.  Not since I was born, anyways.


Actually...hehehe....there's a gland like that in the shoulder, too.   

When I take mine off the bone, I take the front legs off completely.  The shank bone (front 'shin') and possibly the center of the ribcage are the only bones I cut through..  I only do the ribcage to facilitate tearing out the innards and to better dry-age the carcass...opens it up better, IMO.  I only through the shank to keep from having to put a hoof on the cutting board.  

Anyway, a deer's "arms" aren't attached to the rest of their body.  I suspect it's exactly the same for a goat.  I know that sounds weird, but they're not really attached except for tendons and ligaments and maybe one interconnected muscle group, so you can just take the whole front leg and shoulder in basically one whack and throw the whole thing on the board.

When you get the shoulder to the board and start breaking it down into its little bits and pieces, you'll find a nasty green gland hiding in amongst all that connective tissue...and in a shoulder, there's a lot of connective tissue to sort through.

Now...consider that a lot of folks just debone the shoulder and either A) tie it into a roast without ever poking around at it or B) grind the whole thing, and that shoulder roasts and ground meat are quite often the first things people give away.

Is it any wonder so many people go "Eeeewww!  You eat deer?!?!?  I tried it once and it was GROSS!" 

 

On the other hand, my ground venison is totally gland-free, with very little silver seam and almost zero tallow...  When you brown it for tacos or something like that, you don't even have to drain it.  

If you guys are interested in home-processing, I'd urge you to buy this video.  I won't make a dime, so it's not like I'm a shill..  I just happen to have it in my own collection and think it's pretty great..  The guy who does the processing is a pro.  Watch this video a few times and I promise you'll be better at home processing than about 90% of those who do it "just like papaw did" or whatever...leaving hides on for days and whatnot..  Ugh..  

Also, the overall concepts should apply to any ruminant...goats, sheep, deer, probably even calves.  It's really good.  I can't recommend it highly enough.


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## freemotion (Nov 24, 2009)

Cool, sounds like it is worth the $15.  

Why don't you cut through bones?  Something about the marrow?  Do you use the bones for broth?

I gotta find out about the glands and goats....


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## warthog (Nov 24, 2009)

A friend of ours butchered a 12 month old buck (intact) for us.  We decided he was for the chop because he was dangerous.

Anyhow, we still have loads in the freezer, but we have eaten ribs, a leg and some that we prepared for stew meat, made into a curry and thought the taste was just fine.  

Here in Belize (the local way) I am told that if you soak it in sour orange or papaya for 48 hours any bucky taste is removed.  Well I didn't and found the meat to be just fine.  The next piece I try I will probably soak just to see if there is any difference. (sour orange and papaya are local fruits here) if not available in your area I am sure you could try something else.

With regard to hanging the meat for a couple of weeks in colder conditions, the coldest it gets here is about 65/70 so we cannot do that.

I do remember reading somewhere that if hair of the goat gets on the flesh this can taint the meat.

Anyhow just my tuppenceworth.


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## freemotion (Nov 24, 2009)

Cool!  If I can't sell my buck when his job is done..................


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## cmjust0 (Nov 25, 2009)

freemotion said:
			
		

> Cool, sounds like it is worth the $15.


Definitely...the DVD used to be $13 by itself, but now they're throwing in a year's subscription to Kentucky Afield magazine and a really neat calendar.  The mag and calendar are usually $10.

All that for $15....can't beat it with a stick.   



			
				fm said:
			
		

> Why don't you cut through bones?  Something about the marrow?  Do you use the bones for broth?


Cutting through bone isn't necessary to recovering all the meat, plus it's difficult to do by hand, and it can leave bone fragments in your meat..  When I'm done processing a deer, it's basically an intact skeleton on a gambrel.  Well....minus front legs.  

Not sure if there's any prescribed disposal methods for a deer skeleton, but mine goes over the hill toward the back of the property..  The bones disappear in no time flat, scattered by wildlife.



			
				fm said:
			
		

> I gotta find out about the glands and goats....


Let me know what you figure out..  Any mammal's gonna have glands like that, but I'd be interested to figure out if they're in the same place as they are on a deer.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 25, 2009)

Y'all, I've scoured the web and come to a conclusion:  nobody knows how to butcher a goat.  I know, I know...I've never done it so how would I know, right?

Well...suffice it to say that even having never done it, I'd still know better than to do some of the things I've seen recommended!  For instance....I know for a fact that you won't need an axe.  

  

The weirdest thing was that almost every write-up I saw advised _taking the goat down_ from the gambrel to debone it!!  Why on earth you'd want to do that and have to roll a dead goat all over hell and half georgia to cut it up when you could so much more easily just take it off the bone while it's hanging and can be spun 360 degrees with zero effort, I literally have no idea..  

And...yeah, I mentioned the AXE THING, right?!?!?  

As for the infamous glands...I've yet to see any reference to actually taking the 'hams' off the bone, let alone poking around in them to find glands or actually seperate the meat into different muscle groups..  I did, however, see a few references to using legs as roasts and a few instances of the word "flavorful"...

Take that for what it's worth...I know how I'm taking it.  

Oh, and then there were the few who casually mentioned the backstraps in passing, saying you could take those off for...ya know...GRINDING or whatever.    Yeah, that's right...the filet mignon...the tenderloin...the chops...whatever you wanna call'em, PEOPLE ACTUALLY GRIND THEM because they don't know any better.


Seriously, folks...if you want to butcher your own goats (or sheep, or deer, or calf), do yourselves a favor and buy the DVD I referenced above..  Just pretend they're butchering a whatever ruminant it may be that you're about to shoot and you'll be LIGHT YEARS ahead right off the bat.

I mean...wow.  

I'm going to keep looking..  If I find anything worthwhile, I'll be sure to post it.


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## big brown horse (Nov 25, 2009)

Do you have a Mexican friend?  They really know their way around butchering goats and cooking with goat meat.


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## freemotion (Nov 25, 2009)

I had a student who was eager to come to my house with her hubby to process my two turkeys in exchange for one of them.....I got tired of setting up dates and having no-shows.  When we talked, she was very excited at the prospect of "real" meat, but.... 

All my friends from other countries are very Americanized, and gladly dropped the harder realities of life.  Most came here as youngsters, anyways.  

I might have a contact through the local pizza shop owner who is a Syrian Muslim, so only buys Hallel (sp?) meat, which is about the slaughtering process, which includes some laws around being humane.  He was a city-boy, but had country relatives, and really appreciates good, well-raised food.  I need to drop in to visit him more, since we so rarely order take-out, and dh usually goes to pick it up.  He might have more experience with such things than I am guessing.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 25, 2009)

Careful with some of the foreign ways of processing..  I gotta run for now, but remind me to tell you about the traditional african goat roast to which I had the misfortune of bearing witness.  

Hot campfire + a WHOLE dead goat = blackened and bloated.

That might actually tell the tale right there, now that I think of it.   

Have a good turkeyday, y'all.  I'm out.


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## big brown horse (Nov 25, 2009)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> Careful with some of the foreign ways of processing..  I gotta run for now, but remind me to tell you about the traditional african goat roast to which I had the misfortune of bearing witness.
> 
> Hot campfire + a WHOLE dead goat = blackened and bloated.
> 
> ...


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## freemotion (Nov 25, 2009)

I second that


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