Meat goats and bucks

[cmjust0]

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.

 

[freemotion]

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....

 

[warthog]

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.

 

[freemotion]

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

 

[cmjust0]

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.

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.

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.

 

[cmjust0]

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.

 

[big brown horse]

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

 

[freemotion]

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.

 

[cmjust0]

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.

 

[big brown horse]

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.