On eating goat meat

[Lorelai]

Hi Lorelai!

lol, I'm pretty outside of the box, so to say, so I didnt have to worry about "programming". I'll try anything once!

I had to break hubby out of his programming, though. I mentioned goat meat to him several years ago (ok over 10 years ago) and he wasnt on board. I finally gave up on him and just did it myself. I brought home goats, told him what I wanted to do.........he had to get on board or get left behind. He got on board, tried goat, and is now wanting to expand the herd of two breeding does to 8-10 breeding does, making them our main source of meat! YAY!

Rabbits are on my agenda next, but dont tell hubby. He is hung up on wild rabbit. We'be eaten it and enjoyed it, but there is not enough meat and too many bones for his taste. I domesticated meat rabbit has much more meat on it, a better quality carcass. I'll just have to buy a few, raise them out and feed them to him. But one thing at a time, lol.

I'd definately add a boer doe to your herd, and give it a try.

You will love rabbit! It's easier than chicken, and it tastes fantastic! Nothing like wild rabbit, from what I understand. We usually get about 2.5-3 lbs of meat from each fryer, when all's said and done (includes about a 1/2 lb of stock meat usually). I use it for just about everything. It has great flavor, and holds its shape really well in soup, stew, chili, etc. Also, the spine, ribs, and any leftover meat still clinging to the bones, makes a really rich broth/stock. Yummy!

My Grandad was career military and spend a lot of time in Central America and Asia, so he had some pretty exotic tastes. I've tried alligator, ostrich, frog legs (blech), those kinds of things. I've even had llama, something he hadn't tried, but it wasn't great. I think my programming lies more towards the getting food from the grocery store habit. And okay, cute little flufffy bunnies? It did take a little work before I could wrap my brain around that one, and even more to be willing to talk about it openly. Well, kind of openly. With certain people I still dance around it.

If I have the opportunity to try some goat, you bet I will!

 

[wannacow]

We have now butchered and eaten two of our goats. The first was a Boer, and was 11 months old. He was absolutely delicious. A LOT like beef, but not quite. The second was a Saanen wether who was 15 months old. Not nearly as good. They were fed the same. I don't know if the difference was breed or age. The Saanen was a lot more like venison.

That's interesting. I have nubians and saanens. I think the saanens ACT like deer.

 

[cmjust0]

I've been eating deer since I was a kid, but I've never had goat before.. And the thing with me and deer is that when *I* process it, I really can't tell it from beef at all -- except that it's leaner. I did make a HUGE mistake once and kept a whole deer shoulder for a roast without realizing there was a nasty gland in there.. Threw it in a crockpot with veggies, gland and all, and yeah...it was pretty awful. It was that 'gamey' taste folks talk about. Gross.. Thing is, I know that's what a lot of people do, and I think that's what a lot of people have come to expect a deer to taste like.. And that goes double for folks who just crudely debone it and throw the whole thing in a grinder, glands and all.. Seems a waste, really, and it doesn't have to be that way..

Once I learned my pungent, nearly-vomitous lesson on glands, I learned to quit obsessing over keeping the meat 'big', but instead to just seperate every muscle group into it's smaller individual muscles.. That ensures that I'm not leaving glands hiding between muscles.. Also, I've learned to remove *all* the tallow and as much silverseam as humanly possible.. Yes, your big chunks are smaller when you're done, but that just means you end up with plenty of little bits and pieces of trimmed-off muscle that makes *really good* burger meat.. Then I cut whatever's still big enough into steaks or chops, and the rest...well, if it's a piece too small for chops and too big for burger, I cube it for stew meat.. (The eye of round on a deer is an especially good example of a *great* piece to cube for stew meat) But the thing is, like I said, when it's processed that carefully I can do anything I want with it and it's like super lean beef to me.. I can even do a steak or chop about medium rare -- blood running everywhere -- and not be able to tell it from beef..

Now, having said that, I've also tasted 'gamey,' nasty BEEF before. It was from a cow my first ex-FIL came to despise and sent to have butchered. It tasted JUST LIKE gamey, poorly-processed deer.. Me and my ex got package after package of that nasty stuff, and she ate it just cos it was her daddy's cow and she had issues.. ..but I pretty much couldn't do it. It was just GROSS, imo..

And that's kinda what led me to my own personal conclusion that, pretty much, red meat is red meat, and about 90% of the flavor happens *after* the kill and depends entirely on the care that's taken with the carcass..

And, yep, depending on how my deer season goes this year (so far, NOT GREAT :/ ) I may very well end up putting a few goats in the freezer. Got my eye on two little boer cross dudes that are juuuuuust about eater sized right now.

 

[navasfarm]

OP - my thanks! This thread has been very informative! As I plot and plan and decide which breed I will have.... I am partial to the Nigerian Dwarves because of their size and because I'm primarily looking for 1) milk 2) pet. Meat comes in as a distant 3rd, but it's there. Which breed is good for milk, but can be processed as well? Obviously any dwarf/pygmy size will provide less meat, but we're a family of three, so - no problem with less meat/better quality.

TIA for input and guidance.

{not just a newbie here - but truly blank slate - lookin' to learn}

 

[redtailgal]

navasfarm.......I see that you just joined! Welcome!

I have learned alot from this thread as well.

I had goat-burgers for suppertonight. Again, the texture and flavor was amazing!

 

[elevan]

OP - my thanks! This thread has been very informative! As I plot and plan and decide which breed I will have.... I am partial to the Nigerian Dwarves because of their size and because I'm primarily looking for 1) milk 2) pet. Meat comes in as a distant 3rd, but it's there. Which breed is good for milk, but can be processed as well? Obviously any dwarf/pygmy size will provide less meat, but we're a family of three, so - no problem with less meat/better quality.

TIA for input and guidance.

{not just a newbie here - but truly blank slate - lookin' to learn}

Pygmy / ND cross.

 

[navasfarm]

elevan: Nubian Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf? Ya' mean the two breeds that I kept dragging DH back and forth between at the Fair this year? It's meant to be! Thanks!

 

[elevan]

elevan: Nubian Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf? Ya' mean the two breeds that I kept dragging DH back and forth between at the Fair this year? It's meant to be! Thanks!

Nubian Pygmy?...do you mean a mini nubian?

I meant an African Pygmy Goat and a Nigerian Dwarf Goat.

For clarification Pygmy is a breed and not a description. Although there are plenty out there who tend to label any small statured goat as a pygmy and that is incorrect.

More info on Pygmies: http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2607-pymgy-goat

 

[MommaBugg]

I am looking to get into goats for dairy and meat production..

My first introduction to goat meat, was.. disturbing. I was 8, my Grandmother had goats which she named after family members. One day she decided it was time to thin her herd. She called my dad and asked if he wanted to take his namesake.. a little black buck named Larry... Now my sisters and I wanted to be present for the killing.. but I am glad now that we werent. Little Larry met his end with a ball ping hammer. Even with the goats being aross a 5 acre rolling longhorn pasture, we could hear the hollow banging(which sounded like a hammer on wood) and little Larrys screams... Then we had to help with the cleaning... My parents then got on to us when we refused to sample the BBQ cabrito.. Well, we were small, and this was a goat that gave us kisses as well as butted us if we had to bend over, bottle fed when he was small, witnessed his demise. It probaby didnt help the emotional and mental stress we endured with this, that my Nonnies dog, Girl, kept digging up the head and gut pile. We found Larrys head on the front porch a couple times, each time my dad thought he had burried it deep enough in a new location.. Dog still found it.

Dispite this, I think I am ready to try it as an adult. I have not had any of it since the small bite that my dad forced on me at 8 years old, except when I went to an Indo/Pak restraunt with my mother. They had a delicious looking dish, I had to try it. It tasted different, so I asked the owner, he told me what it was called.. Then I asked again what is it called, he finally told me(in English this time) goat meat. I felt ill remembering little Larry. But I was pregnant with my daughter so I may have been more sensitive LOL. That was 13 years ago, so I dont remember the taste. I have heard ppl tell me it tastes anywhere from venison, lamb.. I love venison and lamb, so I decided (since I am addicted to goats milk) we should get goats. I would prefer DP goats, and as we are a family of 3, we would like dwarf goats. Any one know how nigerian dwarfs are with meat? I hear they are good dairy goats. With just the three of us, a huge goat like boer is not needed.

I think as long as I leave the culling to my DH, I can handle the cleaning. Its the system we use with our chickens.

I would also love to start raising meat rabbits. Flemish Giants are what we are looking into right now.. Again culling will be a job for DH. The rest I can do.

 

[redtailgal]

Wow. Poor Larry! And you and the other kids! I'd guess that was sort of rough.

I dont participate in the killing either, lol. Hubby says that I am a "fixer of sick critters not a killer of healthy ones", lol.

We prefer to shoot ours, and then go to a quick throat slit. Freezerburn died quickly. He did moan once, which concerned both of us, and we have decided that we need to do a better job. it is probable that his moan was postmortem, and only left over air leaving. But, still, it bothered us, so we will work on that.

Even if you dont end up doing the meat aspect, goat are just FUN, lol.