Well, I am finally getting around to reporting about my goat cooking experience weekend before last.
Ok, I bought 2 different cuts of goat meat at the farmers market in Nashville. I bought a shoulder and a leg, both weighing aproxamately 6 lbs. The cuts were imported from Australia and weren't cheap, almost 3 bucks a pound. I need to find a cheaper source if I keep cooking this.
The shoulder was marinated overnight in a mixture of white wine, butter, garlic, and some other spices. The leg I rubbed down the night before in a jerk paste made of onions, habenaros, soy sauce,lots of garlic and some other spices. I got both recipes out of Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ book. I also made some pork loin fajitas for backup.
I smoke the goat at about 240 for 5 hours with Pecan and Oak chunks, about 3 fist sized chunks of Pecan and about 4 small peices of Oak, with Kingsford charcol. Next time I need to use either more wood or a stronger one because there wasn't enough smoke flavor for my preference. I mopped the shoulder with boiled marinade and sprayed the jerked leg with a mix of beer and lemon juice. 5 hours wasn't quite long enough so I had to finish in a 350 degree oven for about 45 mins (To get the meat over 160). Next time I will count on 7 hours.
Well, the shoulder ended up kinda dry, but the leg was very moist. The meat of the shoulder wasn't what I would call tender, but it wasn't tough either. The leg was about half what I wouldn't call tough either, and half melt in your mouth tender. The key is to slice kind thin against the grain, like you would a brisket.
The flavor of the marinated one was pretty good, but the jerked leg was outstanding, and I even forgot to put out the jerk sauce. I had more people than I expected, about 40 guests in all. All but one had the guts to taste the goat, and anyone who tasted the goat loved it! Within an hour all the goat and the fajitas I made were GONE! Just goat bones laying in the pan!
One of our friends brought a couple muslim guys from the Middle east over, I didn't catch what country. They raved about the goat too, and those guys have been eating goat all their lives. They peppered me with all sorts of questions about the seasonings, the cooking methods, and shared some of their own methods. Made me happy that people who know their goat, so to speak, liked my first try!
All in all it was a very succsessful experiement, I will be doing this again. I think from now on I will stick with the leg though, unless I can gain access to a whole kid. Questions? Fire away!
Ok, I bought 2 different cuts of goat meat at the farmers market in Nashville. I bought a shoulder and a leg, both weighing aproxamately 6 lbs. The cuts were imported from Australia and weren't cheap, almost 3 bucks a pound. I need to find a cheaper source if I keep cooking this.
The shoulder was marinated overnight in a mixture of white wine, butter, garlic, and some other spices. The leg I rubbed down the night before in a jerk paste made of onions, habenaros, soy sauce,lots of garlic and some other spices. I got both recipes out of Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ book. I also made some pork loin fajitas for backup.
I smoke the goat at about 240 for 5 hours with Pecan and Oak chunks, about 3 fist sized chunks of Pecan and about 4 small peices of Oak, with Kingsford charcol. Next time I need to use either more wood or a stronger one because there wasn't enough smoke flavor for my preference. I mopped the shoulder with boiled marinade and sprayed the jerked leg with a mix of beer and lemon juice. 5 hours wasn't quite long enough so I had to finish in a 350 degree oven for about 45 mins (To get the meat over 160). Next time I will count on 7 hours.
Well, the shoulder ended up kinda dry, but the leg was very moist. The meat of the shoulder wasn't what I would call tender, but it wasn't tough either. The leg was about half what I wouldn't call tough either, and half melt in your mouth tender. The key is to slice kind thin against the grain, like you would a brisket.
The flavor of the marinated one was pretty good, but the jerked leg was outstanding, and I even forgot to put out the jerk sauce. I had more people than I expected, about 40 guests in all. All but one had the guts to taste the goat, and anyone who tasted the goat loved it! Within an hour all the goat and the fajitas I made were GONE! Just goat bones laying in the pan!
One of our friends brought a couple muslim guys from the Middle east over, I didn't catch what country. They raved about the goat too, and those guys have been eating goat all their lives. They peppered me with all sorts of questions about the seasonings, the cooking methods, and shared some of their own methods. Made me happy that people who know their goat, so to speak, liked my first try!
All in all it was a very succsessful experiement, I will be doing this again. I think from now on I will stick with the leg though, unless I can gain access to a whole kid. Questions? Fire away!
