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| Goat Shank Dinner |
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BEWARE: Cooking goat over high oven, stove, or grill temps or in dry recipes will result in dry, tough meat and a BAD goat meat experience for YOU.
your experience should be the best possible, so please follow these recommendations for cooking. Goat meat will lose moisture and can toughen quickly due to its low fat content if it is exposed to high, dry cooking temperatures. Three basic rules to follow are:
- cook it slowly (low temperature)
- cook it with moisture or
- braise/sear it to trap in moisture and then reduce the temperature
The tenderness of the meat cut determines the method of cooking. Tender cuts of meat often do well when cooked by a less moist heat method such as open roasting, broiling, grilling or frying. Even with a dry heat method, care should be taken not to have the heat too high for too long and watching the level of doneness is important. Less tender cuts are tenderized by cooking with moist heat such as braising and stewing. Chops and rack are best when cooked to medium rare at most. If you like well done meat, please do not spend your money on chops or rack. Get a leg or shoulder roast and put it in the oven or crock pot with your favorite juices and spices and let it cook all day on lower oven/crock pot settings or slowly, slowly smoke it on a smoker type grill after searing in the juices.
The tenderest cuts of goat meat are usually the rib chops, the loin chops, the leg, and portions of the shoulder. Less tender cuts of goat are stew meat and shanks. Low temperature cooking helps dissolve the more developed connective tissues and muscles and should yield a more tender and flavorful meat that retains more of the natural juices and will often fall off the bone or pull apart easily when ready to eat.
Some very wise information to help you understand the main temperature stages for optimal goat meat cooking, see Goat Meat*Milk* Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, page 27, which states "There are only three temperatures that matter for goat - 140 degrees F, 150 degrees F, 160 degrees F. At 140 degrees F, any interstitial fat has melted, bathing the meat in its goodness. In fact, it's about all melted at that point. By 150 degrees F, it's gone, evaporated, dried up; the meat has become fit for shoes. Which means you have to push the temperature a bit, to around 160 degrees F (or even a little above for some cuts), where you get collagen melt--which then returns "juice" to the meat, making it again moist and luscious."
Goat meat pairs very well with fruit sauces, glazes, or marinades, as well as, red or white wine marinades, and herbs such as rosemary and thyme. It is also great in curries and stews with spices like cinnamon and curry. Ground goat can be used in most ground beef recipes keeping in mind it may need some olive oil or other fat added to it because it is so lean.
Goat can be substituted for beef, lamb or pork in many recipes for Italian food, Chinese food, Mexican food, Greek food, South American food and standard American fare. Just remember to make adjustments for temp and moisture in your adaptations.
To Find recipes do searches for terms like:
"Goat Meat Recipes"
"Goat Chop Recipes"
"Ground Goat Recipes"
"Goat Shoulder Recipes"
"Leg of Goat Recipes"
"Goat Rib Recipes"
"Goat Shanks Recipes"
"Goat Stew Meat Recipes"
"Goat Liver Recipes"
"Goat Heart Recipes"
"Goat Kidney Recipes"
You will be amazed at how many delicious and exciting recipes you will be able to find. You can also adapt many lamb recipes or wild game recipes to use with the goat cuts, because the meat is very lean and the complementary herbs, spices and marinades usually pair nicely with the goat.
If you have success with particular recipes, please send them, so they can be posted for other customers. Join in the culinary adventure of "the goat". You'll be amazed at the flavor and pleased at the nutritional value for a "red" meat product.
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