- Thread starter
- #341
Someone asked, a while back, what age I cull my goats at, and about the flavor. I missed the question on first read, and can't find it now.
One, intact males are "very" flavorful - clearly an acquired taste, definitely not for me - once they get their hormones in. I band castrate at 10-12 weeks, and only keep one boy on premises. I have two whethers (eunuchs) currently, because I want a larger caliber weapon to drop them more quickly. The last processing was not as swift as I would like. Its my holiday gift, or will be. They will be much less flavorful, but still plenty distinct. The goat fat - hard, marble-y, and in a big chunk around the interior organs, a few other places, carries much of the distinct flavor.
Females, even adult females, have much less of that distinct character. As a burger, you can't miss it. As a taco, you can. I hope that helps place it on the scale of how much it shows in the final dish. An adult male? That will show thru tacos, chilis, curries, essentially anything.
Its sort of dark meat/gamey - more so than grass fed beef - with a bit more mineral character as well.
I should pick for freezer camp around 6 months old +/-. Again, harvesting has been delayed for fear I can't guarantee a swift and clean kill at present. You can cull at half the age (and if I had a larger breed of mutt, I likely would) when the meat is less fatty, more tender, and more mild.
Hope that helps.
One, intact males are "very" flavorful - clearly an acquired taste, definitely not for me - once they get their hormones in. I band castrate at 10-12 weeks, and only keep one boy on premises. I have two whethers (eunuchs) currently, because I want a larger caliber weapon to drop them more quickly. The last processing was not as swift as I would like. Its my holiday gift, or will be. They will be much less flavorful, but still plenty distinct. The goat fat - hard, marble-y, and in a big chunk around the interior organs, a few other places, carries much of the distinct flavor.
Females, even adult females, have much less of that distinct character. As a burger, you can't miss it. As a taco, you can. I hope that helps place it on the scale of how much it shows in the final dish. An adult male? That will show thru tacos, chilis, curries, essentially anything.
Its sort of dark meat/gamey - more so than grass fed beef - with a bit more mineral character as well.
I should pick for freezer camp around 6 months old +/-. Again, harvesting has been delayed for fear I can't guarantee a swift and clean kill at present. You can cull at half the age (and if I had a larger breed of mutt, I likely would) when the meat is less fatty, more tender, and more mild.
Hope that helps.
