Goat Butchery for Beginners

Many of our volunteers are really interested in learning more about how their food is prepared, including the slaughter and butchery of animals. We salute them, because we strongly believe that if you eat meat, you should be prepared to kill it yourself. Of course, there are those that make themselves scarce, and that’s OK too.

So here’s a quick photo journal of how to turn this ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… into this ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there’s lots of hard work in between!

 

So, you’ll need a goat. This one was just over two months old.

 

 

You kill the goat by slitting it’s throat, but for kindness sake you’ll want to render it unconscious with a blow to the head. A goat’s head is unbelievably hard, solid bone, so be prepared with a heavy implement and a strong arm. Once it’s stunned, stringing it up will make the latter stages a lot easier.

 

 

Save the blood. Add a splash of red wine immediately and give it a good stir. It will stop it coagulating into a solid lump. You can include the blood in a host of recipes. Traditionally there are blood sausages of course, but our favourite is a rice dish. Certainly don’t allow it to go to waste. If an animal dies for your dinner it’s only right to make use of every scrap.

Here’s a tip. Tie up any dogs who may be interested in what you’re doing! An audience is fine, but there’s a limit … !

 

 

Cut around the skin of the back legs, then slit it downwards. You can then start separating the skin from the carcass. There’s a membrane which attaches it, and where this doesn’t tear it can be very gently loosened with a very sharp knife.

 

 

Cut around the anus, leaving it intact, and remove the genitals. Now’s the time to package up the testicles! A delicacy, honest. Poach lightly then cook in a omelette, with mushrooms if you need to bulk it up.

 

 

Now, if you’ve loosened the skin all around, you should be able to pull it straight downwards. You need to pull HARD, and stop and loosen the skin again if you start to tear the meat.

 

 

Same procedure with the front legs, then the head can come off with the assistance of a good sharp butcher’s axe.

 

 

If you want to reserve the brains for cooking, an axe between the horns splits the skull most effectively to enable their removal. Since raising our own meat we’ve learnt to enjoy many parts we would never have chosen to when meat was something that came shrink wrapped in the supermarket, testicles for instance! But we’re afraid the brain is too much for us still, so this head was donated to a neighbour who was pleased of the treat, much to the disgust of the dogs who are ever hopeful.

 

 

Gutting next. Very carefully, so that you don’t nick any of the innards, slit from between the legs down to the join of the rib cage. Placing a bowl underneath to catch everything, pull it all out. Yeauch! Tie the intestines off to prevent them leaking nasties all over your meat. You’ll want to save the liver and kidneys at this stage.

 

 

Once the stomach cavity is empty you can carefully tear the diaphragm and remove the heart and lungs. Save these to serve with your liver and kidneys.

Now you’ll be wanting to remove any odd tubes and grisly bits that you been left behind, including that intestine you tied. If you cut around the anus earlier, you should be able to pull it straight through. Tie the top as well if you’re struggling. It requires more hauling and tugging than instructions would have you believe!

Next comes the removal of the feet using that butcher’s axe again, followed by a good wash down. Congratulations, a goat carcass ready to cook!

 

 

For the sake of legality, employ a butcher!

This goat kid came in at a pretty impressive 12 kilos of meat ready to cook, plus the offal. I’ll add some recipes to the site in due course.

Comments

10 responses to “Goat Butchery for Beginners”

  1. […] Those of you who have been following the blog will know that we recently killed our young goat for the table. If not, check out Goat Butchery for Beginners. […]

  2. Paul O'Grady Avatar
    Paul O’Grady

    Thankyou, for a very humane and easy to remember direction for preparation of goat.

    1. Rick Ponton Avatar
      Rick Ponton

      Yeah. Thanks. I was torn between knocking it out and just cutting the neck for kindness’ sake.

  3. Derrick Middleton Avatar
    Derrick Middleton

    Brilliant!

  4. Derrick Middleton Avatar
    Derrick Middleton

    Brilliant

  5. Tab Chesson Avatar
    Tab Chesson

    I’m just curious, about how long would this entire procedure take?

  6. Jeremiah Vega Avatar
    Jeremiah Vega

    My dad eats the tripas, just gives them a really good wash.

  7. Sally Barrera Avatar
    Sally Barrera

    We cut up the heart liver lungs kidneys and cook them in the blood oh my it sounds horrid BUT we the right spices (oregano,cumin, garlic onions ) it is fabulous and very traditional in my family

  8. Derrick Avatar
    Derrick

    Thanks very much for the kind viewpoint and the sane approach to harvesting an animal that has been a part of your life’s journey. More and more we will have to come back to grips with our relationship with our food. There is a deep spiritual connection to an animal that has to give up its life to sustain ours and we just have to learn to embrace it.

  9. Abdullah Reed Avatar
    Abdullah Reed

    Thks for sharing. I did get a benefit from reading, although already familiar with the procedure.

    However, I have to share something, too. Don’t consume the blood. God Almighty, he God of Abraham and Israel, has revealed to us the criterion between right and wrong. Human beings are not to consume blood poured out.

    The head, brain, testicles, and other offal have not been prohibited, but blood has, if you believe.

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