Types of Meat on a Market Goat

According to data from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, goat meat is consumed more than any other red meat in the world. A common source of goat meat in the United States, market goats provide different types of meat, depending upon factors such as their age, the meat cut and the cooking method you use.

  1. The Facts

    • A market goat is a young goat raised specifically to be butchered. Usually a wether (castrated male), market goats typically weigh less than 100 pounds at the time of slaughter. Often used as 4-H project animals, market goats are a short-term project, frequently requiring care for no more than six months before they are sent for butchering. The ideal market goat is thick and heavily muscled with strong legs to support its frame.

    Types of Meat

    • When cutting a market goat carcass, most butchers typically follow the same procedure as lamb unless you specifically request different cuts. According to goatmeats.com, the main types of meat on a market goat include the leg, the loin (the back center section of the goat's body), the rack (the front center section of the goat's body) and the shoulder. You can cut the leg portion down into sirloin chops, the rump roast, the center roast and shank, with the last two being cut further into steaks, if you desire. You can request that the loin be cut further into loin chops and the rack is usually divided into rib chops as well. Typically, the shoulder is used for roasts, chops and stew meat. The remaining smaller portions of meat (flanks, shanks, and breast) make excellent ground or cubed meat.

    Slaughter Age

    • Market goat meat is classed differently according to your animal's age and weight at time of slaughter. Milk-fed market goats between the ages of 4 and 8 weeks (weighing less than 50 pounds) produce cabrito or young goat meat. Jackmauldin.com states that this type of meat is typically more tender, flavorful and juicy. Older market goats, typically those between the ages of 5 and 8 months (usually weighing about 50 to 75 pounds), produce chevon. According to Dr. Tatiana Stanton, extension associate in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University, young kids produce a carcass that is 50 to 60 percent of the goat's live weight, whereas only 40 to 50 percent of older kids' live weight will make up the final carcass weight.

    Cooking

    • The method of cooking that you use on market goat meat varies depending upon the type of meat cut. You can cook more tender cuts, including the legs, shoulder, ribs and loin, by roasting, broiling or frying. Less tender cuts, such as the shank cuts and stew meats, should be cooked slowly to produce more tenderness and flavor. Goat meat overall tends to be leaner than other types of red meat, so be careful that it doesn't dry out during the cooking process. Regardless of the type of goat meat you're cooking, Jackmauldin.com suggests you use moisture and a low temperature to maximize the tenderness and flavor.

    Nutrition

    • Although the different types of meat on a market goat vary in tenderness and cooking method, they all have the same nutritional value regardless of the market goat's age at slaughter. According to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, goat meat has fewer calories, less fat and less cholesterol than chicken, beef, pork and lamb. A serving of goat meat also has more iron and potassium than comparably sized servings of chicken, beef, pork and lamb.