Goat

I'd go up to the FIND at page top and input goat.We have had a number of threads over the years.Anywhere from cabrito to hacked up ten lb bags of mature goat for many of your southern Island dishes.

Thanks Tom! Lots of good ideas there. I guess I just have to give it a try. Nothing fancy the first time, although I might try brining a front quarter to start. I might find that my fond memories of Caribbean goat really require braising.

Here is one of many discussions,if you are doing cabrito[18-20 lb kid].

We have some Island communities and restaurants and groceries carry 10 lb bags of older goats,hacked up into couple inch chunks.Like you say,they are typically braised/stewed and not smoked.

BBQ Search - Search Engine v1.1


Lengthy post from 1997 on Cabrito (3/26/2004 7:38:11 AM by Jasper)

Happy Q'ing.... Jasper.

BBQ Cabrito El Rey del
Re: Anyone have any luck grilling Cabrito?


>


Posted by DTM on July 08, 1997 at 08:27:04:

In Reply to: Anyone have any luck grilling Cabrito? posted by Dave S. on July 07, 1997 at 11:24:53:

I have talked to several cooks in restaurants in Mexico that specialize
in cabrito. The key is a young kid 30 days old or less. Older than that
and they are no longer 100% milk fed and start to graze and become strong
tasting. During butchering and cleaning it is important not to get any
of the animal's hair on the meat. They leave the kidneys and the surrounding
fatty sheath intact in the carcass.The kidney fat bastes the meat as it
cooks. To cook the cabrito the carcass is stuck on an iron skewer along it's
length and then two or more horizontal skewers are inserted to spread
the carcass open, one at the front half and another at the back half.
The animals are cooked over a trough filled with mesquite wood burned
down to coals.The skewered animal is placed at about a 45 degree angle over
the coals with the back half down or closest to the coals. The meat is
only basted with salted water and the skewers are rotated about 90
degres about every 15 minutes. To tal cooking time varies and the
timing is considered an art in Mexico, but I think it is between
2 and 3 hrs. In Monterrey, Mexico, the cabrito Mecca, at the Cabrito
del Rey restaurants the cooks will have 40 to 50 goats going at a time.
How they keep the turning straight and when it is done I haven't a clue,
but it is impressive.My experience has been that cabrito prepared like
this is tender and juicy and makes the best tacos with the grilled
whole onions and charred serrano p eppers served on the side.
If you butcher your own you can make a delicious "sausage" out
of the liver, kidneys, cleaned intestines and other parts; spiced with
cumin, chili, garlic and ?. It is grilled too and called "machitos".
Taste s fantastic, much better than the ingredients sound.
I know this isn't real specific but maybe it will give you a few
ideas to start with. Makes me wish I could be in Monterrey at about 2pm
today and have a 2 or 3 hour comida at Cabrito del Rey

Thanks for the reply, Tom. Yeah, I'd definitely be doing cabrito, the quarters and saddles I see in the market are around 3-4 lbs. It seems like the majority of tips and recipes are for grilled goat (which I've done, once in a snowstorm on Christmas Day), or braising as we've discussed. Maybe goat isn't the right meat for smoking - I admit I've never had it that way and wouldn't be surprised if other methods were better, just thought I'd ask about others' experience.