Goat meat

[CraftyLittleLady]

I recently bought goat meat to cook in the crock pot, but much of it came out tough! This doesn't happen with other types of meat...is there anything I can do to make it softer and more tender? Or is is simply a bad cut of meat that I bought?

[LordVader]

I was watching Chopped on Food Network the other night, and goat meat was one of the surprise ingredients.  I remember one contestant braised it with tomatoes.  She said cook it with acid, because that'll make it more tender.  Because goat meat tends to be a more tough piece of meat.  Did you trim the fat?  That should also help.

[uropygid]

Yeah, "gamy" meats like deer, goat and mutton/lamb tend to be much leaner than beef, but the fat is bitter. cut all of that off before cooking. Tough meats like older goats and mutton are best when just stewed or roasted for hours and hours on low temperature. How long did you cook it in the crock pot for? I would immerse the meat in water and cook it on low for at least 24 hours, maybe a bit less if it's already cut up.

[brunoise]

I would immerse the meat in water and cook it on low for at least 24 hours, maybe a bit less if it's already cut up.

+1 to this but instead of water, use anything that's not water. Maybe Veg or chicken stock instead of water for more flavor. You could also use tomato juice as mentioned above. Low and slow!

[brokenporcelaindoll]

Goat meat really needs to be cooked slow to get it tender.  What it lacks in softness though it really makes up for in flavour!

You can also beat it to tenderise it, and trimming away as much fat as possible always helps.  I make a goat curry and first grill the meat slowly in cocnut milk for about 30 minutes, then on a very low heat cook it in the curry in the oven for at least an hour, just to let it soften.

[LMAshton]

Agree with the acid and with tomato - tomato works great. Also agree with slow cooking. We get mutton here sometimes and cooked for short times, it's awful. Cooked for hours, it's perfectly fine.

[alorralora]

I use a pressure cooker.  it's so tender and moist that way, but yes, get rid of that fat and gristle.