Grilled Goat Recipes: How To Grill Goat

Grilled Goat Recipes

This page covers ideas for grilled goat recipes together with a more general look at how to grill goat following on from my recipe for grilled goat chops.

Goat meat is usually produced from goat that is less than one year old and the best quality is usually referred to as “prime” and really the same rules apply to goat as they do to lamb. My favorite with lamb are shoulder, leg and chops when it comes to grilling.

It's a fantastic meat yet rarely is it available in the butcher where I live. Goat is extremely popular in other parts of the world, the closest to me is probably Spain and Portugal where they make some great stews but in my country it tends to be sold into the Asian and Caribbean communities for use in curries.

Because of its rarity in my butcher's shop it tends to be expensive so this is one meat where I travel to find it. But if you can get it, then as a meat eater there is a positive argument for buying it.

One can argue that killing animals to eat them is cruel, most meat eaters will agree that it's less cruel to kill for meat if the animal has had a happy life and it's this latter argument that needs opening out for me to make the point about goat meat.

The vast majority of goat farming is for the production of milk, something which can only be done by the doe. There is no economic reason at the moment to keep the male kids (it costs more to keep them than to dispose of them) so they are routinely killed at birth.

If there was a greater demand for goat meat then the economic case for farming the male (buck) becomes more powerful. Thus the more we eat goat, the less waste and cruelty there is within the industry.

So maybe with a few more grilled goat recipes we can work together to give our make goats a longer happier life?

Of course there are some that would argue that animal agriculture as a whole, whether it be for dairy or meat consumption is cruel and this is a reasonable position to take too.

Tips For Grilling Goat

Your choice of goat for grilling should be tender, reasonably lean (with some fat marble but limited connective tissue). Although naturally tender you can use a marinade to further tenderize and choose relatively thin cuts so that you can give it the short sharp shock treatment of a hot barbecue grill.

More grilled goat recipes are on the way and in the meantime there's a couple of recipes here where I have used lamb but these are also ideal for substitution with goat.

Grilled Goat Chops

Butterflied Leg

Butterflied Shoulder

When grilling you can use an instant read thermometer to ensure the right level of done-ness.

Medium Rare - 145°F or 62.8°C
Medium - 160°F or 71.1°C
Well Done – 170°F or 76.7°C

In addition, all the usual rules apply to preparing goat:-

If marinading for any length of time, cover and use the refrigerator
Bring the meat back up to room temperature before grilling, never grill straight from the refrigerator
Grill over high heat to seal in the juices
Turn with tongs to avoid puncturing the meat
Allow the meat to rest for 5 or 10 minutes on a warm plate prior to cutting in so that the juices have time to settle

Grilling Goat On The Rotisserie

Using the rotisserie is a slow roasting process using a high level of dry heat so ideal cuts of meat will include a reasonable level of fat marbling and the other criterion is that the meat is nicely distributed (weight wise) to minimize the strain on the rotisserie motor.

Look for rolled and strung cuts of leg and shoulder. If you're up for doing the whole animal then just remember that the legs and shoulders will take significantly longer than the ribs so position your fire accordingly. Two fires, one at the front and one at the rear of the animal for direct heat and the ribs will gently cook over the less intense heat in the middle.