my pet goat

since we moved into the new place last summer, i haven't used the smoker, and it's been a huge bummer. as you may know, when we moved here, there was some confusion about whether it was legal for me to operate a charcoal burning device on the premises, so in addition to clearing it with the fire marshal, I had a rider added on to the lease clarifying that I was going to be smoking. that's how into it I was.

and then for some reason I stopped.

two days ago I biked past a local ethnic market that had a whiteboard in the window that read, "FRESH GOAT". that's when it hit me: FRESH GOAT was a solution to no fewer than four impending problems:

1) my poor, lonely smoker hadn't seen any use in a year, goat bbq would be a great motivation to see if I still had the skills
2) i had two tupperwares full of leftover BBQ rubs, and I could really use the tupperware for more productive things than storing rubs for over a year
3) something to do on memorial day
4) four!

After the bike ride we went to the store. As soon as I came in the store, the shopkeep said, "you're here for the goat." I sure was. He was only selling in units of 1/4 goat, and he was down to his last 1/4, having gotten the goat in on Friday, seemingly in live condition at that point. The 1/4 goat was definitely no longer alive, but it was neatly butchered and trimmed. He cut it up into smaller pieces for me.

He asked me what my marinade would be and I said I'd be smoking it with a rub of brown sugar and probably some other stuff, I've never cooked goat before and certainly never smoked it. His favorite recipe is a curry or stew involving lots of garlic and ginger, but that wasn't the route I wanted to go (see numbers 1 and 2 above).

Eventually we left, and when we got home, I spiked the old rub with some fresh cardamom and cumin. Then we did stuff, a night passed.

The next day was goat smoking day!

I went out to check my gear, and you guessed it: no charcoal. Well, I had some, but it sure wasn't enough. I'm not sure how I managed not to check it the day before. I chalk it up to forgetting the routine.

Three stores had no charcoal, or the wrong charcoal, but at last we located the good stuff at Trag's, a neighborhood grocery that I do not generally favor. Time was running short (I guessed: I had only a rough guesstimate about how long the goat would take), and back home I went.

Here's the goat, partly trimmed:

That's a leg, two halves of one side of the rib, some neck, and a piece of I-know-not-what. It's partially trimmed of fat, the goat was mostly bone and fat. according to the shopkeep it was slaughtered just before it got old enough to start getting "gamey".

the mustard slather:

I'm not convinced of the usefulness of the mustard slather, and in my bong-style smoker it may do more harm than good, hampering crust formation something awful, but I had bbq mustard to get rid of, so I slathered.

now we're smoking!

I forgot to take a pic of the rubbed meat. you'll see it in a bit. the smoker was loaded with a lot of pecan, a lot of hickory, and a tiny bit of mesquite. i don't skimp on the wood, i like my Q smokey. I think (even now that I have more of a yard) that the smoking process desensitizes me to the smoke flavor for the day and I overcompensate, making the meat super smokey for my guests but "just right" in my perception. Until I try the leftovers, that is, and am amazed by how smokey they are. That might be the Leftovers Flavor Concentration Effect, though.

Meat check!

Those are not done!

Now they're done!

What are these things? Your guess is as good as mine:

Here's a hint: they were 170F internally. Give up? Me too.

hops, The Captain, and a bit of well done, smoked, well rested goat. The goat parts were foil-wrapped in a cooler by the table. ghetto style!

paired with smokey baba ganooj, fresh local tortillas (cash only, i had to bring dolares to hops at the restaurant) that i overcooked while reheating, and some wonderful green flash hop head red. see that sauce? it was holding down the tablecloth. sauce is for losers whose Q has no flavor. but if you're such a loser, "bone suckin' sauce" is some of the best sauce you can find to give your pathetic meat some flavor.

The smoking took about 5 hours, and the process did not escape the notice of the neighbors. One set of neighbors are frequent weber kettle grillers, and the dude thought my smoker was cool, and was excited to hear that I was smoking goat, so they came over and tried some, and seemed to genuinely like it.

The meat came out perfectly: it was very, very goat-y. the bones were a giveaway that it wasn't pig, cow, chicken, or even younger versions of those animals, but even in a blind tasting, it would be obvious this was something "exotic". the southern-style rub worked very nicely, the hickory/pecan smoke worked very nicely, and everything was well and fully cooked. the texture was similar to a moist pork butt. there was not a whole lot of meat, but the meat was flavorful.

overall, I'd say it was a big success. i have now smoked a goat, I freed up two tupperwares, I have leftovers for a week or two, and my smoking skills are refreshed. i've scoped out the location for smoking at the new place, and i've reviewed and transcribed my smoker notes from the old notebook to a more bigger notebook. the only downside is that goat is frelling expensive: about 7 bucks a pound. so, someday when i want a special bbq, we'll save up and get a goat, but until then, well... i came across my notes and recipe for mesquite smoked tri-tip...

The Captain brought a cherry cobbler made with cherries freshly picked this weekend from the farm of a mutual coworker of ours:

there was also brandied-cherry juice in there. it was a great finish to a good meal, competently paired with some very nice amontillado.