All About Goat Meat

Goat meat (Chevon or Cabrito) is one of the most widely consumed meats in the world. However, its consumption in North America has generally been limited to specific ethnic groups.

Goat meat has an excellent flavor somewhat similar to beef and venision. It has less fat than chicken or any red meats. This is because goats tend to deposit their fat internally before they deposit it externally. Hair sheep grow and fatten similarly.

When a goat is slaughtered, this internal fat is removed along with the rest of the "innards." A well conditioned goat does have a tiny coating of fat over its muscles that helps keep the meat from drying out rapidly. Goats do not marble (intersperse fat within their muscles), thus goat fat along a cut of meat is easily trimmed.

Goat meat is much lower in saturated fats than the rest of the commonly consumed meats including chicken with the skin off. It has an excellent ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats . Because of its low fat content, goat meat is usually cooked slowly to moderately and is often marinated first or cooked in a sauce.

Source: Canadian Meat Goat Journal, Fall 2006