Heritage Breed Goat Shanks | Heritage Foods

GOAT SHANKS

Two shanks, 2-3lb total — an ideal cut for braising — Shannon Creek Farm

$70
Product

Goat Shanks
Two shanks, 2-3lb total 
Shannon Creek Farm, Kansas Flint Hills.

Goatober is 16 years old! October is the natural season for goat, and we are proud to bring in nose-to-tail goat every October as part of our effort to celebrate delicious, lean, and woodsy goat meat.

Anne Saxelby was America’s first all domestic cheesemonger. Her lovely shop connected the New York City public to rural communities and dairies where she learned about a predicament for goat cheese makers — since females are the milk producers there is hardly any need for males. Thus, Anne conceived Goatober and wove a virtuous web of farmers and chefs to make it happen – a seasonal celebration of goat meat from male goats who spent happy lives foraging in the woods! Sixteen years later the project continues thanks to the rolling hilly pastures of Shannon Creek Farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Shop goat in its natural season — goats are traditionally born in the Spring and ready for harvest in October! Every nose-to-tail cut is juicy, earthy, clean, nourishing and fulfilling.

Shanks are an especially earthy cut — and incredibly delectable when roasted low and slow, or braised until the meat falls off the bone. The shanks are some of the most underrated cuts in the butcher’s case, and make for some of the most comforting and tasty meals imaginable.

Although leaner than beef or lamb, goat meat is rich and flavorful and boasts light floral notes in every bite. Because goat meat has less fat, it lends itself to slow and low cooking including braises and barbecue — see our Cooking Tab for more information!

Since 2010 Goatober has grown to become a celebration of all things goat, the most widely consumed protein on the planet!

  • 100% antibiotic free
  • Humanely raised on pasture by independent family farms
Farm
Shannon Creek Farm – Manhattan, Kansas

Joseph Hubbard is one of the youngest farmers in the Heritage Foods network. Joseph learned the art of farming from his family and raises sheep and goats on the vast Flint Hill pastures around Manhattan, Kansas.

The Flint Hills, a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into North Central Oklahoma, is a region that is not good for plant agriculture, but ideal for pasture raised animals. This ecological region is where the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie can be found in North America including Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass, Prairie Dropseed, and Sideoats Grama. These tallgrass varieties are responsible for producing the tastiest grass fed animals on the planet.

Joseph raises multiple breeds of lamb for different reasons: Katahdin for their multiple birth and high growth rate, St. Croix for the natural tannin in their gut that wards off parasites and White Dorper for their muscling. Joseph is also a major producer for our Goatober Project and has been growing meat goats for Heritage Foods for almost a decade! His primary breed is the Boer goat. The Boer or Boerbok is a South African breed of meat goat. It was selectively bred in the Eastern Cape from about 1920. It has been exported to many countries, and has been used to improve the meat qualities of other breeds.
Cooking

Goat cuts ideal for slow and low cooking like braises and barbecue include leg, shoulder, ribs, and shanks, and goat chops and rack can be seared in a pan.

How to Prepare

Braise:

1. Take the shanks out of the refrigerator an hour prior to cooking.

2. Preheat your oven to 300℉.

3. Season liberally with salt and pepper on all sides.

4. Preheat a dutch oven with lid over medium-high heat and sear the shanks in neutral oil on all sides until brown. Drain some fat, remove the meat, and set aside.

5. In the same dutch oven, cook at medium heat about a cup of diced onions, ½ cup of celery, and ½ cup of diced carrots, until the onions are translucent. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add one cup of wine or broth to deglaze the pan and cook until the wine has reduced by half.

6. Return the meat to the pan. Add enough boiling stock or water to cover the meat just slightly more than halfway. Add a bundle of herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves tied with butcher’s twine to the dutch oven. Cover and place in a preheated 300℉ oven for approximately 30-40 minutes per pound of meat or until tender.

BBQ:

1. Take the shanks out of the refrigerator an hour prior to cooking and bring a smoker up to 225 degrees.

2.  Pat the meat dry and season the meat liberally with salt and pepper.

3. Place shanks in the smoker for 4-6 hours until the meat is tender or when the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees. We recommend half way through the cooking process to wrap the cut in butcher paper and return to the smoker for the final hours.