Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

@No good names left Yup; after it's cooled down. I may smoke it afterwards depending on time and weather

Two wild goat legs and 2 shoulders (rolled together) in the brine to cure. I used an oversized hypodermic syringe and needle to pump the cure into them. I'll leave them curing for about 5 days. I want to smoke them too, but not sure if I'll have the time, or if the weather will cooperate

A lazy lunch of home cured wild goat ham sandwiches with homemade apple chutney...

Well today I finally got around to a job I've been putting off for ages. One of my three Wiltshire lambs chilling for the freezer, 2 more to go. It's actually the first time (except for roosters) that I've raised animals specifically for the freezer.

Let the other two get bigger n older.beautiful meat.

@Micky Duck Nah; I need the grazing

@bumblefoot good tidy job of skinning

Greetings @bumblefoot.
You are both an example and a challenge to us all. Well done.
Regards Grandpamac.

Hey @bumblefoot, how do you make your brine? Cheers.

@MB
• 2-litres water
• 1-cup salt
• 1-cup brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1-tsp mustard seeds
• 1-tsp black peppercorns
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 2 bay leaves
• ½-tsp ground ginger
• 2-2.5kg meat

I used dried thyme too. Star anise would be good too. I boil the brine to dissolve everything and keep everything hygienic. I then sit the stockpot in a sink of cold water to cool it down before I put it in the fridge to cool it right down before using it. You have to strain the brine through a cloth before you inject it otherwise you block up the syringe. This is my basic corned beef brine, but it works really well for mutton/goats too. I would have smoked the hams, but haven't time at the moment

The 2 boned shoulders from yesterday's sheep. It's about right re fat I wouldn't want them any fatter...

Full nanna mode today... Rolling the last 2 lamb shoulders, slow cooking 2 (rolled together) stuffed lamb flaps, save the remaining cooking liquid to use in a lamb neck chops casserole, and start a stock from the bones of the 2 lamb shoulders... Trying to use as much as possible...

Skinning time.... If you're wanting to tan a skin, here's a tip to make fleshing easier, or pratically nonexistent, is to always skin from the back towards the front cavity opening. It makes it much easier to keep the belly "skin" (the pink skin on the belly meat) on the carcass rather than on the skin, because you get "behind" it. If you punch the skin off from the back (at the rump by the tail) towards the cavity opening you end up with a clean skin for tanning that needs very little fleshing.
I make the opening cuts on the ground and freeing those cuts up a bit, and then hang it up to skin it.

That's a beautifully clean skin.

Wild goat liver (from the goat in the post above that I shot on Monday) and puha on fried potatoes... The liver seasoned with thyme, salt, pepper, garlic, sumac and a little Worcestershire sauce