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Whole goat head prep?
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Whole goat head prep?


Hey there all!

I'm not sure whether to post here or on r/butchery but I'll make a cross post later anyways.
I was gifted a whole goat head by my BIL–all features are intact, and I plan to make Jamaican mannish water with it.

I still want to keep the skull for an art project later so I don't want to get rid of the horns or teeth, basically keep all thr bone parts.

How would I prepare/clean this skull in order to cook it but also keep most of it in tact for later?

All advice is welcome!

by ShycoticBunni

16 Comments

  2. No-Weakness-2035

    I’d blowtorch the hair off this thing, you can probably use a regular old campfire if you’re feeling primitive. I think that’ll jive with the Mannish water. The recipe I looked up calls for “burnt goat head”. Skinning a goat head seems like a real chore, to me.

    Cook the stew and once you’ve picked the meat, treat the skull like you would a hunting trophy. Look up videos on “whitetail European mount” prep – a goat is pretty similar. Might get advice on a hunting sub, but I don’t know any off the cuff.

  3. AuntBarba

    Put it in a tree for the summer and let the bugs do their stuff.
    Or boil it.
    Tree takes longer. Boiling smells like everything bad for days.
    Edited to say I don’t know what mannish water is. But if it’s a drink made from goat heads you might be better off with girly water.

  5. Flexbottom

    what is the mannish we don’t know the mannish

  7. Working-Tomato8395

    Save a few bits, turn the rest into head cheese, let a bug farm pick it clean, feed the resulting bugs to a friend’s chickens.

  9. Putrid-Reputation-68

    Just stick it on the end of a sharpened broom handle and stick that in the ground near your mailbox. You’ll be the talk of the next HOA meeting.

  11. cookedook2

    Trim the horns using a sawzall or a bone saw. Burn all hair off with a blow torch or other fire. Poach for 10-12 minutes to remove the remaining hair. You can either butcher here and remove the cheeks/jowels/etc. or you can broil, smoke, or slow roast after applying the desired seasoning. I prefer a braise on goat, and you’ll get a nice clean skull as a souvenir. Curried goat is one of my faves. Enjoy.

  12. FogoCanard

    The Norwegians have dish called smalahove which is a sheep’s head. Maybe look into the prep and recipe for that dish

  14. Shezawildone

    How the f do I block this type of stuff?! More power to you, not my cup of tea. I need out stat!

  15. Altruistic_Proof_272

    Scorch the hair off with a torch-if you want to keep the keratin part of the horn looking nice try not to burn it too much. Do that outside (it will stink) with a garden hose and a stiff bristle brush and a stick handy.Torch a bit , then scrape the burnt stuff off with your stick(keep things dry for now) once you get down to the skin rinse it off and give it a good scrub to get the hair ash off. Usually after cleaning you would take a hatchet or heavy cleaver and split the head in half the long way to take out the brain and so it will fit in the pot better but if you want to save the skull you’ll probably want to skip that part. I would suggest slow/moist roasting it so the meat will be easier to pick. Once it’s cooked the keratin on the outside of the horns should slide off and you can save that part to put back on the skull or for other crafts. There will be a bone inside each horn that’s about 80 to 90% the size of the outer layer that came off . You can then maybe gently simmer the skull a bit longer to help remove more of the flesh residue. When I clean skulls I like to soak them in peroxide because it bubbles off a lot of the flesh and bleaches them nicely. I would also recommend peroxide on the inside of the horns and letting them dry well so they don’t start to stink. Good luck !

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