# Freshly Butchered Meat has an off taste-what to do?



## CountryFried (Dec 22, 2003)

This is the second time we've had our sheep butchered for us at a processor. The first time it was the BEST meat! No strange smell or taste. Very delicious. Unfortunately this time it smells when I'm cooking it and has an off taste. I would describe it as almost musky or similar to what I have tasted in goat milk. These are Jacob sheep. Two were at 9 months or age and one was around a year and 1/2 old when butchered. They were one year old the previous time we processed.
The meat is so strong to me that I don't think I can use it. I've cooked the chops, and the ground meat. Both ended up smelling and tasting the same strange way. Is there any hope of salvaging all this meat that was so great the previous time??
Thanks!
Sherry


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Sherry, this is most disappointing for you and a huge waste of meat. The breed and age have nothing to do with it unless you are used to eating young meat and suddenly get foisted with older meat which can be stronger - but not "off". As yours were young sheep this shouldn't come into it.

How long between being killed and you getting the meat back? 

I have to be honest and say that I have no idea without seeing and smelling the meat myself. If killed and hung in a chiller it should have been good for anything up to two weeks, if hung in the open air it could well have started to break down within days depending on the temperature. We kill and butcher our own mutton. It is killed in the evening because this is the coolest part of the day, left to set overnight and I butcher it the following morning. We have never had rank mutton.

I would certainly be having words with the processor although they won't admit to anything, but it won't hurt to let them know you are less than happy with the finished product. As for salvaging it, hot, spicy dishes are the only thing I can think of that will mask the taste.

Have you anyone that can show you how to kill and dress a mutton. At least that way you know what your getting and if it all goes pear shaped the only one you can blame is yourself Another thought is, what were these sheep being fed before slaughter. All ours are grass fed so I would expect a continuity of taste but I know that many of you feed grain and that could certainly affect the taste.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

Were they male or female?


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## catdance62 (Dec 7, 2008)

have you thought about turning it into sausage? OR smoking it if you have a smoker? Sheep are usually kind of fatty so you might not have to add any fat to it like you do deer.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

Sherry, have you checked your freezer temps to make sure your freezer is working correctly? 

If you are confidant that the meat is safe to eat (aka not spoiled in some way) then I'd try to make sure to cook it with some sort of acid - like tomatoes or lemon. Garlic and onion wouldn't hurt, either. And if you want to make sausage from it - use pork fat in place of the lamb fat. 

I'd bring some raw and some cooked meat into your butcher and ask them to help you solve the mystery.

gl!
Cathy


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

We brought two lambs in for slaughter this autumn. The butcher said that during the process if the wool touches the meat it will give it a bad flavor. I had never heard that before, but suppose it's a possibility.


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## Slev (Nov 29, 2003)

rean said:


> We brought two lambs in for slaughter this autumn. The butcher said that during the process if the wool touches the meat it will give it a bad flavor. I had never heard that before, but suppose it's a possibility.


I think your butcher was pulling your leg, or wrong. I've touched wool a lot and I don't taste bad. I think he was giving some excuse or something. Of course if your meat, ANY MEAT touches something, dirty or whatever it can change the taste. 

I've been told if you plan to eat older mutton, to let it hang, (chilled) for 2 weeks, (not 1 week) It should then have a "mild" flavor, not the same as a nice young lamb, but mild. 

Also, if anyone responds with, "I don't grain my sheep, they only eat my grass pasture" .....you better check to make sure what all is growing out in your pasture. There are constantly, changing growing conditions out in a pasture, weed seeds blow in, and in a short period your pasture can alter, harboring a multitude of bad but edible weeds causing some funky flavors in your meat. (Like wild garlic)


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## patchworkfibers (Dec 8, 2008)

We've butchered lots of Jacob Sheep from 4 month old lambs to 4 year old rams and 9 year old ewes - all good tasting except one. One time we got one that had such a strong taste I fed it to the dogs. It was a 7 month old ewe lamb, so you wouldn't expect it to be strong tasting. One possibility was hanging time. Sometimes if they hang just a little too long the meat will start to "sour". I've also heard that contaminating the meat by getting the wool on it will give the meat an off taste. I heard from a man that has worked for 20 years at the butcher's, but I'm a little unsure about that theory.
Linda


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Here's something you might try. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth trying.

A butcher once told me that he would be out of business if it wasn't for vinegar. He washed down the carcasses with it to kill the "off flavors" of the meat after they age. When meat hangs, it sometimes picks up flavors from other meat hanging at the same time. The butcher might have done a hog or deer or some other animal hanging close to your lamb.


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

We sent two ram lambs to the freezer earlier this year. One was just over a year, the other a tad younger. One of them definitely had a slightly off taste to me, and I suspect it was the older ram lamb. I've got sensitive taste buds and even the tiniest change I detect, even when no one else in the house does, so I'd say your older lamb could be giving you just a wee bit of a different flavor.


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## Slev (Nov 29, 2003)

I know what the problem is, Countryfried, ....it's those run-away sheep you've got there. They run off into the Tennessee wilderness and get all gamey tasting. The trick is to shoot them only on YOUR property, shooting them after they escape and dragging them back onto your place must give them that off flavor...!


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## CountryFried (Dec 22, 2003)

WOW! Those were great comments and ideas on what to do with the meat, and why the problem happened in the first place. What would I have done if you all hadn't have replied ? Thank you!

Slev is right that all the running up and down hills, after escaping this place, has given them a bad flavor! I would venture to say they are full of p!$$ and vinegar. That explains alot. ha

Ronney-It was approx. a week before we picked them up from the butcher. I agree that the best way would've been to have done them ourselves. I just had had such good luck before with the same people. My DH had butchered one himself before we did the processing route. He hunts deer and does his own meat. He commented on how fresh and clean the meat smelled. Maybe we've learned this is the way to go. 

Sheepish- They were all male.

Catdance- Smoking is an excellent idea. I should've thought of that. I could try to sausage. I would need to buy a grinder I would think.

Cathleen- The freezer seems working well. Thanks for reminding me that it could be a factor. The meat doesn't have a spoiled smell, but an almost goaty -musky smell. I made lasagne (lots of garlic and tomatoes) with the ground meat first. It hid the taste pretty well, still faint. The chops were stronger, harder to mask. I had hoped it would've been just the ground meat that was off.

Rean /Patchwork- That is an interesting idea about the wool touching it. 

Slev- That made me laugh about you handling wool.

Spinner- Vinegar is definately something I will try as well. Buttermilk was used by my granmother to soak gamey meat. Similar.

Kesoaps- I may have just had the same luck as you.

Thanks again so much for all the great comments and suggestions!


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