I grew up in
West Texas where beef was king. Both of
my grandparents ranched and raised cattle.
My father raised cattle, and beef was on the table nearly every meal. A few times in my life I had mutton or lamb
and it was alright but had a taste I really did not care for compared to beef. The sheep the meat came from were wool
sheep. To make a long story
short we have not been a sheep eating family and only ate it if served
somewhere we had to be or as a guest.
Here in
Central Texas many ranches have been diversifying from just cattle to meat
sheep and goats as a new livestock. Most
of the sheep are a hair breed of sheep known as Dorpers that were developed in
South Africa and brought to Texas in the 1990s.
They were developed to forage and thrive on a broad range of grazing conditions. Dorpers have tender mild meat and can put on
weight in arid conditions while being able to breed year round. Dorpers are a hair sheep and shed the winter
coat so there is no need to shear them each year. They come in a black headed variety or all white, many flocks are mixed with both colors. This meat type breed is doing
very well in Texas and is here to stay.
We have
decided to raise Dorper sheep on our little place in Lampasas and I have been
looking forward to trying some Dorper meat to see if it would be one we produce
for our own table or just to sale off what we raise. Over the Labor Day weekend I was invited to a
Barbecue at KOBO Ranch west of Lampasas.
My host Karl Oestreich was cooking meat on a large barbecue pit fueled
with oak coals. Along with brisket, jalapeno
dove poppers, sausage and the trimmings Karl was cooking some homegrown grass-fed Dorper lamb. At the table I
was amazed at the taste of the lamb. It
had none of the strong sheep taste I was use to tasting in lamb. It had a mild flavor I would compare to prime
beef and was very tender. I can assure
you that Dorper sheep will be on my menu in the future. Give it a try you might just find it will be
in your future. Wild Ed
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