Cook My Goose!

[deerless]

I was given a frozen goose by a friend. It's still got the one wing on for ID, but is otherwise plucked and gutted.

I've never cooked goose before, any suggestions on how to simply cook it? The simpler the better, I'd rather not break my self-isolation to do a grocery store run if I don't have to.

I was going to start by thawing it overnight then sitting it for a bit in a salt-brine like I do with grouse, to get the gamey taste out.

Then what? I hear that if you cook them wrong, they are greasy and livery. Can you cook them whole like a turkey, or do you have to debone them?

[catnthehat]

We always cook them whole, nothing special really, pretty much like a turkey.
Cat

[bagwan]

Wife does ours in a slow cooker for about 7hrs or so. Spiced with salt and pepper. Dressing done in tin foil in a broiler oven. Key for big Canada if doing in an oven is lower heat and more time or it can be chewy.

[Desert Eagle]

First year for wild goose for us also. Found a recipie that cooked it whole until breasts reached about 135 degrees if I remember right, the cut them off and cook the remainder of the bird to about 150. It was amazing. My wife cooked some breasted birds separate after to more of a well done, and they were kinda chewy. If I find the kink I'll post it.

[270person]

Originally Posted by deerless

I was given a frozen goose by a friend. It's still got the one wing on for ID, but is otherwise plucked and gutted.

I've never cooked goose before, any suggestions on how to simply cook it? The simpler the better, I'd rather not break my self-isolation to do a grocery store run if I don't have to.

I was going to start by thawing it overnight then sitting it for a bit in a salt-brine like I do with grouse, to get the gamey taste out.

Then what? I hear that if you cook them wrong, they are greasy and livery. Can you cook them whole like a turkey, or do you have to debone them?

Best recipe for wild goose that I know of is as follows:

1) head out to deck, fire up bbq, set to incinerate, place goose directly on grate, close lid, set timer for 4 hours

2) return to house, pick up phone, order pizza

** if so inclined, or weather is inclement making bbq'ing uncomfortable, feel free to substitute - open sliding patio door and heave goose towards dog in step 1

[CNP]

I eat plenty of them. They are not greasy. The breast is super dry, dense, all dark meat. Chunk it up and cook up a stew with lots of gravy to soften it up.

[Attilathecanuk]

I brine my wild geese for a couple days then smoke it for awhile. So good

[Quest206]

Remove the skin and fat, separate into smaller pieces and season with salt and pepper. Cook in crock pot / slow cooker 6 - 8 hrs with 3/4 cup water, 1 tsp. mustard powder, and 1 cubed apple.

[catnthehat]

I forgot to mention, make sure you keep the breast moist, because as was mentioned they can get dry.
strapping with bacon works.
Cat

[KegRiver]

I have always roasted them much like I would a turkey. I prefer them that way, maybe because I've been eating them that way since I was old enough to eat solid food.

I don't have a recipe exactly. I just rub them down with salt and pepper, stuff them with whatever stuffing I have ingredients for, put them in a roasting pan with a few cut potatoes carrots and Parsnip if I have them, and roast for a couple of hours or until a fork jabbed into the breast does not bring up liquid.

The only trick is to not overdo it. They need to be just past all pink gone. No more. I can and often have eaten one whole goose by myself I like them so much. And I don't skin them or remove any fat. They are the best part.

When I worked for Wim, his wife did up some breasted goose meat in the oven like they were minute steak. With tomatoes and all. They were awesome.

I would rather have roast goose, Moose burgers and fried Walleye then a freezer full of triple grade A Beef steak.

[Battle Rat]

I've stuffed them with cut up apples to give moisture and flavor.
Biggest thing it not to over cook it.

[saskbooknut]

Filet breast meat off. Slice into 1/2 inch thick strips, marinate in your favorite marinade. Red wine or Citrus based for me.
BBQ filet strips to just done - pink internally.
Next meal -
Cook carcass in pressure cooker 1/2 hour at 15 pounds.
Chill stock and discard fat.
Reserve meat from legs and wings.
Make Oriental soup - could be hot and sour, wonton, or your choice.

[tracker]

I make pastrami with any goose I get: https://www.harvestyourown.ca/in-the...east-pastrami/

[ruffy71]

Originally Posted by 270person

Best recipe for wild goose that I know of is as follows:

1) head out to deck, fire up bbq, set to incinerate, place goose directly on grate, close lid, set timer for 4 hours

2) return to house, pick up phone, order pizza

** if so inclined, or weather is inclement making bbq'ing uncomfortable, feel free to substitute - open sliding patio door and heave goose towards dog in step 1

That made me laugh. It's pretty much the truth if you are not used to the flavor. It is strong. If you are used to it, fine, but if not, most have to work pretty hard to make it tasty.

I get my goose meat ground up and turned into hot pepperoni and ground jerky. The only way my family will use it up. Otherwise I'd get to shoot 2 geese per year.

If you ask me, mallards are tastier, you can do a lot of simple tasty things with the breast meat. But again, maybe that's just me.

[270person]

Originally Posted by ruffy71

That made me laugh. It's pretty much the truth if you are not used to the flavor. It is strong. If you are used to it, fine, but if not, most have to work pretty hard to make it tasty.

I get my goose meat ground up and turned into hot pepperoni and ground jerky. The only way my family will use it up. Otherwise I'd get to shoot 2 geese per year.

If you ask me, mallards are tastier, you can do a lot of simple tasty things with the breast meat. But again, maybe that's just me.

Done trying to acquire that taste. I'd rather eat a poodle.

[Smokinyotes]

Originally Posted by 270person

Done trying to acquire that taste. I'd rather eat a poodle.

X2 the only way I can eat goose is if it’s made into jerky, even then it requires a significant amount of beer.

[270person]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

X2 the only way I can eat goose is if it’s made into jerky, even then it requires a significant amount of beer.

To wash the taste out of your mouth? Gawd. I had to use Lysol.

[Smokinyotes]

Originally Posted by 270person

To wash the taste out of your mouth? Gawd. I had to use Lysol.

Not to wash the taste out but to get me drunk enough to eat it in the first place

[270person]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

Not to wash the taste out but to get me drunk enough to eat it in the first place

I don't think I could get drunk enough to force another mouthful down. And I can get pretty drunk when I have to.

[reddeerhunter]

Originally Posted by 270person

Done trying to acquire that taste. I'd rather eat a poodle.

Dang.
Poodle tenderloins.
Barf. Hahahaha.


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[deerless]

okay I've finally thawed it and cut all the meat off the carcass, and now it's sitting in a salt brine ready to join onions, mushrooms, celery and chicken stock in my slow cooker. Also salt, garlic and some thyme.
Also if it's gross like everyone says, there is always hot sauce ;-)

It took almost 48 hours to thaw in the fridge (I took it out of the freezer late thursday night), how long can I brine it in the fridge without food safety problems? Do I have to cook it right away or can it wait until morning?

[Dean2]

It will last two or three days in the Brine and a couple of days after taking it out.

Goose is a very dense meat, the breast is heavy muscle with no marbling, that gets used a LOT flying a 10 pound bird thousands of miles. For that reason you have to treat it like you would any heavily muscled meat. If cows walked 50 miles a day they would be tough as nails too.

There are only a few ways to serve this kind of meat and have it come out moist and tender. One is to serve it no more than med, med rare is better, which a good many people don't care for. Cooking them sous-vide style helps a great deal but if done in a pan or oven you will need to add fat. Other is to grind it, add fat and make goose burgers, meat loaf, sausage, jerky or the like and the final way is to cook it really slow in a moist environment like stew in a crock pot with a lot of spices. Any other treatment you are likely to get a really chewy outcome and a less than pleasant flavour.

[Roebag]

We like ours slow cooked

Part the bird(s) out and place in slow cooker or instant pot (I like the instant pot)
Cover with Clamato juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
Garlic powder

Cook all day or 1.5 hrs in the IP

Serve with noodles or rice

[hippietrekker]

What kind of goose is it that you are cooking up? I've cooked goose a few different ways, most of it has been good.
I've never tried roasting a whole snow goose - I've heard that the fat can be livery/fishy. I trim all the fat of the breast meat and typically make jerky. The legs I retain and throw in the slow cooker.
I have roasted a whole Canada goose a few times, best way I did it was brining the whole bird for 24+ hours (sugar, salt, peppercorns, juniper berries, and fresh herbs). Cover in fresh orange juice and stuff the cavity with orange. Sear the bird on all sides and then roast to medium/medium rare. This was exceptional - took some time but was well worth it.
Smoked a whole specklebelly once, stuffed full of apples, that was also very good.

I have not had much experience cooking goose, whole or otherwise. I would like to try pastrami as one other indicated. For me, I like experimenting.
I am sure your goose will turn out great!

[KegRiver]

I said I love Goose, that's not entirely true.
I don't hunt snow geese because I don't like the meat. It's too strong for my liking. I'm not all that wild about honkers either.
Given a choice I'd take Speckle belly or Mallards over any of the others.

Same with grouse. I love Ruffed grouse and Sharptails but leave the Ptarmigan for the Coyotes. We don't have Huns and I've never tried Pheasant so don't know about them.

[ruffy71]

Nothing compares to ruffed grouse. Chicken of the forest.

Everything else gets darker, denser and gamier until you get to the snow goose or spruce grouse.

Ruffy>hun>pheasant/sharpie>duck>goose.

They are all so fun to hunt, just wish they tasted better!

[honker_clonker]

I like to make pulled goose sandwiches, always a big hit.

In a slow cooker put 3-4 whole goose breasts, 1 whole onion sliced, 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce, a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and let it go on low for 10 hours. Check it periodically and once soft, shred with a fork.

Serve on some nice buns with some coleslaw and horseraddish. Very easy, super tasty, usually goes over well with guests.

[crocker038]

nobody's suggested corned goose? it's awesome.

[deerless]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I tried roasting a bit of it as an exparament and holy **** was that gross! Like trying to eat a gamey, livery rubber drain plug. Unfortunately that went in the garbage.
The rest of the goose went into the slow cooker over night with veggies and spices and that was better. Funny thing though - even though I rinsed the brine off the carcass before it went in the pot, somehow the resulting stew became super salty! I had to add water to thin out the salt, and corn starch to thicken it back up.

Most of the recipies I've seen seem to revolve around the use of heavy spices or sauces to drown out the actual flavor of the goose, and finding ways to make it not so tough. That's not a sign of a real quality meat. And since goose hunting is a lot of cold, difficult work...I have decided NOT to become a goose hunter.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by deerless

Thanks for the advice everyone! I tried roasting a bit of it as an exparament and holy **** was that gross! Like trying to eat a gamey, livery rubber drain plug. Unfortunately that went in the garbage.
The rest of the goose went into the slow cooker over night with veggies and spices and that was better. Funny thing though - even though I rinsed the brine off the carcass before it went in the pot, somehow the resulting stew became super salty! I had to add water to thin out the salt, and corn starch to thicken it back up.

Most of the recipies I've seen seem to revolve around the use of heavy spices or sauces to drown out the actual flavor of the goose, and finding ways to make it not so tough. That's not a sign of a real quality meat. And since goose hunting is a lot of cold, difficult work...I have decided NOT to become a goose hunter.

Same reason I don't shoot geese. You can cook it so it doesn't taste like goose, especially if you make sausage out of it, but I would rather hunt tasty birds like Ruffed grouse, Pheasant and the like.