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Moose Manor Farms

The Christmas Goose

12/28/2012

8 Comments

 
Roasted Goose
This year we hosted a Christmas Eve dinner with some close friends to round out the holiday table.  I decided that it was the perfect time to prepare my very first goose.  ever.

Not to fear though... this goose was soooo amazing!!  It was like the very best beef filet wrapped in the juiciest bacon you've ever had.  The meat was a wonderful, flavorful medium-rare and the skin was crispy with just the right amount of fat remaining to make it better than any other crispy animal fat I've ever enjoyed. If you've never had goose, you're really missing out.  Here's the story of how we got that awesome beast on the table:

We start with a hunt for recipes of roasted goose perfection.  There are two places that I go for absolute authoritative advice for cooking when it really counts: Christopher Kimball of America's Test Kitchen (or Cooks Illustrated/Cooks Country) and Hank Shaw of Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook fame.  Hank will give me the in's and out's of wild food deliciousness (especially waterfowl), and Kimball will tell me exactly why it works (after testing a recipe 10 ways from Sunday).  I also consulted FoodNetwork UK since Roasted Goose is still a traditional British Christmas meal.

The first thing I discovered is that you're a complete knucklehead if you cook your goose (or duck) _beyond medium rare.  Ducks and geese are red meat birds – meaning the breasts of both need to be served pink.  I say it all the time: ducks are not chickens; so it follows that goose is not turkey.

OK... now we have more advice than we can shake a stick at and an almost 13lb free-range, all natural goose to cook for 6 people.  I took everyone's expert recommendations to heart and created my own recipe (I know you saw it coming).  The highlights I gleaned from the recipes were as follows:

FoodNetwork UK said to brine the goose for at least 24 hours.  I went with a basic brine (1 part sea salt, 1 part brown sugar).  And also followed their advice to the letter about stuffing the bird with fruit before roasting.

Kimball said that I should air-dry the goose in the refrigerator for 24 hours in order to tighten the skin so that during roasting the fat will be squeezed out. I neglected to do the boiling water dip first but I had totally intended to - I just got disorganized in the hubbub of preparing dinner.

Hank said, in his guest post at Simply Recipes, that I would better represent the Lord of the Marsh with a medium-rare breast and well roasted legs and wings. So he advises roasting the goose for a bit, then slicing off the whole breast to finish searing it in a pan once the legs are done. That way I'll still have a nice roasted flavor on the whole goose, crispy skin, and properly pink breast meat.  He also has a superb photo tour for prepping the goose that I found very helpful.

We didn't take lot of pictures because we were pretty busy bustling about getting everything ready for dinner but here's the one good picture we did manage to grab:

Picture
The conglomeration of a recipe below is extremely fussy because it was a special occasion and I chose to be a madwoman.  But there's no need to be crazy like me - just follow Hank's lead and do something simple.  You'll be amazed by the flavor and very happy you gave it a shot!

In general, plan for:

8-10 lb goose for 5-6 people
11-12 lb goose for 6-8 people

Ingredients:
Goose:
13 lbs free-range goose
¼ C olive oil
1 apple, quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 orange, quartered
1 lemon, halved
Sea Salt

Brine:
1 C sea salt
1 C brown sugar
1 gallon water
Method:

Prep the Goose

Thaw your goose. 

Remove the neck, giblets (heart, gizzard, liver); set them aside for making gravy.

Slice off the neck skin about a half inch in front of the body; reserve for rendering.

You also need to remove excess fat from the goose. You will want to save it – goose fat is among the most delicious of all cooking fats, and it is far healthier than butter or lard:  Remove the fat from inside the body cavity and put it in a bowl. Then slice off the wide belly flaps covering the body cavity; if you plan on stuffing the goose you’d need these, if not, take them off. You also want to remove the tail. All of this should go into a pot with a little water (about ½ cup) and put over low heat to render out.

Brine the Goose

In a large non-metallic container combine the sugar, salt and add one quart of boiling water, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt completely.  Add three quarts of cold water to cool the brine.

Place the goose in the brine making sure it is completely submerged. If the meat floats to the surface, weight it down with a plate. Cover and refrigerate. Allow to cure for at least 24 and up to 48 hours.

Heat large stockpot two-thirds full of water to boil.

Prick the goose's skin all over with a needle or knife tip.  This will give all that fat underneath the goose’s skin somewhere to go – if you don’t, the skin will never fully crisp up. The best way to do this is to prick it with a clean needle. The technique is to stick the skin from an angle so you are not piercing the meat of the goose, just the skin. Do this all over the goose.

“Dry” the Goose


Submerge bird neck side down for 1 minute, until goose bumps arise on the skin. If your pot isn't deep enough to dunk the entire bird, turn goose tail side down, and repeat the process. Drain goose and dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels.

Set goose, breast side up, on flat rack in roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.  This method tightens the skin so that during roasting the fat will be squeezed out.

After drying, remove goose from refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.

Cook the Goose

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Tuck wings across back with tips touching (photo tutorial here).  This will keep them from flopping around while you’re turning the bird and crisp up the breast skin under the wing.

Rub the goose all over with the cut half of a lemon. Use both sides to get it good and coated. Put the halves inside the goose along with the rest of the quartered fruit. Sprinkle salt liberally all over the goose. Use more salt than you think you need; it helps crisp the skin and adds a lot to the flavor.

Lower the oven temp to 350°F, place the goose breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan and into the oven.

After the goose has cooked for 20 minutes pour out the goose fat that's collecting in the bottom of the roasting pan. Put it in the pre-warmed mason jar to save (I got over a quart from my goose!).  If you’re making roasted vegetables, now is the time to coat them with some goose fat and put them in the oven to roast.

When you’re done, put the goose back into the oven for another 25 minutes. When a total of 45 minutes of cooking time has elapsed, test the temperature of the breast. You should have something between 130 and 140 degrees. If you’re there, remove the goose but keep the oven on.

Carve out the breasts

Now you need to carve off the whole breasts.
simplyrecipes.com
from simplyrecipes.com & Hank Shaw
Using a thin knife – again, a boning knife is ideal – slice along the keel bone, which separates the two halves of the breast. Go straight down and tap the point of the blade against the breastbone as you move the knife up toward the wishbone, then back toward the open body cavity. Know that a goose has a deep keel and that the breastbone comes out wide at almost a right angle from it, so work your knife in short, gentle strokes out to free the whole side of the breast. Once you get near the wishbone, find it with the tip of your knife and carefully slice around it. Repeat on the other side and tent with foil.

Put the goose (minus the breasts) back into the oven. Let this cook for another 45 minutes to finish the rest of the goose

After the additional 45 minutes are up, probe the thickest part of the goose’s thigh with a thermometer. You want 165-175 degrees. If it is a little low or high, that’s fine. Remove the goose.

Check the root veggies, and if they are done, great. If not, keep them in the oven for the moment.

Sear the breasts

Now get a large sauté pan hot. Add some goose fat, and let that get hot over medium-high heat.

Take the goose breasts, which should be a lovely pink on the meat side, and pat them dry. Place them skin side down (don’t cook them on the meat side!) in the pan and sear the skin hard. You might need to press down on them a little to get good contact. Check after 3-4 minutes. You want a rich brown.

When it is ready, remove the breasts and immediately salt the skin. Set aside, skin side up.

Carve the Goose

Here’s a pretty good video:

Serve and enjoy!


Oh, yeah... and save that wonderful goose fat!  That stuff is so much healthier for you to cook with than any processed fat around.  It's also the absolute BEST for roasting potatoes (or anything for that matter).  Put it in your fridge and it'll keep for ages.
8 Comments
Jo Ann Abell link
12/29/2012 04:52:48 am

I don't know if I'll ever be brave enough to try to cook a goose. Maybe I missed it in the post, but how did it turn out? I like Cooks Country because they test all their recipes. Sometimes I follow a recipe exactly and it doesn't turn out and I wonder, did they even try this before publishing it?

Reply
Dana Kee link
12/29/2012 09:36:54 am

Hi Jo Ann!

This is a very complicated recipe for a very special occasion but you can follow Hanks simple recipe on the site I linked to and you'll get an awesome roast goose without as much fuss.

Thanks for pointing out that I failed to tell you how it turned out! This goose was soooo amazing!! It was like the very best beef filet wrapped in the juiciest bacon you've ever had. The meat was an wonderful, flavorful medium-rare and the skin was crispy with just the right amount of fat remaining to make it better than any other crispy animal fat I've ever enjoyed. If you've never had goose, you're really missing out... have some! In fact, the next time I cook one up you come on over for dinner :)

Reply
Bryan link
12/29/2012 09:57:10 am

Ms. Jo Ann, I was there and so busy helping to host that I could only get that one picture in above of the hand and the lemon but I'll tell you and everyone, it's a pity there aren't more Christmas Gooses at more tables! Without a doubt, with a heavy enough bird, this recipe calls for a kitchen helper or a clever way to OUT that rendered Goose fat as you go along. Worth it? The Goose I had that this post is written for was far more moist than the best Thanksgiving turkey I ever had, as delightful as a succulent, savory Christmas ham and so well received that another Goose will grace my plate before next Christmas for sure.

True that sometimes it seems like even Cooks Country seems to not even test out their own recipes online. They're just trying to jam content out there I guess.

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Dana Kee link
12/29/2012 10:25:24 am

Yeah... I forgot to mention how AMAZING the goose fat is to cook will. Yum!

Reply
Cathy
1/1/2013 06:41:44 am

Thanks for the recipe and links. I have roasted a couple of the whole geese we have eaten this year. I tried poaching once but the directions weren't as specific as this and I poached too long.

We generally remove the breasts with wings attached and the thigh and legs. Then we save them for several meals.

After the parts are removed and stored and excess fat trimmed I prepare stock from the rest of the carcass and render fat.

I pan sear the breast/s for several minutes on the skin side and briefly on the meat side. They are then roasted in a hot oven (~400 on convection) for 15 to 25 minutes. It should be roasted no more than to pink stage. The breast is sliced to serve and one split breast is more than enough for two people. Even though it all gets eaten.

Cooking in parts is very practical for us and roast goose breast is a simple fast meal. Vacuum packing for the freezer is easy this way as well.

I think geese are very productive under good conditions and since they are grazers they are quite cheap to raise. If it weren't for osprey we'd be over run with them. Those first two weeks are treacherous. We brood about 50 each year to sell and add a few of those to the flock when they are old enough to deter the flying predators. Each of our three geese are allowed to hatch their own brood later in the year but this puts an end to their egg laying for that season, so we like to delay their sitting. They seem to manage to hatch about 6 and about 4 of those make it through the first few weeks. The lost ones are truly lost. There is absolutely no sign of them. My husband and neighbors have seen osprey carry off our turkey poults so I assume they take the goslings as well.

Did you get a firm sense about what age goose to cook? I have never eaten one as young as 8 weeks but hear that is the best age. I've also heard they aren't very good past 6 months. I don't think I liked our oldest one (so far) as well as the younger ones (breast meat, the thighs and legs will probably be cooked tonight).

I hear they are quite good smoked and it is easy to get one smoked here so that is my plan for the next one which is also older. I think smoking might overcome some loss in culinary quality of an older goose. It can be hard to decide when to cull. I have an extra trio of Buffs I'd like to sell but if they don't sell soon I should process them.

Reply
Dana Kee
1/20/2013 12:02:06 am

Hi Cathy,

I know that there are certain breeds that grow very quickly and are big enough to eat at 8 weeks. This year a friend and I are teaming up on goslings for meat. She's got Pilgrim geese and they are supposed to be 10 lbs standing weight at 10 weeks. That means they should dress out at 7 1/2 lbs. That pretty good in just 10 weeks.

I know that the age of the waterfowl at harvest will determine how difficult they are to defeather. The general rule of thumb I've learned is that 9 weeks is ideal and defeathering is easy. If you don't do it at 9 weeks then 16 weeks is the max. I've harvested older birds and I'll say for sure that getting those back and wing feathers off is pretty hard! I have to use plyers!

As far as tenderness of the meat, I'd say for geese anything younger than 6 months will be very tender. But that will depend on the breed and their level of activity too. I'm still learning about goose meat so hearing what others are doing is super helpful for me too :)

Reply
Krista link
1/19/2013 08:56:13 pm

Thank you so much for posting how you did this. :-) I'm a Canadian girl who moved to Australia to run a goat farm with my love. :-) We just started raising geese (and Muscovy's, chickens, and a turkey), so I'm very interested in good ways to cook and use them. :-)

Reply
Dana Kee
1/20/2013 12:16:12 am

Hi Krista!

Wow... how awesome to have a reader from another continent! I'm a little jealous of your current weather since it's cold and blustery here and you're having sunshine and green grass there. Well... soon enough I'll be dealing with triple digits so I should count my frosty blessings! :)

For great waterfowl recipes I always turn to Hank Shaw at http://honest-food.net/. He has some really wonderful ways to prepare those birds. Some are very complicated but since goose meat is such a treat I don't mind making into something very fabulous.

Muscovy meat is easy to dry out when cooking so I've learned that wet heat works best. I found a recipe for Beer Braised Muscovy and Moosified it a bit... wonderful! I made it for Thanksgiving this year and it was so tender and tasty. The meat falls off the bone so it's best presented at the table deboned.

My favorite way to cook duck and goose is roasted to give it crispy skin. But as Cathy said above, parting the larger birds out is a great way to enjoy the birds over many meals and give you more chance to experiment your cooking technique.

My Muscovy are often close to 10 lbs so many, many meals may be had but cutting them up into managable parts. So far I haven't stocked my freezer with enough goose to part them out (roasting them whole for a special occasion is nice) but this summer when I have more to harvest I plan to follow Cathy's advice.

P.S. Love your website!!

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    Dana

    About Farmrgirl

    Small town Calif. farm-girl leaves the ranch behind for many years of adventure at sea, travels the world, then moves to Washington DC in 2007 where she finds the perfect homestead to settle down: acres of secluded Southern Maryland woods where she goes granola by raising her quality of life, Mastiffs, ducks, chickens, and tomatoes {& one Bengal kitty}... sustainably.


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