Did you cook your own goose?

[drcoastline]

So I am hoping to cook my own goose this year for christmas. It seems a farm raised and wild goose are quite different when it comes to cooking. From what I gather most wild geese are just breasted.

Anyone here cook their own goose? Wild of course and whole, if so how?

[masraum]

My wife has done it several times, but they weren't wild.
They were good all but one of the times when the batteries went dead in the thermometer and it ended up over cooked.

[ltusler]

Here in flyover land we call the "wild" ones sky carp. Go with a farm raised one.

[Steve Carlton]

We did that one year. A friend of mine who owned a gourmet restaurant said to save the goose fat that comes out when you roast it. It's the best cooking fat ever.

[KFC911]

LOL ... sky carp

You funny....

[upsscott]

The only geese I don’t give to the local Hmong people is a speckle belly goose. They are delicious. My wife cooks it so I have no idea how she does it. I know there’s wild rice and mushrooms in there somewhere.

[stevej37]

I've had goose and duck..both roasted just as you would a chicken.

I prefer the duck...better flavor.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

We did that one year. A friend of mine who owned a gourmet restaurant said to save the goose fat that comes out when you roast it. It's the best cooking fat ever.

Yes, and there's a LOT of it.

< edit > removed the bit about brining, turns out we didn't brine it, we did a quick (1 min) boil of each end of the thing (since we didn't have a pot big enough to boil the whole thing). I can't remember the reason, but there is one in the links below, I think.

When cooking, you poke small holes/slits in the skin all over the thing so the rendered fat can leak out as it's cooking. You'll want a deep roasting pan with a rack that holds the bird up out of the grease. In some cases, you could even have to empty the grease out of the pan part of the way through the cooking process.

We referenced these. Yes, one of the main things was the quick partial boil of the goose, flip it around and do the other end.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/roast-goose.html
https://www.seriouseats.com/roast-goose-and-gravy-recipe

Done right, a roast goose is moist, flavorful, and supremely rich. The key is getting the bird's high volume of fat to render properly. This recipe, adapted from Cook's Illustrated, does that by pricking the skin and blanching the goose before roasting. Here, we also dry-brine it, to guarantee even juicier meat and crisp, flavorful skin.

Fill a large stock pot by two-thirds with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Wearing clean rubber kitchen gloves, grasp the legs of the goose and lower it into the water, neck end first, submerging it halfway. Keep submerged for 1 minute. Lift goose, allowing excess water to drain back into pot, then transfer to a work surface. Grasp wings and submerge other half of goose, tail end first, in boiling water and keep submerged 1 minute longer. Lift goose, allowing excess water to drain back into pot, then transfer goose to work surface. Pat dry with paper towels inside and out.

etc.... That hold the goose in boiling water for a minute thing is a huge pain. I had big, heat resistant rubber gloves that I bought just for that.

[javadog]

Never did a goose, closest thing to it was a duck.

Nowadays I sauté the breasts as one meal and then save all of the rest of the pieces to go into a cassoulet.

I’m less of a fan of gamey meats as I get older.

[flipper35]

Which wild goose? I have had Canada Goose a few times and calling it sky carp would be generous. Cackling isn't as bad. Farm raised is much better, IMNSHO.

Now if we are talking about Ruffed Grouse and Pheasant...

[vash]

my humble opinion. wild waterfowl are basically two different animals in the same carcass.

i shot a goose. i did the breast separate from the rest of the carcass. i treated the breast like a steak, sears and served up on the rare side.

the thighs and leg, i braised. then the rest was stock.

i dont have the skillset to roast a wild bird and want to eat it afterwards. domestic goose? i'd have a shot, but a long shot.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

my humble opinion. wild waterfowl are basically two different animals in the same carcass.

i shot a goose. i did the breast separate from the rest of the carcass. i treated the breast like a steak, sears and served up on the rare side.

the thighs and leg, i braised. then the rest was stock.

i dont have the skillset to roast a wild bird and want to eat it afterwards. domestic goose? i'd have a shot, but a long shot.

We've done something similar following this site.
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_roast_a_goose/