Getting your goose cooked...

[Warbird]

Who here has cooked a goose before?  I went hunting for the first time last weekend, with 2 friends.  We bagged 4 Alaskan geese (minor geese, not the huge Canadian geese).

My wife & I were unsure how to cook it.  We stuffed it with apple and onion chunks, seasoned it, and baked it for 2 hours at 325 F.  I'm not sure it got done.  We ate some of the outer meat and it tasted great.

Any goose connoisseurs out there with a recipe to share?  It was good enough that I fully intend to go hunting again and get some more for Christmas dinner.   

Also, without measuring the temp, how can one be sure a goose is cooked well enough?

[Haytrader]

Did you skin it or pick it?
I assume picked, otherwise the oven will dry the outside. OR, skin and bake in one of those bags.
Sounds like you prepared the inside as good as any.
I would say cook @300 for three hours.
A good way to tell if a bird is cooked is to twist the leg. If it comes out of the joint easily, it is done. If it does not..........you gotta let er cook some more.

[flip]

The guy I work with is a goose hunting freak.  Usually all that they do is breast them out and deep fry or turn 'em into goose jerkey.

[Warbird]

Did you skin it or pick it?

Don't know what you mean by "pick it".  Pluck?  A few hours after killing the bird, I plucked it and gutted it.

Flip, this was a good roasting bird.  It had almost no pin feathers and was relatively easy to pluck.  My buddy did show me how to breast the bird.  I think the next time, that's what I'll do, then we'll try a crockpot recipe.

We haven't gotten sick from eating the outer bits of meat, so I guess we're okay.  The Mrs is going to carve up the rest of the bird and put it into a crockpot stew type of dinner, so if it didn't get cooked good enough before, that should finish it off.

By the way, I highly recommend goose, for those who've never tried it.  It was like one of Dickens' stories come to life. 

[bioguy]

Warbird - You might try this the next time. We filet the breast off, then lay it flat and slice it through sideways twice. That will give you 3 nice thick "steaks" from each breast. Grill just like a steak.

btw, I have a son who is a sgt. stationed at Ft Rich in Anchorage. He is on a 15 month deployment to Iraq. Be real glad when he is back home safe and sound.

Good luck hunting!

Dave

[Haytrader]

I was stationed at Ft. Wainright there at Fairbanks but that was a long time ago.
That's where they sent me after I came home from Nam. Got there on New Years Eve.
I was beginning to think they had sumthin against me...

[iffy]

It makes great finger food that doesn't even make it from the grill to the serving platter. They eat it right off the grill. Cut the breast up into bite size pieces (thumb size or smaller). Marinate in Italian dressing. Cut some bacon up so each slice makes 2-3 pieces. Place a slice of jalapeno on a piece of the meat, wrap the bacon around it, and secure with a toothpick. Grill until the bacon is done. For pansies in the crowd you can substitute a piece of sweet pepper or onion for the jalapeno. This also works great on venison, elk, etc, except I use a mesquite or hickory marinade instead of the italian. Everytime we have a cookout the first question is, "where are the steak fingers"?

[gary]

I am what you would call a waterfowl fanatic. First I never pluck anything. For goose I have tried cooking them in the oven, it's alright. What I do is buy a bag of chicken thighs and drum sticks. Take the enough skin off of them to cover the breasts,(rest of the goose isn't worth eating). then put the goose and a couple of the legs you took the skin off of into one of those oven bags. Cook for about 15 minutes for every pound. You should NEVER cook wild game until well done.
 The best way I have found to cook goose though is to smoke it. Breast the goose then soak in marinade. Put it in the smoker for 12 to 14 hours. Then slice it and eat with crackers and cheese and such.

[sawguy21]

I was stationed at Ft. Wainright there at Fairbanks but that was a long time ago.
That's where they sent me after I came home from Nam. Got there on New Years Eve.
I was beginning to think they had sumthin against me...

What did you do?   That must have been some shock. I have never been a big fan of roast goose.

[Tom]

What's wrong with the rest of the Goose?

[Don K]

I would think they were like a chicken or turkey. Some good meat on the thighs and legs. As far as that goes, give me dark meat over breast meat any day. More flavor.

Don

[gary]

The wings have little or no meat on them. The legs have more tendons than meat.
Wild goose is all dark meat.