Anyone ever clean and cook a wild goose?

[XemaSab]

I got one, and I've heard that the process can be daunting. :o

[texanwitch]

1. Do you have to catch it first.

Maybe like a turkey.

I have killed and cleaned one to many chickens.

Nothing like the smell of wet, hot chicken feathers.

[Major Nikon]

2. I've done this with domestic chickens

I'm not sure how the process would be much different.

[XemaSab]

3. Nobody?

:shrug:

[HappyMe]

4. Sorry. I don't have the

slightest idea. Just kickin it up for you.

[csziggy]

5. Here are some videos - warning not for the squeamish

Edited to add - I read it as wild turkey, but I bet the idea would be the same.

http://youtu.be/MDap_ElSlRI

This guy just skins the turkey rather than plucking it but he takes the meat off the bone:
Part 1 http://youtu.be/A9UNButTNBc
Part 2 http://youtu.be/vT1XL0KFqG0

Here's another one that just skins it:
http://youtu.be/wVZ3aOMO0Mc

Here are some goose videos:

http://youtu.be/x6rLDvUQoHk
http://youtu.be/xImeVFmyysw

I vote for this being the most efficient: http://youtu.be/_EA9SsCi4pE

Lots of other videos on the side there.

[csziggy]

6. As for recipes, here you go

http://honest-food.net/wild-game/goose-recipes/roast-duck-or-goose/

If you skin the bird, consider wrapping it in bacon unless it is very fat. Or maybe roast covered or wrapped in aluminum foil.

[hobbit709]

7. The chase is the hardest part.

[Kali]

8. is it gutted or do you have to do that?

skinning it would be easiest

never did a goose but have done some chickens and a few turkeys including a 65 lb SOB (god that was a lot of work)

domestic goose is pretty fatty and there are specific methods of cooking it so that you get a nice crispy skin while rendering the fat out for other uses, but I have no idea how fatty a wild goose would be so for a first try I would probably skin it and slow roast with onions, carrots, celery until done if it has some fat, covered if it is lean - and then to the point of meat falling off the bone.

aren't you vegetarian?

older versions of Joy of Cooking have game prep/recipes

[XemaSab]

9. I'm vegetarian 'cause I don't believe in factory farming

This guy might be a little more free-range than most people would be comfortable with. :D

[hunter]

10. When the geese don't have places to migrate to they crap on my lawn.

This is why I strongly support wetland restorations.




Get off my lawn, you damned geese!!!

[Xithras]

11. Many times.

I grew up in a bird hunting household. I loved eating wild goose, but hated cleaning it.

The only really daunting part is the plucking. With geese, the only real suggestions are "keep it dry" and "the sooner the better". Pluck it as quickly as you can, because the skin becomes less flexible as the goose sits. Plucking isn't actually hard, but is just time consuming and tedious. You also want to keep goose down as dry as possible, because it becomes very hard to get a grip on once it becomes wet.

To pluck it, just grab a small handful of feathers (not a big one, because that will tear the skin), and yank them against the grain with a quick snap. Repeat a few hundred times or so, and you'll have a plucked bird. You'l eventually reach a point where you just have little stray tufts of goose down, and no feathers. At that point, pull out a lighter or a torch of some sort and quickly go over the entire surface. This will burn away any remaining down that might spoil your meal.

As for cleaning and cooking, those are pretty much like any other kind of bird. There are quite a few Youtube videos that will show you where to cut, how to cut, and what to do with it. In fact, here's a video of a snow goose being cleaned and prepped by a kid: http://youtu.be/-2eLcYG_wpI

[XemaSab]

12. I got it to the stage where all that's left to do is take off a little down

Unfortunately, I cleaned it and got it wet first.

Am I hosed? :(

[Xithras]

13. No, just dry it.

Pat it down with a clean hand towel and let it dry. When it's done, lightly rub the bird with the hand towel until the down gets fuzzy and sticks up again. You want it fuzzy, and not matted down against the skin.

At that point, take fire to it. A lighter will work, but it's slow and tedious. If you have a propane torch or a kitchen torch, that's perfect. Just go over the bird and burn off the fuzz. In a pinch, I've actually just turned on one of the burners on my gas stove, and slowly passed the bird directly over the flames to burn it off.

One word of warning though: This step can SMELL. Down is essentially hair, and we all know what burned hair smells like. The more down on the bird, the worse it will smell. You really do want to pluck as much as possible first. Even so, I would suggest either doing it outside, doing it next to an open window, or doing it on your stove with the range hood fan running, if you have one. You don't want the smell lingering. It's not horrible, but it's not pleasant either.

[XemaSab]

14. Excellent

Thank you very much. :D

[yankeepants]

15. We get wild geese every fall

we always skin it and usually breast in out. There really isn't a lot of meat anywhere else on the bird. The rest of the bird can be boiled down with spices and onion for stock. Often we wait until we have several breats and then we brine them and smoke them. They are excellent.

You can also marinate the breats and roast them or slice them into medallions and saute them.

A favorite recipe that I invented is taking the smoked goose breast chunking it up and grinding into powder in a food processor. Then mix the powder with sour cream, pepper and chives. It is an excellent thanksgiving dip with crackers.