Does anyone who has ever roasted a goose have any goose roasting tips?
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Snarp (
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December 23rd, 2009
So I’m roasting a goose. I have a trusted cookbook. It said to pluck out any remaining quills, scald the goose in boiling water, and leave uncovered in the refrigerator to dry the skin so that it squeezes out the fat and gives crispy skin. I have done this, but what qualifies as a quill? I plucked out some large feather roots that I could find, but there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of tiny hairlike feathers that I couldn’t begin to pluck out. Are these going to cause a problem?
It also said to pull off any fat around the openings, I now have a ball of goose fat bigger than my fist, but with some tiny bits of skin, meat, what have you in it. Apparently goose fat is great for frying potatoes. Should I melt down the fat, strain it, and then store it a couple of days to use later, or throw it away and only use the fat from the roasting pan?
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11 Answers
I have roasted a goose, but mine came from the store with all the feathers already gone, including the little hair-like ones. These are called “pin feathers.” If you plan to eat the skin (which you should, due to its lovely crunch) you need to get those feathers gone.
One site says:
1) After you have scalded the goose, the pin feathers can be removed by rubbing the skin.
2) You can also remove the pin feathers by scraping the skin with a dull knife, being careful not to tear the skin.
3) There is also a process used commercially which is basically the same thing as waxing your legs or other body parts to remove hair. Waxing is usually combined with scalding and rubbing.
You can indeed melt that extra fat down and strain it. It will keep for a while in the fridge, and a whole year in the freezer, and while lower in monosaturated fats than olive oil, goose fat has a similar smoke point to olive oil (375 defrees F.). You can also use the fat from the roasting pan in the same way. You can get the details on different kitchen fats here and here.
In addition to potatoes, the French like to use goose fat in comfits and cassoulets. Some other ideas can be found here.
A word of warning: geese can be incredibly fat, so check your goose in the oven periodically and be prepared to drain off fat periodically so it doesn’t overflow the pan. I used my largest roasting pan and had to pour off the fat three separate times.
BTW, roast goose can be very nice when stuffed with apples or pears in combination with other flavorful things. You can get some ideas here. I roasted mine stuffed with potatoes, pears and onions.
I don’t know much on the subject, but I will say that Goose Pâté is incredible and you should try to make it with the leftover parts.
@Darwin This was a store bought goose, the feathers remaining are really tiny. Like longish peach fuzz. I’ll try rubbing and a dull knife, hopefully it’s not too late, I’m afraid the skin shrinkage may make them harder to remove now that it’s been in the fridge overnight.
One tip I would recommend is to make sure the goose you are serving is large enough for the number of people that you are having. There is not as much usable meat as one would surmise from looking at the bird.
Try asking the question five times fast.
@Marina I was actually misled by a random stranger at the butcher shop, and I’m sure my goose is on the small side. Fortunately some of the family are quite picky, so I got a small turkey as well, which should fill out portions nicely.
Get a roasting pan deep enough to place a footed rack in so the goose can cooked and the drippings go below it intead of swimming around it. I’ve found it takes a couple of drainings/pourings off before the goose is cooked fully and I use a bit of the drippings mixed with other stuff as a basting.
Oh dear god….from she who has a 14 year old pet goose
Step away from my goose you evil cannibals! lol
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