Plucking and drawing a goose

[flexouk]

Hi All,

 

Was beating on a small shoot today and have walked away with a goose. 8 guns, 91 pheasants, 29 duck and 9 geese!!!

My friend shot two of the geese so has given me one. The only thing is I've never done a goose before. Has anyone got any tips or links to a page that may help.

Thanks for looking, Phil

[anser2]

You need to get it done quick as the weather is so warm it will go off fast. I just cut the breasts off te bird as other wise they take up too much room in the freezer. Otherwise pluck and draw in the same was as any other bird. Remember not to let the meat dry out when cooking it as wild goose has very little fat in it.

[Bleeh]

Get a big bottle of whiskey. Drink it. You now might enjoy plucking a goose.

 

For the layers of down you can attempt to remove by dipping the semi-plucked goose in parafin wax and peeling it off.

[unclemicky]

There are many different methods for preparing a goose. The quick or lazy way is to debreast the bird and cut the legs off, the whole package can be wrapped in tinfoil and roasted. Another way is to gut the bird then skin it, saves alot of time again but does not look great.

 

The way I do it is mainly for presentation but also holds the flavour better IMO with skin on. I pluck the bird including the first three or four inches of the neck from the body. I also only pluck the first two or three inches of the wings from the body. Plucking takes time but I have found no quick way. I take a knife and quickly cut round the flesh of the wing to the bone more or less flush withe body, I then using a pair of secateurs to cut through the wing bone. This can be quite tough, you can also use a meat cleaver or even a small axe. So that is the wings off, you loose a little meat but not much and plucking them is a real pain.

 

About two inches away from the body I cut through the skin on the neck, then peel the skin back and using the secatuers to cut through the neck bone flush with the body, I then free up the windpipe and oesophagus using my fingers so they are loose in the wish bone area.

 

So now the carcasse has its wings and neck removed. I then singe the bird over an open flame to remove any down or hair like feathers, I use my gas hob in the kitchen but the smell is terrible so I advise using a small blow torch outside. Singeing is not necessary but aids presentation.

 

Then with a knife I deplug the bird, basically slice off the vent and the circle of flesh around it, normally remove a plug about the size of a 2 pound coin. Then in this insert the knife under the skin and thin layer of flesh and cut an opening about four or five inches long. This is the gory bit. I then slide my hand in and grab the gizzard, the big hard lump of tissue situated just inside and to the right hand side of the cut. I draw this out and the intestines come with it. I then go back and slide my hand under the breat bone to the inside of the cavity and grab hold of the heart and give the heart a good pull, the liver will probably come out at same time. Back to the front of the cavity I then clear out the remains of the oesophogus and also the lungs which are stuck to the rib cage. Thats the bloody bit over with. You can flush out the cavity under the tap or use a damp cloth to get rid of any blood clots etc.I then nip off the legs at the knee joint with the cutters and the goose is ready.

 

I do not bother with the giblets, but they are basically the neck (just skin it off and cut the head off), the heart and the gizzard. The gizzard needs splitting and you will see the internal bit of it will have sand in it so needs a good wash out. I have also been told the sand conatining area can also be peeled out but never tried it myself. You can then take the giblets and use as a base for the stock.

 

You now have one goose perfectly ready for roasting. If I remember I might cut an onion in half and put it into the cavity, or an orange, but it is not essential. Now time wise, I do not have a time per pound in mind but tend not to be in a rush to cook it, long time on a low heat is my motto. If it is obviously a young bird hatched this spring then you can cook it quite quickly and it will still be tender. Otherwise for an average greylag, maybe two hours at 180/200°C, for a pink maybe half an hour less, a canada half or an hour more.

 

I leave the lid or foil on until half an hour from the end then remove it and turn up the heat a bit to turn the skin crispy. I have never had a tough one but some are not far off it. Most though are fine. I drain off the fat best I can and use the meat juices for the gravey. Enjoy.

 

 

Many thanks to Scolopax

[casts_by_fly]

micky's recco is good and all, but I've not got the time for that. Wild birds don't hold much meat anywhere but on the breasts. I'm not a bird roaster of any time, wild or store bought, aside from Thanksgiving turkey. So for my money, I lay the bird on its back and make a little slice in the skin around the breastmeat. Pull the skin apart and breast the bird with a fillet knife. Pheasant, grouse, partridge, and other light birds get done similar to chicken. Pigeons get a quick frying pan. Turkey and goose depend on my mood.

 

Thanks

Rick

[flexouk]

Thanks everyone for your help, great info from unclemicky. I didn't bother with the wings, they came straight of. Plucking took forever and burning off the last of the down feathers really did smell.

Next time it will either go to the game dealer to be done or I'll just crown the damm thing! You need strong fingers to do a goose...