0

We were given about 8 lbs of frozen goose breasts in a bag. I would think we can defrost it and will then have to cook all of it; slow cooker to be the best option. Is there a method of cooking this goose? as I understand it needs to be cooked a long time to be tender. Can this be refrozen afterwards into smaller packages. We were thinking about cooking this for Christmas.

EDIT - The goose is skinless

Andrew Findlay
  • 101
  • 1
  • 2

2 Answers2

1

Please remember that you are talking about poultry breasts, which are always the leanest part. So no extra long cooking to tenderize, you'd be just making them tough and dry.

I'd also recommend not putting them in the slow cooker, because the skin is rather fatty and you'll want to render it to get the skin nice and crisp, let the excess run off and moisturize the meat below. In a slow cooker, most fat stays in the skin, making it rather rubbery (and IMHO quite nasty).

You should be absolutely fine if you either

  • sear them skinside down in a pan, then finish in the oven or
  • just pop them in the oven for two hours (rough estimate, depends on weight and oven temperature)

Of course you can freeze the leftovers.

Stephie
  • 57,632
  • 7
  • 163
  • 213
  • Thanks - the goose is skinless. I thought a crockpot in slow cooker on low with some blush wine, mushrooms, chicken stock and herbs would work out well, but I've never done this before. – Andrew Findlay Dec 05 '14 at 16:26
  • That would work well with leg/thigh, but as Stephie says, breasts are generally much drier, so slow cooking will result in expensive rubber. A relatively fast, high roast is the way to go. – ElendilTheTall Dec 05 '14 at 16:48
  • 1
    Or a quick searing to eliminate surface bacteria and start the maillard reaction (-> flavour!), then a nice round of low-temperature cooking in the oven if you are afraid of overcooking. But opinions vary whether low-temp is ok for poultry. It's been discussed here: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/6032/can-i-safely-roast-a-chicken-for-4-to-5-hours-on-a-low-heat and links to here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/sous-vide-basics-low-temperature-chicken.html. Whichever method you choose, remember to cool & refrigerate the leftovers quickly. – Stephie Dec 05 '14 at 17:23
1

If you have this situation again, the Icelanders have wonderful recipes for something called "grafin gæs", which is effectively a goose version of gravlax, i.e. curing and no cooking! It is excellent and I did it for the first time this year with a frozen goose crown that I allowed to thaw in the fridge before I removed the breasts from the bones and prepared the dish :) Here is a recipe (not exactly the same blend as mine but sounds great none the less): http://icelandoutfitters.com/article/38

Lisa McMaster
  • 11
  • 1