geese

farmboy · October 15, 2015, 05:59:23 PM

They first geese are starting to fly around. It has been real warm here and the birds are not moving . Harvest is getting closer to a close so hunting is about to start.

farmboy · October 15, 2015, 06:05:07 PM

I forgot to mention that I loaded some two oz bismuth loads for my 10 gauge. I always wanted one and I got one just over a year ago so I am going to put a bit of effort into goose hunting this year. Although if I have a good day it will only be a one day hunt I don't want to eat too many geese. One can always hope it goes like that anyhow. Lol my loads are really old school.

gitano · October 15, 2015, 10:43:44 PM

Had 8 tundra swans, (Cygnus columbianus) (might have to change the name to Cygnus indigenouspeopleus), fly over my driveway this morning as I was walking my dog. I'm going to miss the cranes and the swans when they are gone.

If you have a smoker, you might want to give smoking your geese a try. The result is VERY good!

Paul

farmboy · October 16, 2015, 04:07:22 AM

A friend males geese jerky all the time which I have liked. Never smoked anything myself though. I should try that.

gitano · October 16, 2015, 05:45:00 AM

Earlier this summer, I was 'tapped' to fix dinner, and thought I'd just roast a whole chicken. When I looked at the time it took to do that, I thought, "Shoot, I can smoke it in that time" and decided to give that a whirl. I WAS GREAT! It was also a hit with the rest of the diners. It is so simple that since then, if the family wants "roasted" chicken, it gets hot-smoked.

A small but important detail is "brining". I read in a cookbook that one should brine birds like turkey and chicken before roasting them, so I did. It makes them REALLY moist. After the first couple of birds, I thought I'd skip the brining. Mistake. Bird was significantly drier. All agreed that brining should be part of the process from then on. For wild birds, brining is much more important.

1 cup of salt in 1 gal of water. Soak bird for 1 to 2 hours. Drain and cook. I don't rinse. That's it. You can get fancier with the brine if you want, but I don't. I was worried that it would make the bird 'salty'. It doesn't if you soak less than 2 hours.

If you smoke some of your geese, let us know what you think. Don't forget the brine!

Paul

farmboy · October 16, 2015, 08:23:57 AM

Do you think that a greasy goose would smoke well?

gitano · October 16, 2015, 08:25:05 AM

Yes!

Send me one and I'll test for ya! :)

Paul

Jamie.270 · October 16, 2015, 08:52:25 AM

Quote from: farmboy;141440Do you think that a greasy goose would smoke well?

Regardless of whether a goose is roasted or smoked, it's good to prick the skin and par-boil it first, to get the blood out of the cavity and get some of the fat out of it. Then hang it from one end in the smoker so the fat is easier to control.

When hot smoking, don't overlook the spatchcock method, if you have the space. If you don't, cutting it in half down the middle works well.

http://www.cookthink.com/reference/4162/How_to_spatchcock_a_chicken

farmboy · October 16, 2015, 06:46:24 PM

Thanks!

farmboy · October 16, 2015, 06:46:53 PM

Thank you.

Jamie.270 · October 17, 2015, 04:16:21 AM

You're welcome.

PS: I've found the biggest and most frequent mistake cooking goose is OVERcooking it.
Don't be that guy. If you don't have a meat thermometer, get one.

farmboy · November 07, 2015, 05:19:21 PM

I should be sore tomorrow got a bit of a goose shoot I was laying on the bank shooting up with my back on the ground. The ten gauge is a bps . Kind of rattled my head a bit have a head ache. Lol.

gitano · November 07, 2015, 08:59:54 PM

OY! 10 ga is bad enough! Lying on your back just makes it that much worse.

Paul

farmboy · November 08, 2015, 06:13:54 AM

Only speckled bruising! Lol head ache is gone! ��

sakorick · December 03, 2015, 01:33:02 PM

I bet you don't do that again!;)