ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË

Roast Goose

roast goose on the holiday table, on a platter with cranberries and festive herbs
Photo Credit
Agnes Kantaruk/Shutterstock
The Editors
Category
Poultry
Course
Main Dish
Preparation Method
Roast
Sources
Yankee Magazine's Great New England Recipes

Roast goose is a most historic fare for a holiday dinner. (Remember that scene from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol?) For an old-fashioned feast, here’s a recipe for how to roast a goose.

Most grocers can supply a frozen goose anytime; fresh birds are usually available during the holidays. An even better (though possibly more expensive) option is a free-range goose from a local farm, which will be more tender and taste better. 

Note: Goose meat is dark, firmer, and more flavorful than turkey. Because of this, goose was traditionally served alongside other flavorful accompaniments such as chestnuts, cabbages, sage, and rosemary.

Read ALL of the instructions before you get started. There are optional steps, or you can stick to the basics.

Ingredients
1 goose
A little olive oil for browning (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
A few lemons and oranges
Some herbs (thyme and sage) for stuffing
Instructions

Preparation

  1. If the goose is purchased trussed, loosen the string and pull out the legs and wings a little; this helps the bird cook better. Check the inside of the bird and remove any giblets or pads of fat. Wash the bird thoroughly and pat dry.
  2. Prick a goose’s skin with a fork, especially in the breast area; otherwise, it will sit in unappetizing fat! It’s also common to leave goose in the fridge for a couple of days (in advance of roasting) to help it crisp up. You can prepare and stuff the bird a day in advance.
  3. When ready to cook, remove the goose from the fridge and let it stand for 2 hours at room temperature. 

Goose Cooking Time

  • A 9-pound bird (which feeds 6 to 8 people), put into the oven un-stuffed and at room temperature, will take about 2 hours to cook. 
  • A 12-1/2 pound goose (which feeds 12 to 14 people) that’s un-stuffed takes 2 hours and 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Add 20 to 40 minutes if the bird is stuffed.
  • Do not overcook the goose! You’ll know the goose is done when its juices run pale yellow; the breast meat will dry out if the goose is cooked too long.
Goose Cooking Time Chart
PoundsAmount of Time
7-91.5 to 2 hours
9-112 to 2.5 hours
11-132.5 to 3 hours
13-153 to 3.5 hours

Roasting the Goose

  1. Preheat your oven to 475°F.  
  2. Rub the goose with sea salt and pepper to taste. If you would like, rub with the zest from lemons and oranges. Season the cavity of the goose generously with salt, too.
  3. Optional: If you want to give the bird a nice golden color, first brown it in a large frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil. Hold the bird by the legs and press the breast side into the pan to brown. Once browned, place the bird in the roasting pan. 
  4. Optional: If you wish, stuff the cavity with lemons, oranges, and herbs. You can use whatever stuffing you fancy—dried fruit such as figs or prunes, other fresh fruits such as apples or pears, or vegetables such as onions or celery. (Whether you stuff the bird or not for extra flavoring, we still prepare stuffing separately outside the bird for serving.)
  5. Roast the bird at 475°F for 10 minutes and reduce the heat to 375°F until done (when a meat thermometer registers 165° F). 
  6. Ideally, your roasting pan will have a wire rack fitted inside because goose creates a lot of fat drippings. Every 30 minutes or so, you’ll want to baste the bird with the pan juices, then drain the fat through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Save the fat or freeze it for later!
  7. Cover the goose with foil if it begins to brown too much.
  8. Optional: About 30 minutes before the end of cooking, add some quartered apples around the goose on the rack and baste them with drippings.
  9. At the end of the cooking time, let the bird rest for 30 minutes, covered loosely with foil so it’s easier to carve. .
  • .
About The Author

The Old Farmer’s ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË Editors

We love introducing fun new recipes as well as time-tested recipes, straight from the archives! Read More from The Old Farmer’s ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË Editors
 

What's cooking in The Old Farmer's Store?
More Like This
No content available.

Comments

Sharon Brown (not verified)

2 months 2 weeks ago

Can a goose be roasted in a roasting bag, like one would do with a turkey? If so, any special tips?

Because a goose tends to have more fat in/on the bird I would not recommend cooking it on a bag. the roasting pan does need to have a wire rack for the bird to sit on. This allows the bird to be above the fat and allow you to use a baster to cover the bird several times. afterwards strain the fat from the bottom of the pan and allow it to cool. then either refrigerate it, if you plan on using it right away, or freeze it for later use. if you want to make a stuffing for the bird, I use the boxed chicken stuffing and make an orange dressing. Follow the recipe on the box, just use the water from the giblets you boiled. You'll need 2 boxes of stuffing. Use 1 cup of orange juice in place of the water and zest one navel orange into the stuffing. i usually add the water/juice mixture, then the melted butter, then the zest, mix it all up and stuff the bird. Then watch how fast that dressing disappears once on the table. You can do this with duck too.

Thank you Patrick. The orange stuffing sounds delicious!

connie cunningham (not verified)

6 years 3 months ago

Im a free range goose farmer.

Please stop telling people there is some magical difference between a frozen and freshly killed goose. There is absolutely NO difference whatsoever.

As a matter of fact I have had people cancel on dinners before I was able to get the goose cooked, so I refroze the goose and there was even zero difference in a frozen/thawed/refrozen/rethawed/roasted goose.

When I have killed a goose to cook it, it ends up EXACTLY the same as a frozen one that had been been thawed and then cooked. Exactly the same.

Free range geese vs confinement geese: free range geese will have less fat on them and confinement raised will have more. Much more. So, if you are looking for the goose fat to cook with after roasting, go with a confinement goose. They can have up to three times the amount of fat a free range goose will have. You will be trading flavor for fat though. A free range goose is more tasty. (And less tender BTW, since they are constantly walking & grazing and using their muscles vs confinement who just sit around)

Leave the goose untrussed so the meat cooks evenly. I cut the legs so they flop open when roasting. Then the thigh meat and the breast meat will cook evenly.

You plate goose meat to serve it instead of carving at the table like a turkey. You will have to wrestle with it way more than a turkey as the meat is on the bones tighter when cooked. So, do it in the kitchen & plate it up.

Do not overcook a goose ever. It will start tasting "liver-like" and be unpleasant and dry. Undercook it a bit, tent it 30 minutes and then serve. If its a little pink, its fine! Perfect really. I have eaten it raw, seared, roasted and overcooked. Tryst me on that over coooking thing. It tastes awful.

I was unable to get a large goose this year so I got 2 8 pounders. Any suggestions for cooking 2 at a time would be appreciated.

Put them side by side in a bigger pan, or if your pan is big enough just turn them so they are side by side. If you have a bigger pan use that or you could always use an aluminum pan and put your rack in that with both birds on it.

Connie, thank you for sharing your wisdom about purchasing and roasting a goose. Very informative!!

I love the comments; would like to be able to print for directions. However unable to do so.