I have had great success with smoking whole chickens and thought I'd try a whole goose for Thanksgiving.
It's probably a bad idea to try something new for a big feast but I've already bought the goose so I'm locked in. I was thinking of doing it same way I do chickens: very simple baste of sea salt & maple syrup, smoke at 220 for a few hours, voila: tender & juicy. This method makes heavenly chicken, but will it work w/ goose?
Obvioulsy adjust the smoking time, but what else? Drip tray for the fat? X-cut the breast, as with duck?
Help needed ASAP!
I'm no help in giving an answer, but I am interested in finding out the answer.
I just talked with someone who has a friend with a few wild geese he would like smoked.
Rich
I will post my results.
(and still would appreciate hints & helps)
I think your plan is a good one. I don't think you will go too far wrong. I wonder if there is any way you can put the bird vertical like a beer-can chicken so the fat will drain into one spot? I remember roasting geese and the fat run-off was amazing.
Also, I wonder if treating it like duck would be an idea, since the meat on both is dark.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=498.0
Rich
So, how was the goose?
Goose was ok, a bit on the dry side. 2 reasons for that:
1) I think I poked a few too many holes in the skin. Goose has a TON of fat and needs a few holes for the drippings to escape but maybe I took that too far.
2) Bigger reason for dryness was time/temperature. I was using a reliable meat thermometer and temp never got above 135. When I do chickens I don't bother with temp, visual inspection is enough to know when done, but since it was my first goose I read some online recopes that recommended 165 degrees. An hour after bird LOOKED done tem,p was still 135 but I pulled off anyway. It was done -- overdone, really, but tolerable with some gravy etc.
It was OK, but just OK, not the superb one wants for a holiday. But now I know how to do it & next time will be better
hunt_gather - I'm not sure the 165 degree in the breast holds for all birds. I know it works for chickens and turkey. At the other end of the spectrum, I did a couple of quail breasts and pulled them at about 145 and they were approaching over-done. Some more experienced folk will surely chime in here soon.
For whole goose the USDA recommends 165°F measured in the thigh. I generally will only cook duck and geese to 155°F. The 135°F concerns me; that temperature would not dry out your duck, and it would be an unsafe temperature to eat poultry. Since the texture was dry, I believe you were much higher then 135°F.
What type of meat thermometer were you using?
When is the last time you checked it for accuracy, and/or calibrated it?
Testing Thermometer (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/thermotest.html)
Calculating the Boiling Point (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/boilingpoint.html)
Well, it may not have worked out the best, but it sure got me interested in trying it. I haven't had goose in at least 20 years, I bet.