Whole goose ideas?

[Crosshairy]

I ducked out on an invite to a close-to-home duck hunt this morning with a couple friends so that I could stay in good graces with my wife. OF COURSE, by me not going that meant they killed a bunch of birds in short order. The two of them ended up with 7 ducks and 3 "bonus" Canada geese that flew over their setup within range. Fortunately, they had mercy on me and offered me a goose.

Now I have to figure out what to do with it...

My vague plan is to pluck out the bird (never plucked a goose, but I figure that job will suck) and then brine it for a couple of days, but I'm quite unsure of the type of seasoning profile I want to go with. I'm bouncing back and forth between Asian-style or Old World style.

Afterwards, I was going to smoke it in my electric smoker.

Earlier this year, I did an Asian-style mallard where I basted it halfway through with the teriyaki/soy/garlic marinade, and then took a propane torch to the outside at the end to glaze it over. That turned out fantastic, so I'm leaning towards that same method again.

I've read some older posts on cooking goose in here, and someone (I believe Poser) mentioned cooking the legs for longer than the breast, but I don't recall reading why. Is it unsafe to leave the dark meat temperature down in the 140's or something?

 

[TAFKAP]

Pluck the feathers, and run to the hardware store for a 3-block package of paraffin wax. Bring a large pot to near boiling, drop the wax in, and roll the bird around to coat as much of the down as possible in wax.

Dunk the now waxy bird in cold water to set wax and cool the scalded skin.

After it dries, hardens, and cools, start pushing the skin down away from the wax shell. The down feathers will come right off. Cut the butt off and keep it, pull the guts out, and brine the bird for a couple days.

After that, hang it to dry.

The Poser method is from the Hank Shaw book, Duck, Duck, Goose, where you roast it in the oven until the breast hits 135 or so. Pull the bird, carve the breast out (to sear in a skillet later), then put the carcass back in to finish roasting. Catch all the fat drippings.

I can bring my copy of the book to the shop if you'd like to borrow it.