Christmas goose. Yae or nay?

[Anonymous]

Have you ever cooked or would you ever cook a goose for Christmas dinner? If so, do you think it would be a hit? How does goose compare to duck or chicken or turkey?

Do you have any tips, recipes?

[Anonymous]

It has more fat, which can catch on fire if you don't watch it like a hawk. Don't do it.

[Anonymous]

Sure, we cooked a goose one year for Christmas. The different birds tend to be different sizes, turkey the largest, chickens smallest, and goose in between. Depending upon the number of people expected, we selected which bird to cook for Christmas dinner.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the input. Every year we cook duck and that has more fat than turkey or chicken. Does goose have more fat than duck? I surely don't want to start a fire.

[Anonymous]

Goose meat is darker (including the breast), fuller bodied, and more intensely flavoured than turkey. It is fatter and more gamy than duck. Of all fowl, goose meat offers the most opportunities to match with wine.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artgoose.html

[Anonymous]

I love duck but goose is too rich for me.

[Anonymous]

Good link - thanks! It's hard to pass up an opportunity to pair with wine .

[Anonymous]

We cooked a goose one year for Christmas. The kids didn't like it becasue it's all dark meat. I saved the fat, which is wonderful for cooking, and stored it in the freezer. I still have some of it, there was tons of it! this year we're having turkey. Plus goose was expensive. I bought it at Wegman's.

[Anonymous]

I noticed that goose is crazy expensive. The ones I was looking at were 45/50 dollars. But I figure it's once a year..

I am worried about cooking something so fatty in the oven. I'll need to look into the best ways to handle the fat and make sure that my oven doesn't become a complete mess or worse catch on fire! I saw in the link that there are some tricks to cut down on the fat.

Any other tips? Seasonings, stuffings, etc.

[Anonymous]

You also need more meat than you think you will. The size of the goose is deceptive BC there isn't as much meat as a chickenor turkey.

[Anonymous]

Truth is, goose is not very tasty, some may like it and it is pretty cool for Christmas, but might want to be sure there are other things to eat too unless you have an adventurous crowd. There is a reason some of these foods are only eaten once a year or decade.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't sound delicious (I don't like reindeer, moose, dear or bear, if that gives you an idea) but "Christmas goose" sounds so romantic.

Just use a baster and siphon the fat off.

[Anonymous]

It is absolutely delicious. It isn't going to catch fire unless you are an idiot.
The fat is a fantastic side-benefit that makes the most delicious roast potatoes.

The one drawback is that you don't get a huge amount of meat. Enough for 4 or 6 but it doesn't compare to a turkey for volume of meat - though the flavor is much better.

[Anonymous]

Anything is better than turkey!

And nothing is better than duck, apart from its own foie gras, which we consume on Christmas Eve.

So goose on Christmas Day comes second. It's good.

[Anonymous]

Tried it once. Didn't like it, and it spattered grease all over my brand new oven.