Goose

[OctoblocksAssemble]

Thinking of giving it a go, but no idea where to order from. Not getting anywhere with the supermarkets. I do not have a local butcher or any such convenience, and the Internet can be a bit of a minefield...
Anyone able to recommend a trusted purveyor of geese?

Ive bought frozen from Tesco before - last year was the most recent.

Booths and they delivered was lovely!

We've has the (frozen) goose from Lidl two years in a row and it was lovely. I'm keeping my eye out for when they come on sale again as they disappeared fast!

I cooked goose a few years ago - never again! It took about 2 weeks to clean the grease out of my oven...

Not had it for a while but we bought frozen from supermarkets as others have mentioned. A warning that you don't get much meat from them which is fine if you have a small gathering and don't want leftovers

No, but just wanted to say ooo lovely. Lots of crispy skin and juicy flavourful meat.

Frozen from the supermarket. As someone else said much less meat than a turkey, but much more delicious. I add some duck breasts because I have a humongous family. Keep all the fat for roast potatoes, strip whatever’s left for Christmas pie and stick the bones in the freezer for soup…..a goose is a marvellous thing.

I've had goose a couple of times. It's nice but unless you are only catering for 2-4 people, there won't be any leftovers. It's more flavoursome than turkey but overally I can see why turkey took over from goose at Christmas.

I buy my goose from here every year

https://www.carrfarm.org/product/free-range-christmas-goose/

However I live in Norfolk so am local to this place and they deliver to me themselves in the days leading up to xmas. The goose in fresh and boxed and comes with giblets separated and also has herbs included as per the pic.

I always use Gordon's recipe - it is failproof!

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gordons-christmas-roast-goose

You get very little meat and a swimming pool of fat. You have to cook the legs separately from the breast. I found the whole thing a pain tbh.

Goose is a massive pain as the others have said. Meat is lovely but no more so than other game. Massive cavity, takes up loads of room and not much meat

I love goose at Christmas. Supermarkets will do frozen ones nearer the time, and I've bought fresh ones from Lidl and Iceland.

I find them easy to cook, just use a deep tray, put them on a rack or upturned ramekins, and pour off the fat a couple of times. Prick the skin well first. I don't do the legs separately?

Absolutely delicious and the fat is amazing for roasties.

I get mine from Wyndham's. My partner is a vegan so a goose is the right size for a few meals for one greedy person. The meat is delicious cold too, and then there's the quality of the roast potatoes done in goose fat 😊 I make a tart spiced apple sauce and sage and onion stuffing balls to accompany it.

Ooh! We're having goose for Christmas. I've just decided. It's a ridiculous food for all the reasons above but its sooooo delicious.

no leg separation here 😝

I've never cooked a whole goose because I can't face the hassle, but have had goose breasts from Pipers Farm (they also sell goose legs). Not quite as much fat to deal with!

It’s the same “hassle” as roasting anything though?

I guess it is - I’ve heard horror stories about pints of fat to tip out during cooking! I don’t really go in for roasting whole birds or big joints anyway because DH is vegetarian so only me and little DD are eating the meat, and we couldn’t use the goose fat for any potatoes or anything as he couldn’t then eat them.

I never had turkey until dgm died and I had to cook Christmas lunch. Quite greasy. Very expensive. And no leftovers!

If you roast a Turkey or whatever you have to baste it. Removing fat from the tray is no different really you just put the first scoop over the top t9 baste and the rest in a jar. Separate any meat juice out of the jar and keep it in the back of the fridge. I love goose. Add baked apples, baked onions and prune stuffing and I’d say you were in heaven!

Thank you for all the tips, and I will check out the links.
We've had goose legs the last few years, which I made into ragu, and dd is very keen to try roast goose. There's only 4 of us, so around be alright, but will have to plan for no leftovers.

I bought a goose on Christmas Eve (10 min before closing) from M&S for a fiver about 10 years ago.

So much fat which was great for the tatties. It's very rich so you can't eat many slices.

Goose is my absolute favourite. Easy to cook, almost impossible to ruin, lovely rich flavour and you're rewarded with loads of beautiful goose fat!

True there's not an abundance of meat on it but for the 4 of us it's plenty (and we usually have at least two other roast joints over the Christmas period, plus a turkey/ crown if we find one last minute at a reduced price).

Fortnum & Mason (they deliver usually a day or so before Christmas).

https://www.owtons.com (frozen) now or most other places from November onwards. Aldi/Tesco are great also, and probably cheaper, but don't dawdle as it will "fly" A 5kg goose is for 6-7 people and will yield 2.5kg of meat.
I've eaten Goose at Xmas for years. If Turkey is that good, why don't we eat all year round? It's dry and tasteless that's why. Unlike Turkey, draining the goose whilst roasting is the main job, and it must sit off the roasting tray and you will need to drain off the fat. I do not use this fat and do roasties in oil, much lighter.
I use chicken gravy as its lighter as well. It is expensive, but it is Xmas, and you will remember the day.@