Smoked goose and pheasant


 

Biff Krekling

New member
Hello All...

Has anyone smoked a whole lessor Canadian Goose with skin on or whole pheasant with skin off? Need all the information you can provide.

Thanks again,

Biff
 
Biff,

I've never smoked any kind of goose, but I have smoked pheasant before. Maybe I might have overcooked it, but it seems to get very stringy and dry. Not bad if you make it into a salad type thing for sandwhiches, but not exactly the greatest thing ever.
 
Pheasant overcooks quickly.

I'm not into the wrap-in-bacon approach for lean fowl; some like it. On occasion, for pheasant, I've sliced along either side of the breastbone and either larded the incisions or tucked in fatty bacon. I baste with a fat-based baste, frequently.

See this post as well.
 
Ken,

I would appreciate all the advice you have. My friend is quite the fowl hunter and has a bunch of geese and pheasant.

Thanks,

Biff
 
Hi Biff,
I do a cure and smoke with my geese and pheasants. I follow the cure instructions for the liquid brine on the Morton Tender Quick bag and enhance the mix with some garlic and bay leaves. I generally leave the geese in for 2 days. I then do a smoker cook and bring the meat upto 165F. I generally serve the meat cool/chilled. Wild goose is a nice rich meat and with this curing you can slice it paper thin if so desired and serve that way.

If you are looking to cook birds with smoke then I do both the geese and pheasants on my Weber Gas grill. I place a pan of water below the grates, place smoker chips in tin foil off to the side over the flavourizer bars and cook at 325F. I use apple wood mixed with hickory for the smoke blend and baste with some olive oil. Do not overcook the geese!! A thermometer is essential. Take the bird off when the meat temp is aropund 150-155F. I don't marinate the birds for this kind of cooking but I do stuff with apples and onions in the cavity. You can do the marinade injection like a deep fried turkey if you are so inclined and this works for both the pheasants and geese. I like to seve the cooked bird with wild chokecherry jelly.

A third method with the geese is to breast them. You can leave the skin on. With the breasts I marinade them in a "Greek" mix of 2parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice and a little hit of vinegar and for seasonings I add salt pepper, oregano, garlic and a teaspoon of sugar. Marinade the breasts for at least a couple of hours - I like to do mine for around 6 hrs. Fire up your grill and get it very hot - a searing hot. Place the breasts skin side down first then turn over. You want these to be cooked RARE. Remove from grill and slice thin - it will be like some of the best tenderloin you have ever had both in texture and taste.

Enjoy wildgame - it's natural

Ken
 

 

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