How to Butcher a Goose

You've gone out and gotten yourself a Canada goose. Congratulations! You've plucked it, gutted it, and now you're looking at a nice whole goose.

- ADAM BERKELMANS

 Although it seems like a great idea to roast it, Canada geese are much better separated into pieces which can each be dealt with in their respectively suitable ways.

Follow these instructions to part out your goose into breasts, legs, wings, carcass, and extra skin and fat for rendering. Canada geese come in many shapes and sizes and have different characteristics from season to season.

1 CANADIAN GOOSE

• 2 breasts - good for cooking quickly, keep these at medium-rare to medium, or they will become tough and livery tasting

 • 2 legs - good for cooking very slowly, turn these into confit, carnitas, cook them in a stew, or put them in the crockpot with bbq sauce or Mexican spices and shred them like pulled pork for buns or tacos

• 2 wings - even tougher than the legs, these guys are good for very slow cooking, like confit, crockpot, or for stock

• Carcass - this should be roasted, then simmered to make a goose stock which can be used for soups, stews, or in place of water when cooking grains like rice or quinoa

• Fat and Skin - This should be rendered down into lard, which you can use as a cooking fat, or as the fat needed for carnitas or confit

Place plucked, gutted, and cleaned goose on cutting board, breast side up.

Even if you've done a great job plucking, there are likely to be 'hairs' left over where the feathers came out. Put the bird between yourself and a bright light to see them all. Use a long match, taper, candle, lighter, or cook's torch to burn off all of the hairs you can see. They tend to collect heavily around the neck, under the wings, and along the spine.