Sous Vide Goose Breast

I used to be baffled that more people aren’t into eating canada geese. But I’ve realized over the years that people treat goose (and most wild game for that matter) like they’re scared of it- cooked to death and smothered in the strongest flavored sauces. Cooking any lean meat to 165F+ is going to make it chewy. The sweet baby rays isn’t going to save it.

So much game gets treated like this, like it's tainted, “gamey”, unsafe, unclean. Treat game meat like the premium ingredient that it is and you’ll enjoy it more. And with goose breasts in particular, treat them like lean beef steaks. Cooking a goose breast to the same temperature as you would a steak is the best way to enjoy it.

Grilling or pan roasting a goose breast yields excellent results, especially with younger birds. But I have found that cooking them via sous vide is a surefire way to get a perfectly cooked and tender breast. A goose breast will reach target temp in 45-60 minutes, but I like to cook larger breasts for 90-120 minutes. This additional time helps break down some of the toughness. You can add another hour or two on there if you want, but don’t leave it in there for too long, or it'll turn into a meat paste.

I cook almost all of my “steak” cuts to a target temperature of 129F. If you like your breast a little less red, dial it up to 135F, lower if you want it more rare.

Season with whatever you want. I keep it simple- salt and pepper with garlic, herbs, and butter in the bag. Use Montreal steak seasoning, your favorite dry rub, whatever. 

Bag it, sous vide it, drain, sear, and serve.

If you cook a fat, late season goose that is wintering over agricultural land like this one, and you still don’t like it, you either hate food or you regularly order off the kids menu, or both.

Sous Vide Goose Breast

Servings: around 2

Prep time: 2 hours

Cook time: 15 mins

Method:

Preheat sous vide to desired temperature- I use 129 degrees.

Season goose breast with salt and pepper. Vac seal the goose breast with 2 tbsp butter (or other oil), garlic, and rosemary.

Place vac sealed goose breast in sous vide, cook for 90 minutes.

Remove from sous vide, drain, and pat dry.

If your goose breast is skin-on, start with a cold pan. Place goose breast skin side down in a heavy bottomed pan, and heat over medium heat, rendering some fat and getting the skin crispy, 4-5 mins. Flip and get some color on the other side. 

If using skinless breasts, start with a hot pan and sear over medium high heat for ~60 seconds instead.

Remove from pan, let rest for 5 minutes, slice and serve.

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