Traditional German Roast Goose

1 goose

Kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

chopped garlic or onions

1. Remove the Goose from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator 3 - 4 days in advance of cooking.

2. 36 hours before roasting it, you should brine the goose. Use a food safe container that can hold the entire bird. It must be refrigerated during the brining process. Remove the giblets and neck prior to brining if possible. Place the goose in the container and add the brine.

BRINE

1/2 cup Kosher salt per gallon of water. Use enough brine to cover the bird. Add 1/4 cup sugar to the brine. Leave the bird in the brine about 8 hours.

3. Remove the bird from the brine, rinse inside and out, and place on a roasting rack, UNCOVERED, in the refrigerator until ready to roast. Leaving it uncovered allows the skin to dry out and crisp during the roasting process.

Do not brine a bird with any added solution. If there's a solution, it should say so on the label. I've never seen anything added to a goose.

If you brine your goose, do not salt it before roasting.

4. Preheat the oven to 425. Remove the big chunk of fat at the tail end of the goose and save to render. Prick the goose skin in several spots with a fork so that the fat can drip out during cooking. Bend the wings back behind the bird. Start the goose breast down on a roasting rack placed inside a large roasting pan. After 45 minutes, flip the goose breast side up and reduce the heat to 350.

While the goose cooks, use a baster or large spoon to periodically remove excess fat from the bottom of the pan. If you don't, it will accumulate and splatter. Some people recommend basting the goose with some of its own fat. I tend to skip that step.

Anticipate at least another 45 minutes in the oven, however that will vary substantially with the oven and size of the bird, so start checking on it after 30 minutes or so. When you have about 15 -30 minutes of cooking time left (yes, you have to guess), add the chopped garlic or onions to the fat in the bottom of the pan.

(Years ago, my mom went through gyrations sewing the goose shut and skewering the legs together. It makes for a prettier goose, and I often skewer the legs in place, but it makes no difference in roasting.)

5. The USDA recommends cooking goose to an internal temperature of 165. You can move the legs of a done goose, much as you can the legs of a done chicken or turkey.

Remove the roasted goose to a carving board and let rest. Meanwhile, roll your potato dumplings in the garlic/onion goose fat and get ready to eat!