Expert: Chef Glen L. Davis II - 12/11/2008

Question
I cooked a goose a few years ago, and while it was cooking, it seemed to grow quills and feathers. This was a goose bought at the grocery store. I had to de-feather it often during the cooking process, which wasn't appetizing... But once finished, the goose was yummy. Is this feather/quill thing normal, and is there a way to prep the goose that will prevent this from happening during the roasting process? Thanks! Miki

Answer
WOW! that is a pretty scarring picture! I have never heard of this happening with a commercially processed and dressed fowl of any kind.

I would suggest purchasing a dressed goose from a grocery store, with a catch. What I mean by this is, talk to the head of the stores meat department, or if available a REAL butcher, ask them if they can thaw a goose that you pick out in some corner of their walk-in cooler. I would explain what happened in your previous experience, try to be fairly dramatic about what happened (good acting will help!) and express your concern about reliving the experience. Ask them if once the bird is thawed they could open it for your inspection (because of the price of commercially processed game birds this is not in any way, shape or form an unreasonable request!). Ask the person, hopefully a classically trained butcher, if they can make sure that the bird has been properly cleaned and dressed. If the "butcher" is worth his salt, so to speak, he will be able to tell without any doubt with a cursory inspection. If the individual does not respond favorably to your request, take it one step higher until you get the correct response, or take your business elsewhere.  The reason I say that hopefully you have a REAL butcher that you can go to, is because if the butcher takes pride in his/her work (almost all of the other butchers I know do) they will be grateful to have a customer that takes their meat seriously. For this reason they will probably be more than happy to fulfill your request.

The only time I have heard of something like your experience happening was when a friend of mine "trimmed" the feathers off of a wild goose, rather than actually "plucking" the feathers, using a very sharp skinning knife. The same thing happened, it looked like a porcupine cooking in the oven! Needless to say he never did it again! I don't know how that could have happened to your bird. It would have been very difficult for the goose to miss being cleaned because of the "steam plucking" and "mechanical plucking" methods used to remove the feathers. If you can remember the brand of goose you had the trouble with, it would be a good idea to contact the company and let them know about the problem so that they can correct it in the future.

I hope that you have better luck with your next attempt at cooking goose, just make sure that you go into the store with a plan of how you want things to work out, and a contingency plan just in case! If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to ask!



Please let me know how it turns out, and if the butcher is not helpful I know a few other ways to ensure a quality product.