Ingredients
Scale
For the brine:
8 gallons cold water
1.5 cups white sugar
2 cups kosher salt
6 cloves
6 cracked allspice berries
For the rest of the recipe:
One whole goose, about 10lb
1 lemon, halved
1 small onion, peeled and halved
Hardcore Carnivore Red seasoning
2–3 lb potatoes, peeled cut into 2” chunks
Kingsford Cherrywood charcoal
butchers twine
foil pan
Instructions
- Heat a small amount of the water and dissolve the sugar and salt. Allow to cool and then add this mix into the rest of the water, along with the cloves and allspice berries. Remove giblets/neck from cavity of the bird, and rinse with cold water. Immerse the goose completely in the solution, and place into the fridge to brine overnight, at least 12 hours.
- Remove the goose from the brine, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Discard the brine. Use a small sharp knife to pierce the skin, particularly where the largest fat deposits are. Make several of these tiny slits over the whole bird, making sure not to cut into the meat itself.
- Prepare your grill for rotisserie grilling. Start by lighting the Kingsford charcoal in a large chimney, and once lit distribute the hot coals in two main piles, leaving a space in the middle. Your bird will cook in this empty middle space, so the coals should be radiant from either side, but not directly underneath it.
- Place the lemon and onion inside the bird’s cavity, then use butchers twine to truss together the legs. I also secure another three pieces of twine across the bird, two to hold the large wings tight to the body and another to help hold the lemon and onions inside the cavity. Trim excess twine. Season the entire bird liberally with Hardcore Carnivore Red on both sides. Insert the rotisserie rod through the cavity then secure the bird using the forks that should come with the rotisserie unit. Position the goose on the rotisserie, and place the foil pan directly under the goose between the two coal piles to catch drippings (and prevent a grease fire!).
- As the bird starts to cook, fill a large pot with water, and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt, then the potato chunks. Par-boil until you can just insert the tip of a knife with little resistance. Drain the potatoes, pull out the drip pan from beneath the goose and shake the potatoes, tossing them lightly to coat them in fat. Push the foil pan back underneath the goose – this will finish cooking the potatoes the rest of the way.
- You will need to re-stock the coal piles every 45 minutes or so to keep the heat up. Just scatter 8-10 new briquettes on top of each pile, and they will slowly catch. The goose should take around 2 hours all up, but it’s important (for food safety) to use an instant read thermometer to check the exact temperature so you know when it’s ready. The bird is ready when it is 165f degrees measured at the thickest part of the thigh. *OPTION* You can add a few small sticks of wood on top of the coals to boost the smokey profile even further.
- During the cook, if you feel the skin is browning too much or too quickly, simply push the coal piles farther away from the goose. If not enough, push them a little closer.
- When the bird reaches temperature, you can carefully remove it from the rotisserie, then serve alongside the goose fat potatoes.
- Cuisine: Holiday
Keywords: holiday, goose