How to cook a Christmas goose the (really) old-fashioned way

How to cook a Christmas goose the (really) old-fashioned way

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If you’re looking for tips on doing something just like they did it 100 or more years ago, you’re in the right place! Here are some tips from 1914 on how to prepare and cook a Christmas goose (or, really, to make a roast goose any time you like).

How to cook a Christmas goose (from 1914)

From The Commoner (Lincoln, Nebraska) December 1, 1914

One very strong objection most people have to serving goose for Christmas is the strong flavor of the bird. If you fatten your own goose, then this can in a measure be done away with by proper feeding.

If you have to buy your bird, try this:

The goose must be young, or at least as young as you can get for your money. After taking off the outside feathers, the undercoat of down will be hard to remove.

Some of our readers recommend putting into the wash boiler about two inches of water, and lay this on a couple of bricks on which a light frame is placed, and the goose laid on the frame when the water commences to boil. Cover the kettle and let boil for two or three minutes, then remove the goose and rub off the down as quickly as possible.

When the down is all off, scrub the carcass with hot water, soap and a vegetable scrubbing brush, to remove the dirt and greasy feeling of the skin. Scrub well then rinse thoroughly when clean. Draw the entrails, and wash well inside and out, then wipe dry.

After it is well washed both inside and out, place it on a rack in a boiler and give it a good steaming, or put pieces of salt pork all over it and set in the oven for an hour. The steaming or heating melts the fat, and as it runs down the sides of the goose it takes the strong goose oil with it.

Remove from the oven and pour off all this fat, dredge well with flour, add a little water and return to the oven allowing twenty minutes to the pound, including the previous steaming or baking. Baste it frequently and dredge with flour after each basting.

The goose may be steamed until tender, then baked, if liked. Some recommend that the goose, after steaming to remove the down, be wrapped in a thick towel, or something that will keep in the steam, and left to lie a few minutes, then the down rubbed off.

ALSO SEE: 10 Victorian Christmas side dishes from the 1800s – most of which actually sound pretty good

Goose stuffed with sauerkraut

For goose stuffed with sauerkraut, first draw and singe the goose, wipe inside and out with a damp cloth, and fill with the kraut. Sew the opening up, tie in shape and put into a large kettle; cover it with about two quarts of sauerkraut, cover the whole with boiling water, and simmer for three hours.

At the end of that time, take out the goose, place it in a baking pan. Baste it with melted butter, dredge the breast thickly with flour and put into a quick oven until a nice brown, which will require about un hour. Serve the kraut with the fowl.

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