Burnt Ends: Canada Goose Style
Corey Mulhair for SPLIT REED
Presented by Traeger Grills
My favorite thing about cooking on a pellet grill is being able to dial in and cook at a precise temperature. Be it blazing hot for a plucked whole duck on the half shell or low and smokey jerky, and everything in between- the Traeger does it. This particular recipe requires multiple cooking temperatures, so being able to set three varying temps throughout the process as well as be able to operate in different cooking mediums (low and smokey to start, as well as mid-range cooking at 350f later on) made this recipe great for turning out on the Traeger.
I’d been wanting to give this recipe a shot for a while, and when I did I was glad that I had decided to let my gut do the thinking, the experimenting, the guesswork, and the quality control. This recipe's ‘OEM’ beefy counterparts are all over the social media pages of BBQ/grilling pages that abound on Instagram and TikTok and the like, and I had that gut feeling that I would be more than happy with the outcome if I substituted goose for beef and let the Traeger do its thing. Without further ado, I present Brisket Burnt Ends: Canada Goose Style.
INGREDIENTS
8 Goose Breasts (or 12-14 Duck Breasts)
1/2 Cup Traeger Blackened Saskatchewan Rub (or other Savory & Garlicky Rub with Peppery Flavors)
1 Stick of Butter
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2TBS Worcestershire Sauce
12-16oz BBQ Sauce
1/4 Cup Honey
Roasting Pan/Tray
Optional - Binder: Bacon Grease, Rendered Duck/Goose Fat, or Mustard
Optional - Spritz: Beef Broth, Apple Cider Vinegar
DIRECTIONS
1. I tend to start my goose and duck meat recipes by brining the meat. A simple saltwater brine will do it for me 90% of the time. Brine submerged for 2-48 hours.
2. Trim the breasts of any skin, fat, connective tissue, arteries, and bloodshot or damaged met. Remove any pellets or feathers from wound channels! Pat dry or allow breasts to mostly dry before seasoning.
3. Optionally, before seasoning, you may add a binder to the meat. I used the bacon grease to add some flavor and keep the rub well on the meat.
4. Season breasts with your rub. Be liberal and coat all meat thoroughly.
5. Fire up the Traeger. First, we’re going to cook directly on the grill grates at 180F for about 2 hours. A good smokey flavor will be imparted and some cooking will get done as we do this.
6. Every so often, say, 30 minutes - spritz the meat. Then the next time you’re out there flip the meat and spritz it again. Spritzing is optional but keeps the meat moister and slows the drying process. Remember, wild goose is lean meat. I spritz 3-4 times during this initial cooking period.
7. After 2-2.5 hours we are going to take the meat off the grill grates and wrap the meat up in Pink Butcher Paper (aluminum foil works too) and cook for another hour and a half or two hours, this time at 250F.
8. After that second cooking period, remove the goose (or large duck) breasts from the wrap (or foil)- be sure to save the juices by unwrapping in your roasting pan. Cube up the goose breasts and add it all to that roasting pan.
9. Add the brown sugar evenly over goose bites in the roasting pan.
10. Add the Worcestershire sauce evenly over goose bites in the roasting pan.
11. Add the BBQ Sauce evenly over goose bites in the roasting pan.
12. Add 1 stick of butter, cut into 6-8 chunks, evenly over goose bites in the roasting pan.
13. Add honey evenly over goose bites in the roasting pan.
14. Put the roasting pan of goodness back in the Traeger, and cook at 350F for about two hours, stirring and mixing every 20 minutes. We want to reduce the sauce down some and get a nice glaze on the bites.
15. Eat em up! These things are great as a meal protein, bbq dish item, snack, appetizer, or even chopped up and mixed into scrambled eggs! As always, share with friends and family- and never forget to tread lightly, you should always be aware of potential pellets or shot in your goose meat!
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