Realtree cured & smoked goose

[meatallica]

Finished curing and will be smoking a couple goose breasts for my nephew. Anyone have any experience with hanging the goose breast breasts in cheese cloth after smoking? Realtree recipe calls for hanging 7-10 days between 40-60°. We'll have those temperatures here in DE for the next 10 days. Will I be okay? Thank you in advance for any help.
Jeff

 

[archeryrob]

I have smoked plenty after curing and why would you hang after smoking for so long unless you are trying to dry them? EDIT I think I found it. They are drying to make goose like prosciutto but cooking it for safety first and air drying it.

They can be dried some by smoking longer as in all day and then I rest in the fridge to stiffen a day and slice them up. Do you want them moist or dried? Maybe you should try a couple of each. You could dry them in the fridge also without cheese cloth.

FWIW, I dried a goose breast and a couple of duck breasts and thought it lost some flavor and needed to be shaved ultra thin to be eaten as it was hard, like wood. I still ahve one in the fridge downstairs from a year ago wrapped in an old bead sheet. I wasn't a fan.

 

[archeryrob]

I pulled them out of the fridge and they were ok for the first month or two but kept drying into wood blocks like this. I guess it could be survival food but not worth much long term I can’t even get a knife through it.

Now I don’t know if these stored in a curing chamber like an Italian basement would keep them moist enough to eat but the fridge and my drier basement made them wood like and inedible

 

[archeryrob]

I did try soaking a duck breast to re hydrate and didn’t like that much either

 

[meatallica]

Thanks Rob. I was gonna try to get that prosciutto type consistency. I have 4, so maybe I'll do 2 into fridge after smoking to rest and and 2 hanging.. appreciate the help

 

[archeryrob]

You might want to go onto the curing section or pork section and ask about prosciutto. I am too ignorant on it to tell you anything about it. Maybe it can't sit around as long as I left it. I was trying to find a long term, shelf stable, storage solution like they do with Virginia hams. I obviously messed up some where. They don't cook prosciutto or Virginia ham, so that maybe the reason. Also, as I said, everything I have said in this last post is most assumptions, not facts except the foods being uncooked.

If you do learn, please educate me also. ;)

 

[meatallica]

I ended up thin slicing goose breast. Turns out, it was the exact consistency I was looking for. 1 got (10) 1/4-lb packs. Thanks again archeryrob for saving me alot of grief

 

[crazymoon]

M, Those slices look tasty!

 

[archeryrob]

I slice it just like you did and save it for finger food for the fridge. One thing, I have smoked them quick and all day. I prefer the all day as I want it dry. The ones I have done wet vacuum seal into a wet ball when taking out of the freezer and are difficult to separate.You can rest it in the fridge to dry to your preference.

With the cure its pretty shelf stable, it just dries out. So sandwich bags in the fridge would probably be just fine. Or squeeze most air out and freeze if they are wet.

It looks great. I am sure you and everyone else you let try it will love it. I have never seen a meat turn so much more for the better with cure as goose. I have had people who cant stand goose like cured goose better than cured venison.

This is the one I did, kind of a copy off Bearcarvers dried venison and pastrami but dry cured and not all the spices. I use A LOT of black pepper. Its all personal taste. I enjoy doing this as much, maybe more, than hunting. Maybe ;)