Goose Pastrami Recipe - How to Make Goose Pastrami at Home (2024)

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4.95 from 58 votes

By Hank Shaw

January 27, 2017 | Updated June 18, 2020

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Goose Pastrami Recipe - How to Make Goose Pastrami at Home (2)

Goose pastrami is what I do with most of my Canada goose breasts. It is an easy project that makes the most out of these often-tough slabs of meat.

Why geese? Well, Canada and snow geeseare very close to grass-fed beef in flavor (they eat the same thing), they have large, easy-to-work-with breasts, and they do have a tendency to be tough, which means that any way you can cook them that lets you slice the breasts thinly is a good thing.

Pastrami, in case you’ve never had it, is a cured meat from Eastern Europe or Turkey — remember the Ottomans ran Eastern Europe for a while — that’s normally beef or mutton. Although here’s an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: “Among Jewish Romanians, goose breasts were commonly made into pastrami because they were inexpensive.”

So there ya go. This is traditional!

To make pastrami, you dry cure (sometimes brine) the meat for a few days, dry it a bit, coat it in the characteristic black pepper and coriander and then smoke it. Sliced thin on a sandwich, it’s God’s gift. Good pastrami at a Jewish deli is something you must eat at least once before you die.

If you have any goose breasts in your freezer, go for it. A pastrami on rye with good mustard, a slice of cheese and maybe some sauerkraut, and you got yourself some awesome there!

Once you make your pastrami, it will need to be eaten within a week or two, or you’ll need to vacuum seal and freeze it.\

4.95 from 58 votes

Goose Pastrami

I specifically call for Canada goose breasts here because they're the only ones I think are large enough to make this with, although domestic goose breasts will also of course work, if you have them lying around. Ditto for swan or sandhill crane breasts. Could you do it with snow goose or speck breasts? Yeah, but they'll be a lot smaller, and I'd only cure them for 24 hours instead of 24 to 36.

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Course: Cured Meat

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: 8 people

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 skinless Canada goose (or domestic goose breasts
  • Kosher salt see recipe notes
  • 3 grams Instacure No. 1, good for up to 3 pounds of goose
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1/4 teaspoon caraway seed
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed juniper optional
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper plus 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup brandy red wine, vinegar or water
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander

Instructions

  • Weigh your goose breasts. For every pound of goose, you'll need 10 grams of kosher salt, which is about a tablespoon. It's OK if you are a little off on this measurement. Mix the salt, curing salt, sugar as well as the thyme, celery seed, caraway, juniper and the teaspoon of black pepper and grind them all together in a spice grinder. Pack the goose breasts with this mixture, massaging it into the meat. Put the goose into a closed container in the fridge for 24 to 72 hours.

  • When you are ready, rinse off the goose and pat it dry. It's fine if you have a little bit of the cure stuck to the meat, but you don't want too much. Put the goose breasts on a rack in the fridge and let them dry uncovered for a day.

  • Dip the goose into the brandy -- or really any other liquid you want -- and then coat thoroughly in the remaining black pepper and ground coriander seed. I like to grind this myself so the texture is a little coarse, a little fine.

  • Smoke the goose breasts until the interior hits 140°F, which takes me about 3 hours.

  • Let the goose pastrami cool and eat as lunch meat, or on crackers or whatever.

Notes

A word on the Instacure. The 3 grams I call for will actually be enough to cure up to about 3 pounds of goose meat. A general rule is about 1 1/4 grams of Instacure per pound. Do not use more than I call for, though. You can buy curing salt No. 1 online.

Be careful when you are smoking your goose, as the internal temperature can skyrocket in such small pieces of meat. They'll be ready in 90 minutes in a hot smoker, which to my mind isn't enough time on the smoke. Try to keep your smoker at 200°F or cooler; I like to keep it at 160°F, which lets me smoke the goose for a solid 3 to 4 hours.

What wood? Your choice. I prefer oak, maple or hickory for this, followed by walnut, pecan or cherry.

Nutrition

Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 159mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Charcuterie, Ducks and Geese, Featured, Recipe, Wild Game

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Goose Pastrami Recipe - How to Make Goose Pastrami at Home (2024)

FAQs

What is pastrami seasoning made of? ›

1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper. 2 tablespoons coriander seeds. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds. 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar.

What is the best cut of meat for pastrami? ›

This Jewish Deli is made from a fine brisket; however, you can make it from turkey or lamb as well. Generally, chefs use certain cuts, such as the deckle. It is a lean, wide, and firm shoulder cut for pastrami. Sometimes, they use the navel, juicier and smaller section just below the ribs for pastrami.

Should you brine goose before cooking? ›

Dry-brining the goose ensures that the meat remains especially moist and juicy. The added baking powder also helps it develop extra-crisp skin.

How to prepare wild goose for cooking? ›

directions
  1. Soak plucked and cleaned goose overnight in well salted water.
  2. Rinse and dry, then stuff with 2 onions and 2 apples, both quartered.
  3. Place breast side up in open roaster pan and cover with 2 strips thick bacon.
  4. Brown in 475 degree oven until bacon is crisp.
  5. Take all fat from pan and discard.
  6. Remove bacon.

What makes pastrami taste like pastrami? ›

Spice Rub Mixture

Once it's cured, pastrami is coated with a spice mixture that typically includes black pepper, garlic, coriander, mustard seeds and fennel seeds.

Why do Jews like pastrami? ›

Romanian Jews emigrated to New York as early as 1872. Among Jewish Romanians, goose breasts were commonly made into pastrami because they were available. Beef navel was cheaper than goose meat in America, so the Romanian Jews in America adapted their recipe and began to make the cheaper-alternative beef pastrami.

What cut does Katz deli use for pastrami? ›

And secondly, we always use a particular cut of meat, the navel cut. This comes from the underbelly of the cow, and is often considered a tough, hard-to-cook meat. But if you're patient like we are, it has a rich, complex flavor and texture that's perfect for the pastrami process.

What is the closest meat to pastrami? ›

Pastrami and corned beef do have the same brine: Pastrami and corned beef are brined before they're cooked; they're either rubbed with or submerged in a solution of salt and spices to infuse the meat with more moisture and flavor.

How long do you boil pastrami for? ›

WHOLE PASTRAMI
  1. Remove meat from plastic packaging and place it in a large pot of water.
  2. Boil for 3 hours, or until tender. Use a fork to test for tenderness. ...
  3. Remove pastrami from water and trim any excess fat, if so desired.
  4. Slice against the grain for maximum flavor and tenderness.

What do you soak goose meat in? ›

A litre of cold water mixed with ¼ cup of coarse salt and¼ cup of brown sugar makes the perfect waterfowl brine. Soak duck and goose meat in the brine for 8 to 12 hours, and you'll see the difference in color. Much of the blood stored in the meat is drawn out by the brine.

What happens if you don't boil your brine? ›

Tip: There is no need to boil all the brine liquid because you can fully dissolve the salt and sugar and extract the flavor out of any seasonings in 1½ cups of liquid.

How do you tenderize goose meat? ›

It's a cooking method that involves encasing seasoned meat in a vacuum-sealed or food-safe plastic bag and submerging it in a circulating hot water bath. Meats poach in their own juices, and even the largest goose breast fillets will be fork tender after several hours in 130-degree water.

Why pour boiling water over goose before roasting? ›

SAVE THE FAT

Prick the skin, pour over boiling water and cook covered in foil initially to allow the fat to be released into the roasting tray. Save the fat for roasting potatoes and cook the goose uncovered for the last 30 mins or so to crisp up.

How long should a goose be cooked for? ›

After the goose has roasted for 2 hours total, reduce oven to 275 and continue roasting approximately 30 to 45 minutes, about 15 minutes per pound total, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees at the center of the breast.

What is the best tasting wild goose? ›

Whitefronts (specklebelly geese) are universally regarded as the finest wild goose for eating.

What part of the pig is pastrami? ›

The way Sax sees it, the main differences between pastrami and smoked meat come down to the cut of beef and the spice rub it's coated with. "Pastrami in the United States is almost always made with navel, a cut similar to belly, or what you would make bacon out of on a pig.

What is the flavor of beef pastrami? ›

Pastrami has a deeply savory, salty, and smoky flavor, and a little mustard provides some balancing tang. This deli meat is best served warm, so be sure to steam it before you pile it onto bread.

Is pastrami spiced beef? ›

Some spiced beef dishes, including pastrami and Sauerbraten, differ from the English and Irish versions, among other ways, by being wet-cured in brine or other liquid.

What is the pink salt for pastrami? ›

Prague Powder No 1 – this curing salt will give the pastrami its characteristic red colour. Prague powder is usually tinted pink to distinguish it from regular salt and it contains 6.25% sodium nitrite 93.75% salt.

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