Why is Goose so expensive?

[gfweb]

Its like $160 for a goose at D'artagnan, which isn't a cheap place, but still.

[Anna N]

I don’t have the answer for you but I do know it is always been extraordinarily expensive compared to other meats. 
 

It’s been many years since I purchased a goose for Christmas and at that time it was $60 and that wasn’t even premium goose but just from the supermarket. 
 

edited to add:

 

One goose does not feed very many people so adding to the expense!

Edited November 20, 2019 by Anna N
To change one goose does not eat very many people to one goose does not feed very many people (log)

[heidih]

Geese are a pain in the arse to raise (unlike chickens) - they are called "guard geese" for a reason.  Plus the sales volume is low. The only reason ducks are cheaper now I think is because of our high Asian population who drive sales. 

Edited November 20, 2019 by heidih (log)

[liuzhou]

Simple economics. Supply and demand. Few people want it, so the price goes up making even fewer people want it.

[Anna N]

17 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Simple economics. Supply and demand. Few people want it, so the price goes up making even fewer people want it.

Yeah. It’s a shame. Goose is one of my favourite meats but it’s priced way out of my pocketbook now. 

[kayb]

I have just discovered the joys of buying duck at the Asian market. Mucho cheaper. Now, if I could find a good local source for Toulouse sausages...

 

[dcarch]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

Its like $160 for a goose at D'artagnan, which isn't a cheap place, but still.

 

Take away fat, skin and bones, $160 x 4 = $600 per goose. Don't get goosed. :-)

 

Too bad, it's illegal to catch a Canada goose. 

 

dcarch

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, dcarch said:

Too bad, it's illegal to catch a Canada goose. 

It's not if you come to Kansas and have the licenses  .  

[eugenep]

I think goose might be an Asian delicacy also just like duck. Maybe there is a lower price at Asian supermarkets where the sale volume might be higher (so price could be lower)? 

[gfweb]

d'Artagnan makes the Meat King look cheap

 

https://themeatking.com/products/goose-frozen-sale-5-99lb

 

 

And I see that Whole Foods advertises goose, but no price

[Anna N]

Canadian pricing.
 

 

[chromedome]

At Superstore and Sobey's they run $15-$16-ish/kg, so individual birds can range anywhere from $60-something to almost $100.

 

My GF is keen to try one sometime, so we may splurge at some point in the leadup to the holidays. The odds just got a bit lower, as I had to put an unexpected $400 into my van and historically freelancing dries up quite a bit in December. We'll see.

 

Also, @Anna N, was it you who'd spoken of enjoying russet apples but never seeing them in a store? My local Sobey's has them now, so if you call the produce people at your closest store you might be able to snag some.

(...not entirely OT, because goose and apples go together beautifully...)

[KennethT]

When I was in Hong Kong, there was a very well known restaurant that is best known for their roast goose.  They're a cantonese place so of course they also have the steamed fish and other roast meats, but that goose was to die for.  We actually (inadvertently) went there twice!  The prices of the cooked goose served in the restaurant was significantly less than what a whole raw goose costs here in NY...

[heidih]

Ha! my frst goose was heavily pricked and then ignited with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slivovitz.  The extended family not so impressed but i  thought it was great.  As Anna noted - not much flesh but quite delicious. 

[kayb]

6 hours ago, dcarch said:

 

Take away fat, skin and bones, $160 x 4 = $600 per goose. Don't get goosed. :-)

 

Too bad, it's illegal to catch a Canada goose. 

 

dcarch

 

I have eaten wild Canada goose, as well as snow goose. While I love wild duck, wild goose ... is pretty awful.

 

N.B. I have never eaten farmed goose. Don't plan to. Don't even like the critters. Have been flogged by one, and it was not an experience I will repeat.

[cdh]

36 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

I have eaten wild Canada goose, as well as snow goose. While I love wild duck, wild goose ... is pretty awful.

 

N.B. I have never eaten farmed goose. Don't plan to. Don't even like the critters. Have been flogged by one, and it was not an experience I will repeat.

I've had wild Canada goose as well... bitter awful meat.  Not going back to try it again.

[chromedome]

I was gifted a half-dozen Canada goose carcasses once by a hunting friend who only wanted the breasts. I cooked the legs in a Crock-Pot for what was intended to be that night's dinner, but turned out to be the following night's when they needed a solid 16 hours to become tender. They were fine, imo, though the long/slow cooking may have helped.

 

The rest of the carcasses went into a big pot of stock, part of which my ex mistook for chicken broth and used in a casserole.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

wild goose ... is pretty awful

Ohhhhh Kay, I can make it so you'd love it.  Goose and noodles.   Tastes like fall apart in your mouth beef.   It's a process, but it's tasty.  I think I blogged about it  here?

[Shelby]

Sous vide goose breast is also good.  People at work couldn't tell it wasn't roast beef.  I'll experiment further.

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

When I was in Hong Kong, there was a very well known restaurant that is best known for their roast goose.  They're a cantonese place so of course they also have the steamed fish and other roast meats, but that goose was to die for.  We actually (inadvertently) went there twice!  The prices of the cooked goose served in the restaurant was significantly less than what a whole raw goose costs here in NY...

 

Would that be Yat Lok? Their goose is awesome (and deserving of the Michelin star) but to be honest, I've never had a bad roast goose in HK or Guangdong. The preferred breed is 狮头鹅 (Simplified Chinese ) / 獅頭鵝 (Traditional Chinese) shī tóu é, meaning lion's head goose. I don't know how available this breed is outside Guangdong where they are reared, though.

 

Gratuitous Roast Goose Picture

 

 

There is a rather good article on roast goose in China here.

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

Ohhhhh Kay, I can make it so you'd love it.  Goose and noodles.   Tastes like fall apart in your mouth beef.   It's a process, but it's tasty.  I think I blogged about it  here?

I'll take your word for it. Or maybe I'll just road-trip out there and try it!

 

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Would that be Yat Lok? Their goose is awesome (and deserving of the Michelin star) but to be honest, I've never had a bad roast goose in HK or Guangdong.

 

Gratuitous Roast Goose Picture

 

 

 

I hadn't heard of Yat Lok. We went to Yung Kee based on @hzrt8w's recommendation here:

 

He was really helpful in planning our trip at that time.

 

Love the gratuitous goose shot btw...

[liuzhou]

13 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I hadn't heard of Yat Lok. We went to Yung Kee based on @hzrt8w's recommendation here:

 

He was really helpful in planning our trip at that time.

 

Love the gratuitous goose shot btw...

 

 

Thanks. Yes, I've been to Yung Kee, too. Also, good.

[heidih]

In the US our ducks are generally American Pekin - derived from a breed brought from China in the 19th century. Big relatively mild tasting birds.  I am not conversnt on the goose breeds. We had geese down the road. They would cross and stop in the middle of the road. Getting out of car to shoo them away was not a safe option. My sisterwas nipped in the calf too many times. My avatar dog. just turmed tail and hid. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by heidih (log)

[gdenby]

Yes, D'Artagnan tends to be rather pricey.

Farmed geese can be bought direct from Schiltz farm, who are apparently the main producer in the US. Still expensive.

But buying goose for meat is missing the best part, the fat. If you like potatoes fried in duck fat, you'll love goose fat. Particularly if it very lightly smoked.

Gotta think it takes a lot of feed to produce that much fat.

Also, the eggs reportedly are to oily for ordinary use, and only used for certain pastries.

Don't know how flocks act, but I had a couple of guard geese. Major pains. In the end, they ended up negatives, as they found out how to break thru the garden fence, and eat half of what I'd planted.