Crispy Pan Roasted Goose Fat Potatoes

One of the best parts of cooking a duck or a goose is that you'll have fat leftover to make goose fat roasted potatoes. The delicious rendered fat from both birds is legend for a reason, with some chefs even buying it by the gallon to cook French fries. In this post I'll walk you through the best way to make them at home.

Tips on Goose Fat Rendering

While you can roast a whole goose and use a turkey baster to remove the fat from the pan and save it to cook with it's not the best way to obtain the fat. This is because the bird is cooking at a high temperature, which will lower the smoke point of the fat and can possibly scorch it.

The best way to render goose fat is to trim some of the fat from the bird before you cook it, or cut the bird into pieces so you can render the fat from the rest of the carcass. After the fat's removed it's cut into ½ inch pieces. You can freeze the fat to make it easier to handle.

Once you've trimmed off the excess fat it's cut into pieces and put in a sauce pan with a small amount of water. The fat is brought to a simmer and then baked in an oven at 325 F. You'll notice a change in the clarity of the fat as it cooks, changing from opaque to clear when it's finished.

Once the fat is clear it's strained. You can save the goose cracklings for adding to crackling corn bread. After cooling the fat should be nearly white and spreadable even when chilled.

The pale yellow fat is a thing of beauty and one of the finest natural fats you'll cook with, but it's hard to come by. Thankfully, duck fat is a great substitute for goose fat, with chicken fat or schmaltz in a close second.

How to Make Roast Goose Fat Potatoes

To make the crispiest potatoes they need to be par-cooked before roasting. You can boil the potatoes until tender or use baked potatoes. After cooking the potatoes are peeled and trimmed.

Once the potatoes are trimmed and peeled they can be held in the refrigerator for a few days until you need them, or cooked right away. There's two ways you can do it. For larger crowds you can bake the potatoes on a baking sheet. Make sure not to crowd the pan.

For the crispiest result, you can make smaller batches of pan roasted potatoes in a cast iron pan.

When the potatoes are perfectly golden and crisp you can finish them by tossing off the heat with a spoonful of minced garlic and parsley. It's optional but adds a nice touch and aroma.

Why Did My Potatoes Turn Black?

A common question about cooking potatoes is why they might discolor. When par-cooking potatoes, you need to make sure they're fully cooked before roasting.

Under-cooked potatoes tender to darken and turn black on the inside, as you can see in the image above. Cutting potatoes and not immediately cooking them or submerging in water can also cause them to turn black.

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