The single biggest error most people commit when cooking poultry, especially the grassfed poultry, is overcooking. Commercial poultry, especially turkey are injected with salt water solutions. This adds to the weight, so a greater profit is made, but it also lengthens cooking time, and causes the poultry to shrink noticeably. You will not find this to be the case with our birds.

They are going to cook much faster than what you are used to. A rule of thumb is to expect the pastured poultry to cook in 1/3-1/2 less time than conventional poultry.

The easiest way to prevent overcooking is to use a good cooking thermometer-not a poultry thermometer. A poultry thermometer is not terrible accurate, and it is left in the poultry while it cooks. A chef’s thermometer has a small dial and is used to periodically check the internal temperature. I strongly prefer the digital thermometers (about $25), but the dial ones ($8-15) will work as well. You want to measure the temperature in the thickest part of the poultry. In poultry, this will be the breast and/or thigh.

Here is the most important part :-) ! Poultry continues to cook even after it has been removed from the heat source, therefore, you want to stop cooking the poultry just before it has reached the desired doneness; it will finish cooking on its own from the residual heat.

Here are the recommended final temperatures for poultry. I remove them from the heat source 5-10 degrees prior to achieving the desired temperature and allow them to finish cooking via residual heat.

   Goose
160 degrees

I always roast my birds by placing them in a HOT (450 degree) oven, breast side DOWN, then I close the door and drop the temperature to 250-275.

The maximum flavor and best texture for any poultry (not just pastured) are achieved by brining. This is a simple process involving soaking the bird in a salt water solution for as little as one hour, or as long as overnight, depending upon which is more convenient for the cook. The strongest brining solution is 14 ounces of salt in one gallon of water. Kept frozen, or refrigerated, this solution can be reused several times. I soak my birds in 6-8 ounces of salt per gallon of water overnight. This is also a nice solution in which to thaw frozen birds in the refrigerator.

Again, you don’t have to brine the birds, it just helps bring out the best flavor. For those of you interested in the “why’s” (or if you would like to include a nifty home school science lesson) what follows is an explanation of how brining works:

“Brining actually promotes a change in the structure of the proteins in the muscle. The salt causes protein strands to become denatured, or unwound. This is the same process that occurs when proteins are exposed to heat, acid, or alcohol. [Note from Jenny: This is why most marinades are an acid (such as vinegar or lemon juice) base. Soaking or cooking poultry in wine has been popular for hundreds of years. It both improves the flavor and tenderizes the cut.] When protein strands unwind, they get tangled in one another and trap water in the matrix that forms.

Salt is commonly used to give processed poultry a better texture. For example, hot dogs made without salt would be limp.

Depending on the size of the bird, it is necessary to vary the amount of salt in the solution and the brining time. In general, bigger birds require a longer soaking time in a less concentrated solution. A less salty solution will season the poultry evenly and prevents the skin and outside layers of poultry from becoming too salty in the time it takes to season the poultry near the bone. In contrast, chicken parts can be brined in a much saltier solution for less time.

In some cases, we have added sugar to the brine. The sugar does not affect the texture of the poultry, but it does add flavor. For instance, we find that brining duck parts in a sugar-salt solution enhances the caramelized flavor that occurs when the parts are grilled. However, a turkey destined for the oven is best brined in a plain saltwater solution; the added sweetness does not work with gravy and stuffing.”

From Cooks Illustrated