The Best Goose Pastrami Recipe Ever
A three-day cure, a two-hour ice-water soak, and a slow smoke at 225°F. This is the exact process Jason Allen uses to turn a pile of Canada goose breasts into pastrami you’ll want to slice thin.
Made with 12 Canada goose and 6 duck breasts
As hunters, we always try to prepare our harvest as best as possible. No matter what you prefer to do with your waterfowl, you have to try this pastrami recipe.
The ProcessWhy Another Goose Pastrami Recipe?
You’re probably thinking there are already a ton of recipes out there for goose pastrami, and you’d be right. The spices you use are only half the recipe. The process you use is the other half, and this is how I do it.
Smoked Goose Pastrami
Recipe card · Tap ingredients to check them off
Batch size
Meat for this batch: 12 Canada goose breasts and 6 duck breasts, or any mix of about 18 breasts.
The Cure
Packed on the raw breasts, then vacuum sealed for 3 days.
The Rub
Applied after the soak, on both sides, right before smoking.
Half and double batches are rounded to the nearest standard kitchen measure.
You’ll also need
- Vacuum sealer and bags
- Large bowl and ice
- Paper towels
- Smoker
- Probe or instant-read thermometer
- Sharp slicing knife
The MethodHow I Make Goose Pastrami, Step by Step
Here’s the full process with photos from this batch. Tap Mark step done to keep your place over the three days.
Step 1: Clean the breasts
Before you startThe first thing I do is clean the meat I’m using. For this batch I used 12 Canada goose breasts and 6 duck breasts to see how the recipe did with duck.
After washing each breast, I do my best to find any leftover shot in the meat. If you’ve ever taken a bite of wild game and found a pellet with your teeth, you understand why I do this.
Washed and checked for shot. This batch was 12 Canada goose breasts and 6 duck breasts. Step 2: Mix the cure
Cure mixSet the meat off to the side while you mix the cure: pink Himalayan salt, brown sugar, black pepper, granulated garlic, coriander, thyme, and onion powder. Amounts for your batch size are in the recipe card.
Step 3: Coat and vacuum seal
Pack it onI make sure to put a good layer of cure over the entire surface of the meat. After it’s completely covered, it goes into bags and gets vacuum sealed.
Coated in the cure and vacuum sealed. Now they wait three days in the fridge. Step 4: Cure in the refrigerator
3 daysThe sealed packages go into the refrigerator for three days, and now the waiting game begins.
Step 5: Rinse and soak in ice water
About 2 hoursAfter three days, pull the meat out of the packaging. It should have a firm feel to it. Give it a good rinse to get all the cure off.
Place it in a bowl of ice water to help pull some of the salt out of the meat. Let it soak for about two hours, then pull it out and pat it dry with paper towels.
After the rinse, about two hours in ice water pulls some of the salt back out. Step 6: Apply the rub
Both sidesOnce it’s dry, mix the rub and apply a coating to both sides of every piece.
Rub on both sides. Heavy on the black pepper. The rest of the batch, rubbed and ready for the smoker. Step 7: Smoke to temperature
225°F, about 2 hoursGet the smoker fired up and running steady at 225°F. Place each piece on the rack with a gap in between to allow for an even cook.
On my Traeger, it ran for about two hours until the breasts hit an internal temperature of 150°F.
Internal temp
150°F is where Jason pulls it. The USDA recommends cooking duck and goose to 165°F. To follow the federal number, leave it on until a probe in the thickest breast reads 165°F. It takes longer and comes out a little firmer.
Duck breasts are smaller, so start checking them before the goose.
Step 8: Cool and slice
Your thicknessRemove each piece and let it cool down. Slice at your desired thickness, and enjoy.
At a GlanceTemperatures and Times
| Stage | Setting | Time or target |
|---|---|---|
| Cure | Refrigerator, vacuum sealed | 3 days |
| Soak | Bowl of ice water | About 2 hours |
| Smoke | Smoker holding steady | 225°F |
| Cook time | Traeger, full batch | About 2 hours |
| Pull (this recipe) | Probe in the thickest breast | 150°F internal |
| Pull (USDA guideline) | Probe in the thickest breast | 165°F internal |
Cook time depends on your smoker, the weather, and the size of the breasts. Go by the thermometer and use the clock as a rough guide.
Before You ShopKnow Your Salt: Himalayan Salt Isn’t Curing Salt
This recipe calls for pink Himalayan salt, the coarse mineral salt you find in the spice aisle. It’s easy to mix up with pink curing salt, sometimes sold as Prague Powder #1, which contains sodium nitrite and is dyed pink so nobody mistakes it for table salt.
Don’t swap them
Never substitute curing salt cup for cup. Curing salt is used in small, measured amounts, and using 1½ cups of it in place of Himalayan salt would be dangerous. Because this recipe has no nitrite, the finished pastrami comes out a deep reddish brown instead of the bright pink you see at the deli counter. If you want that color, curing salt is the traditional addition. Follow the manufacturer’s label for the amount.
PhotosThe Finished Product
Slice it at whatever thickness you like. Vacuum seal what you won’t eat in a few days and freeze it.
Tap any photo to open the full-size gallery. Use the arrow keys or swipe to move through all 8 shots from this batch.
Quick AnswersGoose Pastrami FAQ
Yes. Canada goose breast is dark, lean, and dense, which makes it a good fit for pastrami. This recipe cures the breasts for three days, soaks them in ice water, coats them in a pepper-heavy rub, and smokes them at 225°F.
Yes. This batch included 6 duck breasts alongside 12 Canada goose breasts, with the same cure, soak, rub, and smoker temperature. Duck breasts are smaller than goose, so start checking their internal temperature earlier.
Three days. Coat the breasts completely in the cure, vacuum seal them, and keep them in the refrigerator for three days. They should feel firm when you take them out of the bags.
The soak pulls some of the salt back out of the meat after the cure. Rinse all of the cure off first, then let the breasts sit in ice water for about two hours before you pat them dry and apply the rub.
No. Pink Himalayan salt is a mineral salt with no nitrite. Pink curing salt, often sold as Prague Powder #1, contains sodium nitrite. This recipe uses Himalayan salt only, so the finished pastrami won’t have the bright pink color of deli pastrami.
This recipe pulls the breasts at 150°F internal. The USDA recommends cooking duck and goose to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F, so take it to 165°F if you want to follow the federal guideline.
225°F. Let the smoker settle at a steady 225°F before the meat goes on and leave a gap between pieces so they cook evenly. On a Traeger, the breasts in this recipe took about two hours to reach 150°F.
USDA guidance for cooked duck and goose is 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and 2 to 3 months in the freezer. Vacuum sealing sliced portions makes it easy to thaw only what you need.
Bottom LineWhat It Takes
Most of the work happens on two days. The first is an evening of cleaning the breasts, packing on the cure, and vacuum sealing. Three days later comes the rinse, the soak, the rub, and about two hours on the smoker.
Jason Allen
Cure goose breasts for 3 days, soak them in ice water for 2 hours, coat them in a black pepper rub, and smoke at 225°F until they reach 150°F internal, or 165°F to follow USDA guidance.
Back to the Recipe CardFood safety note: this recipe reflects how the author cures and smokes his own birds. The USDA recommends cooking duck and goose to 165°F and keeping cooked leftovers 3 to 4 days refrigerated or 2 to 3 months frozen. Keep hands, tools, and surfaces clean when you handle wild game.