we have done the numbers and will have roughly 45 folks, give or take, young and old and those that cant make up their mind around for chrissy lunch and tea and after snacks

the thread on another section made my mouth water for "Goose" as well as the usual beef, lamb and pork roasts 
 
how many gooses would I need, what weights, how do I cook them in the weber's, how long,  what goes with them, how do I know when they are cooked

If you're taking the other meat into consideration as part of the menu I'm guessing you'll need about 5 or 6 geese. Cook for 3 hours checking from time to time as you do with the other meat. Baste with a nice sauce if you're keen. And orange juice based sauce, with maybe some dijon mustard, honey, light soy sauce. Cooking will depend on heat and size of bird, but better cooked than medium rare goose. I cook by smell and I know what I put in the dish. Will they be stuffed before or after they're cooked? Mmm, now I'm hungry. Sorry I can't be there.

You have to stuff them before hand. A nice apple and onion based stuffing is perfect !! Here is a very good link to look at: http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/roast-goose-with-apple-onion-and-sage-stuffing. I will suggest that unless you know someone in the game........start to look around for geese now. They are extremely difficult to get around Adelaide. I tried all the recognised sources but no body has any suppliers. I luckily found a small butcher who gets them frozen........maybe from interstate, or the southeast.........I don't know??

One goose feeds about 6 according to the website but there will be lots of other meat besides so I reckon 3 or 4 geese would do it!! Depends on how much other meat you are putting on............if not too much, then like Granny said 5 or 6. Bear in mind the goose meat is richer than turkey and slightly gamier than duck and that is why a fruit based stuffing is so good with them. How many are adults..........old or young?? Older adults tend not to eat so much. Young kids don't eat that much either whereas Teenagers will eat you out of house and home!! So depends on your mix. Granny is suggesting an orange based sauce........I am more in favour of a plum or wine based sauce. (more in keeping with Christmas .......I think.)

If you use alcohol, it could be a sherry or muscat - fruity, even frontignac, or Grand Marnier liqueur. Because it's a fairly heavy meat the fruit would lighten it up a bit with the usual seasoning such as allspice, a couple of bay leaves, oregano or thyme or whatever your taste buds prefer. You want to add to the taste to bring out the best flavours, not take over the taste of the bird. They can be a bit dry like duck I think, so just bear it in mind when you're cooking. I rarely use a recipe unless I've run out of ideas for variation. It's up to you.

right got all that, printed it out and faxed it through to my butcher, he has 6 medium to large birds in storage, I grabbed the lot so it looks like they will get the chop Chrissy eve, he has a humongous (very large to all you non boardy surfer dudes) oven so they will go in there, old wood fired bakery oven apparently so should be liscious he assures me he will baste them with the above, he has a couple of lovely girls to sort out the stuffing and the rest of the accoutrement's we have a couple of freinds who are coming up chrissy morning from there so they will bring them up you may know the butcher, Chris, Han's of the Barossa centre smallgoods shop, not large but world reknown for his smallgoods, he is in nuriootpa anyway thanks for all the help!

I remember the name, and if memory serves me correctly they made a beaut fritz. Bring back the little, local butcher shop where the butcher actually butchered and didn't have to buy his meat from the meatworks full of water. That sounds absolutely fabulous. Oh, so yummy. I might let myself out of hospital early and get the next flight out to Adelaide for the goose lunch. That wood fired oven is just the thing. Enjoy!

yep I reckon you'd remember the name he's been there forever, he must be at least 125 now if it's the same bloke but I think his recipes have been passed down and just kept the name fritz, metworst, bratwurst salami and sausage all south aussie icons and readily available in most good shops, I thought his prices were prety good, the geese have been "grain fed" and "free range" top quality, and cooked in a slow wood oven, I am looking forward to it

well Neil our numbers have risen a wee bit since my first post, we will now have over 60 and counting so I think the gooses will well and truly be "stuffed" and insufficient but alas I purchased his entire stock, I dont think there are any more to glean, or if there is I cant find them I have now enlisted the aid of a couple local entrepreneurs who specialize in rotisserie cooking or as they call it "spit roasts" I have bought two piggies and two lambs that are going to be "spit" roasted on the day as well as the roasts, chooks and turkeys the dragon gave me a ring and said we have some more who are trying to get "home" from various states so anyway the "cooking" has been taken away from me and has now entered biblical proportions, I am used to 40 or so but I may have to enlist caterers if it swells much more but I think the woman have it all in hand the woman are loving it, they are arranging who is bringing what and what time, the ability of a mob of woman to organise and keep track of something like this is beyond me, when I last seen home the phone line was glowing bright red! and the house in absolute bedlam, but big smiles everywhere with mobs of laughter, good to see, as for me well I'm still up in the glass castle missing all the fun! I think the notion of a "solo xmas" is looking more attractive everyday, yeah pig's bum, bring it on, I love it!

Mate.............with all that bedlam and confusion........they probably wouldn't miss you anyway!! Right until something went wrong........then they would be looking for you to blame!! LOL

well I reckon you're probably bloody right, if I was to just stay out here and keep working it would probably be only the kids who would miss "pop" this gathering has taken on a life of it's own, never again, never again

You'd have to hire the local Scout hall to seat them all. Hope they all brought chairs!! Or............feed them in relays. Draw a ticket in the morning and that tells you what dining shift you are on........bit like the Ghan!! Them what ain't eating......is serving and washing up. Them wot has eaten could be paintin' the house. There you go mate.............look at the upside!!

no we have a pretty big yard not like the old place at May street, each couple is bringing their own plus a bit so it all goes on the centre table and it's help yourself, we had 40 something here last year and that wasnt too bad they all seemed to find something to sit on, be it pot plants or whatever, doesnt matter all that much when freinds get together

Soooooo...................how did the GOOSES go?? Were they cooked properly??

I wouldnt have a clue what the geese tasted like Ducky, I got stuck into mud crab, crayfish, barramundi, schnapper and a heap of prawns all seafood fo me I can only state that one that I was talking to reckoned they were scrumptious funny the ones that came down from up north ate "our tucker" and the ones that were from south ate "northern tucker" but all in all a great day but boxing day was a day we really enjoyed just for it's simplicity, next time we have a gathering that large we will lease a c/park or an oval or something, too much mess here to clean up afterwards

LOL.............glad it went down well mate!! I did suggest renting a hall...........LOL Christmas is GOOOOOD!!!

yep hindsight is a great thing, next year I think we will rent something over by the murray! not sure where though, maybe cobdogla hall, there rates arent too bad for the whole show!