Cooking Guidance

We have collated some cooking notes for some of our post popular products below:

1. Goose

2. Family three bird roast

3. Party three bird roast

4. Two bird ballotines

5. Stuffed game birds

6. Venison roasting joint

7. Wild boar roasting joint

8. Game roulade

9. Venison wellington

10. Using a cooking thermometer - beef, lamb, venison & poultry

11. Poultry

12. Turkey

We have created a simple guide to cooking game in partnership with BASC's Taste of Game - this gives details and advice about how to cook all the game available to buy from our website. Download your free copy today.

Goose

• Remove any spare fat from the inside the cavity of the bird and fill the cavity with your stuffing of choice. The fat can be used to cover the legs and for the  roast potatoes.
• Prick the bird all over and rub salt and pepper into the skin and brush with a little cooking oil.
• Cover the legs of the bird in fat and wrap the legs in foil - this is to protect them from burning as they don’t need as much cooking as the rest of the bird. 
• Place the bird on a trivet /rack in the roasting pan which will help remove the bird to drain off fat from the pan during the cooking period.
• Baste the bird periodically and at the end of cooking, cover with foil to keep warm and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving. 

 For further advice, please refer to Free Range Goose's guide to How to cook and serve goose at Christmas (PDF)

Family three bird roast - 2.8kg joint

• Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4
• Remove from packaging and dry the outside of joint using kitchen paper
• Place joint in a roasting dish and add around 100ml of water to the bottom of the dish before covering with foil
• Roast this for 1 hours and 30 minutes
• Now remove the foil and drain off any fat and liquid that remains in the bottom of the roasting dish
• Turn the oven up to 200ºC/Gas Mark 6 and roast for a further 20 to 25 minutes until the core temperature of the meat probes at 70 - 75ºC or the juices run clear which will ensure it is fully cooked through
  
• Set to one side and cover in foil, leaving it to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes
  

• The roast can fall apart when carved hot so carve with the strings intact and remove the strings during the carving process. When cold this is not necessary and the strings can be removed before carving as the joint will hold together.

  
  
  

Party three bird roast

• Pre heat an oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4
• Wrap the ballotine in foil and put on tray in a roasting dish
• Place in oven for 3 hours
• Remove but do not discard the foil and baste the bird
• Remove surplus fat/oil from dish
• Return joint uncovered into oven for a further hour
• Remove from the oven, cover with foil again and leave to rest for 30 minutes before carving.
• Due to different ovens and bird sizes, always use a temperature probe to check the meat is cooked through properly (180ºF/75ºC).
  
• The roast can fall apart when carved hot so carve with the strings intact and remove the strings during the carving process. When cold this is not necessary and the strings can be removed before carving as the joint will hold together.

Two Bird Ballotines (Pheasant & Pigeon, Pigeon & Quail, Guinea Fowl & Mallard and Mallard & Partridge) 

• Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4
• Remove bird from packaging, pat meat dry and leave to air and come up to room temperature for at least 10 minutes.
• Season the outside of the bird before placing into a well-oiled roasting tray and then into the oven.
• PHEASANT AND PIGEON
• Roast for approximately 60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• PIGEON AND QUAIL
• Roast for approximately 60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• GUINEA FOWL AND MALLARD
• Roast for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• MALLARD AND PARTRIDGE
• Roast for approximately 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• ALL BIRDS
• Remove the bands/string and carve using a sharp knife

Stuffed Game Birds (pheasant, guinea fowl, mallard, partridge & pigeon, quail)

• Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4 (note different temperature, prep and cooking instructions for Quail below)
• Remove bird from packaging, pat meat dry and leave to air and come up to room temperature for at least 10 minutes.
• Season the outside of the bird before placing into a well-oiled roasting tray and then into the oven.
• PHEASANT OR GUINEA FOWL
  
• Roast for approximately 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear.
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• STUFFED MALLARD
• Roast for approximately 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 20 minutes
• STUFFED PARTRIDGE OR PIGEON
• Roast for approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave the bird to rest and cool for around 15 minutes
• STUFFED QUAIL
• Preheat oven to 200ºC/Gas Mark 7.
• Wrap quail in foil and place in oven for 15 mins.
• Take foil off and return the bird uncovered into oven for a further 5 mins. Remove from oven
• Cover with foil again and leave to rest for 5 mins before carving
• ALL BIRDS
• Remove the bands/string and carve using a sharp knife
   

Venison roasting joint

• Serve rare or medium rare to keep moist. 
• Wrap in foil and roast for 15 mins per 450g (or lb).
• Remove foil for last 30 mins in the oven.
• Replace foil to rest for 5 mins per 450g (or lb).
• The joint may separate a little after roasting - this is quite normal due to the way the joint is butchered.
  
  

Wild boar roasting joint

• Serve medium rare to keep moist. 
• Wrap in foil and roast for 20 mins per 450g (or lb).
• Remove foil for last 30 mins in the oven.
• Replace foil and leave to rest for 5 mins per 450g (or lb).
  
  

Game roulade

• Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4
• Remove roulade from packaging, pat meat dry and leave to air and come up to room temperature for at least 10 minutes
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan on a medium/high heat
• Sear off the roulade for around 8 minutes until the bacon starts to colour, turning throughout to ensure it browns evenly
• Once coloured all over, place the roulade into the oven in a roasting tray
• Roast for approximately 20 minutes until the core temperature reaches 75ºC or the juices run clear
• Leave to rest and cool for approximately 10 minutes before carving with a sharp knife.
  
  

Venison wellington

• Preheat oven to 200ºC/Gas Mark 7
• Brush the outside of the Wellington with egg yolk to add shine and colour.
• Bake the Wellington for: (medium rare)
• 600g: 18 mins (+10 mins resting)
• 900g: 25 mins (+15 mins resting)
• 1.4kg: 35 mins (+20 mins resting)
• 1.8 kg: 40-45 mins (+20 mins resting)

It is recommended that you check the internal temperature of the meat (52ºC for medium rare) around 5 to 10 minutes before recommended cooking time is up to ensure the best results, as some ovens can vary.

Using a cooking thermometer

The best way to check if your meat is cooked is by using a digital cooking thermometer.  Always double check the reading by sticking the probe in several different spots to find the lowest reading. If returning to the oven allow 10-15 mins then test again until the correct temperature is reached.

• For beef, lamb and venison - rare: 52ºC; medium: 60ºC; well done: 75ºC-80ºC
• For pork: 75ºC - 80ºC
• For poultry (chicken, turkey, goose and duck): 75ºC - 80ºC
  
  

Poultry 

Without a thermometer, the classic way to test is to push a spoon under the leg of the bird so that it pierces the skin (or use a skewer), and inspect the juices that collect in the spoon. The juices should be pale gold and clear; if there are traces of blood return to the oven allow 10-15 mins then test again.

Turkey

For a 5kg free-range turkey (to feed eight people)

•  Heat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4.

•  Smear approximately 50g butter all over the turkey and season with salt and pepper.

•  Put in a roasting tin, breast-side up, and roast for 40 mins per 1kg for the first 4kg, then 45 mins for every 1kg over that weight, or until the internal temperature reaches 65-70ºC. For a turkey of this weight, the cooking time should be 3½-4 hrs. The turkey will continue to cook and the temperature will rise while it rests.

• Remove the turkey from the oven and rest in a warm place for 30-45 mins – don’t skip this step as the juices won’t be reabsorbed back into the turkey and will run out if you carve it straightaway. Don’t cover the turkey too tightly if you want the skin to stay crisp, but keep it warm.

• Before serving the turkey, check that the meat is steaming hot throughout, there is no pink meat visible and when you cut into the thickest part of the meat, the juices run clear.

For accurate timing, always weigh your turkey after it has been stuffed. If it's very large, you may need to use bathroom scales or alternatively use a temperature probe (link to pantry