Rare or Med Rare grouse? Anyone try this?

[CanadianBaconPancakes]

Scouring the interwebs for recipes I found most professional cooks say the only was to serve grouse properly is rare or med rare. This seem to sit kinda rough on me considering I link it to poultry..... Any thoughts?

If its possible my thoughts were to brine in salt water for 24 hrs, freeze for afew weeks to kill potential parasites, remove and defrost in milk, season, stuff em with rosemary, onions, garlic, bacon wrap and toss em in cast iron skillet on medium with butter. Then move them to the BBQ for about 10 minutes.

[saskbooknut]

I prefer just done to the point that the juice runs clear. Cooking grouse on the BBQ is an art form.

[Stresd]

Juicey rare has never hurt me in over 50 years of eating these sucullent beauties.

[adriaticum]

It is poultry and the reason you don't eat chicken rare is because of potential of salmonella buildup.
But the main reason store bought meat should be cooked thoroughly is because we don't know where it comes from, how it's been handled and packaged.
That's the main food safety concern.
If you know your meat, which you do in this case, and you keep it clean and sanitary you should be ok.
Of course not all meats are equal.
You wouldn't eat wild boar or bear rare because of other things.
Every meat has it's quirks.

[tomahawk]

never rare but like most meats the longer you cook it the tougher and drier it gets. BBQ'ing is great if you stand and watch it and don't go for a beer

[ajr5406]

One of the reasons commercial chicken needs to be cooked is that salmonella is an intestinal bacteria and is quite resistant. Apparently the mass processing of the chicken carcasses and gutting allows contamination outside of the abdominal cavity and onto the meat.

There are some chefs in Japan (check out one of Anthony Bourdain's episodes on Japan) where a Japanese chef personally raises and kills chickens for his restaurant and very carefully slaughters the birds, and actually serves sashimi style chicken (sounds gross to me).

There are other reasons for eating well cooked chicken, but this is one... As far as game birds, I think Adriaticum is right - proper field care would possibly eliminate many of the issues with the meat

[Xbow]

I like the little buggers battered and fried like halibut. I cut the breasts into strips and the legs whole.

Whenever I do them on the bbq or an open fire i seem to over cook them. That being said I dont like pink juices coming out of Fowl.

[dmaxtech]

Had a buddy get very bad food poisoning from an undercooked grouse last year. Ever since my wife is very cautious about how I cook our grouse. I like pan fried on low till the juices run clear and then its done. Very easy to overcook and then no one likes it.

[Thunderstix]

I make popcorn grouse. cubed into size of sugar cubes, toss in pancake mix with pepper and Lawry's, quick fry...yummy

[Ddog]

i eat duck medium rare,,and its the best!! delicious, but for grouse i like it cooked to the point where it is still juicy,,just doesnt sit well with me either if its a little,,pinky or rare,,but now i may just look it up and see what some professional chefs have to say.

[Glenny]

i eat duck medium rare,,and its the best!! delicious, but for grouse i like it cooked to the point where it is still juicy,,just doesnt sit well with me either if its a little,,pinky or rare,,but now i may just look it up and see what some professional chefs have to say.

I would agree on this. Duck med rare is ok in my books but not sure about grouse. Never heard of chicken sushi.

[f350ps]

Cut the breasts in strips roughly a half inch by a half inch and fast fry in a smoking hot cast iron fry pan in a bit of olive oil till a bit brown on all sides, remove from heat and give them a good shot of Franks Red Hot right in the pan. Let them cool a bit and enjoy! The key is to not over cook them, the strips only take a few minutes and they're done. Enjoy! K

[Caribou_lou]

I make popcorn grouse. cubed into size of sugar cubes, toss in pancake mix with pepper and Lawry's, quick fry...yummy

Ill need to try that one. Sounds good! I cut my grouse into strips and fry up with some oil and seasoning salt. I've also broiled the strips until golden brown. Then toss into a pot of my hot sauce recipe for wings. Great for appys instead of breaded wings from the grocery store.

[AgSilver]

If you sous vide it, you can cook it to medium rare but hold the temp long enough to kill the bacteria. Perfect safety without overcooking.

[Ubertuber]

Nothing wrong with med rare grouse if that's what you like. Just like duck, it's all in the prep work. Over cooked game birds can make for a tough chew.

[winchester284]

I like it in a stir fry..... cut cross grain in thin strips and fried in a little oil at a high heat. Cooking it this way retains the moisture and keeps it tender. Cooking time 3-5 minutes.

[hoochie]

Scouring the interwebs for recipes I found most professional cooks say the only was to serve grouse properly is rare or med rare. This seem to sit kinda rough on me considering I link it to poultry..... Any thoughts?

If its possible my thoughts were to brine in salt water for 24 hrs, freeze for afew weeks to kill potential parasites, remove and defrost in milk, season, stuff em with rosemary, onions, garlic, bacon wrap and toss em in cast iron skillet on medium with butter. Then move them to the BBQ for about 10 minutes.

wow.. I just cook them like chicken and have it with rice or something. Usually while on a hunting trip. Never thought of it as being a gourmet meal to have all that prep put into it.

[LYKTOHUNT]

We really like shake n bake, just cut it into cubes and use whatever flavor of shake n bake you like and pan fry them in a mixture of butter and olive oil

[warnniklz]

I've ate more than my fair share of grouse rare-raw... never on purpose. But sometimes in the woods you don't have the best cooking light. I've yet to have any problems, but I prefer to cook it until the juices are clear.

[Tifferly]

We have had our fill of grouse this year, and I usually just wrap breasts in bacon and BBQ (cooked until juices are juuuust clear). In the past we've cut the breasts across the grain, into very thin strips then quick fry for a stir fry. Key was frying quick, then removing from heat while you fry veggies. Then add the meat back in to warm at the end. Keeps the meat from over-cooking and drying out.

This year, I wanted to experiment. I beat the snot out of 2 breasts and stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese and home made garden chard pesto. Filled 'em up, rolled, toothpicked, and baked. Next time I would add a bit of fat to the top, but these definitely turned out delicious and still tender. Breaking down the muscle tissue with a mallet definitely helped.

[Ryo]

Salt, pepper, olive oil. 3 minutes a side. Medium-Rare for me.

[walks with deer]

My entire life and my dad's life lunch has been where we found it...

I have killed grouse many different ways when out in the bush for a snack many times barely cooking the outside on a stick on a fire peeling a layer than cooking some more...

I am pretty healthy..I have eaten some pretty raw grouse when hungry..lol.

[Buckmeister]

I like to cube grouse up as well. Add home ground flour, garlic and onion powders, fresh ground pepper, salt, and whatever other spices grab my fancy, toss with the cubes of grouse. Then I heat some olive oil in a wok on the BBQ side burner, add the grouse and stir fry until golden. Tasty tasty, and it retains some moisture.

[Steelpulse]

This is is the right track, salmonella comes from the gut tract so as long as clean head shot and careful cleaning you should be good to go. Eat away. Maybe some grouse tartare in the future, just bring mixture.

as far as the guy whose buddy got sick from eating undercooked grouse, it is most likely the bird was contaminated from cleaning process or the shot, either shotgun pellet went through the gut or some other way guts got on the meat, or they dont wash hands properly after visiting the can, most common way to spread disease. Unless he specifically only ate grouse for the hours up to and after you can never know where food poisoning comes from, washing veggies can be a big one as they grow in crap


One of the reasons commercial chicken needs to be cooked is that salmonella is an intestinal bacteria and is quite resistant. Apparently the mass processing of the chicken carcasses and gutting allows contamination outside of the abdominal cavity and onto the meat.

There are some chefs in Japan (check out one of Anthony Bourdain's episodes on Japan) where a Japanese chef personally raises and kills chickens for his restaurant and very carefully slaughters the birds, and actually serves sashimi style chicken (sounds gross to me).

There are other reasons for eating well cooked chicken, but this is one... As far as game birds, I think Adriaticum is right - proper field care would possibly eliminate many of the issues with the meat