Rckcrwlr's "PROPOSITION DUCK"

[Rckcrwlr]

I was at my wife's work Christmas Party this past holiday and her boss came up to me with a proposition...

4 Smoked Ducks for 2

He wants me to smoke 4 ducks for him and he will give me two in return.

Now...I am assuming that I need to brine them...Any recipes for a duck?

Should I set them on the rack or put them in netting?

I saw a couple posts on this that weren't very detailed...how long and what is the IT that I am targeting?

Will I need to put them in the oven to crisp them up?????

Thanks for your help.

[Waltz]

I smoked some ducks a couple of months ago. I used the recipe on this site as a base to work from:
http://honest-food.net/2011/12/27/how-to-make-smoked-duck/
I did not cook them as hot as the recipe says but did not cold smoke them either. I added Cure 1 to the brine. I went for a breast IT of 150F and served it cold sliced.
It looked like this when finished in the smoker:


They are not really yellow - that is due to the light an phone camera.

[Rckcrwlr]

Thanks for the reply Waltz...

Sorry guys, work threw a curve in my life and haven't touched the smoker or forums in a while.

The ducks were delivered yesterday.

Any other suggestions on theses?

I'm going to do one or two at a time.

What wood is recommended for this poultry?s

Thanks

[Mark in Ottawa]

I smoked a couple of ducks back in the fall - you can see the thread here:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=30275.msg358545#msg358545

Hope that helps - they turned out great.

Mark (in Ottawa)

[Rckcrwlr]

I smoked a couple of ducks back in the fall - you can see the thread here:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=30275.msg358545#msg358545

Hope that helps - they turned out great.

Mark (in Ottawa)

Thanks...looking forward to this...planning on a Wednesday smoking...  ;)

[Rckcrwlr]

So here are the ducks weighing in at 3lbs each...



Cleaned and ready for brine



Time for a bath for 12 hours



Place a weighted plate to hold them under the brine.

[Rckcrwlr]

Brined and ready for smoke..

Hanging them to dry for about an hour with a fan blowing on them.



I think I am going to put them in netting and hang them to smoke to help render the fat and also get a more even smoke around the bird...

[pikeman_95]

I have smoked duck before with not that great of results. There is so much fat under the skin that I don't think the brine nor the smoke penetrates that well. When you cut into them they are just [DUCK] if you know what I mean. Has anyone ever skinned a duck and then brine and smoke it or have they injected a duck? We inject our turkeys with a water soluble turkey pump and they are delicious.  We add an appropriate amount of cure #1 and some mild wine along with some melted butter to this pump. 1 tsp cure#1 for each 5 pounds of bird. I think I would be tempted to skin one of the ducks and then brine it or shoot a 10% pump into all of the flesh. and after a couple of hours of smoke lay some bacon strips over it to keep it moist. Here is the link to Spokane spice where we get the turkey pump.

http://www.spokanespice.com/products_detail.php?id=366&secid=69

kc

[Rckcrwlr]

Well I am hoping that 4 hours of smoke will penetrate the duck... 

That is one of the reasons I am hanging them.  My thinking is that the fat will render off better being that there is no wear for it to "get trapped.

I guess we will see.

Netted and hung to dry some more...



Let the smoking begin...

[pikeman_95]

Keep a close eye on the water pan. You are likely going to have lots of grease in that baby.

[Rckcrwlr]

Keep a close eye on the water pan. You are likely going to have lots of greas in that baby.

You are not joking..

Just pulled them out.  155 IT.

[Rckcrwlr]

So they got done last night...





The Duck Fat Smells wonderful...that should be made into a Moisturizer. 

[FLBentRider]

Smoked duck fat?

There's gotta be a market for that!

[Rckcrwlr]

Smoked duck fat?

There's gotta be a market for that!

I caught myself with my nose in the tray...just enjoying the essence known as Smoked Duck Fat...    ::)

[pikeman_95]

When you cut into those ducks please give us some pictures of the slices. I am very curious as to how well the smoke and brine penetrated through the skin fat. It is a great chance to learn how to produce a good smoked duck.