Attn: Mallard Whacker.....DUCK!

Chez Bubba · February 10, 2004, 12:56:11 AM

A little over a year ago, we sold a smoker to the local campus of a state college with a culinary arts program. The director called us several times to ask questions & get our opinions. Then one day, he called to ask if we would be interested in cooking for their hosting of the regional ACF chef's meeting. They would provide everything (except, we found out too late, knives).

The only problem was, they never told us what we were going to be cooking. A few weeks from the date I finally called him on it & he replied: "Maple Leaf Farms will be donating ducks." If you don't know, Maple Leaf is the largest commercial producer of duck in the world, located about 30 miles south of here.

I'd never smoked a duck in my life & panicked. My buddy Jim & I decided to get a case of them & get together the following Saturday to do some testing. I forget the exact details but here are the conclusions we came to:.

1. It's way too fatty to smoke whole. Although delicious, it was way too rich and certainly not too good for us.

2. If you're going to hot smoke it, remove the skin & fat.

3. Our favorite was to cold smoke the breasts for 3 hours, then traditionally pan fry them until the fat is rendered and the skin crisp. (Even learned you have to dump the rendered fat out of the pan or it won't continue to render.)

That's what we came to after an entire day of smoking and consuming 4 entire ducks. I swear, I don't ever want to know how many calories that day entailed![:I]

The big day comes & we do the breast thing. All the chefs are impressed but what really made us feel good was the reaction from the people from Maple Leaf. They claimed it was some of the best duck they had ever eaten, better than filet mignon.

The biggest kicker was 3 months later when the school held it's $100 a plate fundraiser dinner. Guess what the director served as the main course. Yep, smoked duck breast![8D]

Now that I've got my chest all puffed out, what are your experiences? I'm curious to try another variation as I still have a couple more in the freezer.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com

MallardWacker · February 10, 2004, 06:24:11 PM

Kirk,

That is a great idea. I have never had a good experience with duck. I was hoping I can change this with the BS. You are correct about the fat on farm raised duck, they are VERY FATTY. I think you could probly measure it in inches. I beleive they raise them like that for the chef type dudes. However, by the time the ducks get to Arkansas (GO-Pig Sooie)and depending on the weather they don't have much fat at all. I have always just skinned and breasted the little creatures. The legs on a wild duck can be as tuff as leather, so I don't even try. One thing I may also try is the goose jurkey seasoning from Hi Mountain. I once taisted some that an outfitter from Canada made, honestly I would bet anyone they that they could not tell the difference from a four legged animal.

SmokeOn,

mski

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Chez Bubba · February 11, 2004, 12:44:56 AM

MW,

If your problem is that they are too lean, try this. Reserve your top rack for raw bacon & just let that drip down on them as they slowly cook. It'll keep them nice & moist.

Bonus is, the twice smoked bacon is mighty tasty too.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com

MallardWacker · February 11, 2004, 01:59:43 PM

Kirk,

Don't get me on bacon. That is truly my favorite thing to do with my BS right know. I can go on for along time about it. It 's has been one of the pleasent surprises of having my BS. Just ordered some maple and also some brown sugar cure for my next round of butts. Have a great day...

SmokeOn,

mski

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Kummok · February 11, 2004, 07:17:44 PM

Kirk:
There you go with that bacon again![:p][:p] I'm pretty certain that this MUST be on the list of cardiac healthy foods since you recommend it so much [:D] If it isn't, I suppose once a month can't be THAT bad [:D]
RC

P.S.
Sunny day, the Bay is like glass, it's 35°F outside and rising, fish GOTTA be hungry after 3 days of hurricane winds and one "5-something" on the Richter earthquake yesterday.....and my boat is still prisoner to ice...AARRGGGGHHHHH [xx(]

Kummok @ Homer, AK USA

HCT · July 06, 2005, 04:03:43 PM

Did you ever try to barbecue a duck? A definet no.[:o)] If you want to see black, bbq a duck. If you want smoke, bbq a duck. If you want to see fire. you gotit

I Share my life with 6 labradors. Who could ask for more?

God bless our wildlife!

TheDude · July 06, 2005, 06:04:05 PM

While I don't think I have ever eaten a domestic duck, I was raised on wild game (as a baby I was fed pureed moose meat). Locally, our ducks feed on wild rice and whatever else they can find in the swamp, but once a fall we go to Saskatchewan and bring back a truck load of corn fed wild mallards, canada's, snows and a few cranes. There is a world of difference between the flavour of marsh birds and prairie birds, but both taste excellent if cooked properly. I am going to have to disagree with mallard wacker because as far as I am concerned, the legs are by far the tastiest part of a duck or goose. While I pluck the canada's and mallards, I usually breast the smaller ducks (like teals, bluebills, ringnecks and woodducks) and save the legs for a special occasion. The trick is that you can't cook them with the breasts or else they will have the texture of shoe leather. You have to put them in a slow-cooker (or a smoker, legs come out very tasty in the Bradley) and cook them low and slow. My favourite recipee uses a teriaki recipee.

Back to smoking. I have not yet done a duck in the smoker, but I have a dozen or so in the freezer so I will sooner or later. What I have done are Canadian Geese (one at a time of course). What I do is really simple, I marinate it for a day or two (I also inject the meat with the marinade) with one cup of orange juice, 1/4 cup of soya sauce, a splash of worchestershire sauce pepper, garlic, onion powder to taste and a dash of cinnimon. I never really measure any of my spices, so you will have to bear with me. You shouldn't need to add any salt with all that soya sauce. After marinating for a couple days, I quarter an orange and stuff the cavity with it. Next it's just a matter of smoking (I like about four hours with oak/cherry, but I think pecan/apple would be nice here too) and cooking at 220 for about 8 hours. With wild game, the meat is going to be inherently tougher than comparable domestic meat, so you will have to cook it a little longer to tenderize the meat. I aim for 190F at the breast which is about 185F at the leg. With the oranges inside, it will not dry out too much. Then you just have to FTC for a couple hours, serve and eat. It tastes really good hot, but even better the next day cold.

The Dude

Phone Guy · July 06, 2005, 11:44:21 PM

Dude, It sounds like you have this mastered with the Geese, it should be no diffrent with duck.

TheDude · July 07, 2005, 04:52:37 AM

You are right... It would probably turn out just ducky.

The Dude

Foam Steak · July 07, 2005, 03:49:37 PM

Chez -

I have a question on your original post. If I am correct you removed the breasts skin on and cold smoked them. Did you brine them at all?

Man I love duck fat. In my house we take all the fat and render it into duck butter. Then we use it for cooking greens. YUMMY. I bet it would keep in the freezer for a long time. But we eat it up pretty quickly!

BigRed · July 07, 2005, 05:57:24 PM

To all duck enthusiast!

I agree with all the things said about duck but I do 4 domestic ducks (plus ham, smoked/fryed turkey, Mrs. has to have another turkey in the oven to stuff. I hot smoke the ducks for 4 hours in the BS I use various woods like pecan and hickory the most. I take the ducks off after 4 hrs.wrap them individually in extra heavy foil. Put in refrig overnight. The next day (Thanksgiving day)I put them on the Weber on MOM or LLL in the morning wrapped in foil for 5 hrs. and meat is falling off the bone and has a great smoked taste at the end of the cook. All the fat and grease stays in the foil wrap. Doing it this way I don't have to watch them and gives me the time to smoke the Turkey and then fry it. WHAT A GREAT DAY THANKSGIVING IS!

BigRED

MallardWacker · July 07, 2005, 06:08:17 PM

Dude Man,

I thik your thought process is 100% correct whenit comes to duck. I have 2 monsters of a goose breast, skin on-boneless, I'm looing for a good time to do those soon.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Chez Bubba · July 08, 2005, 06:03:46 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Foam Steak
 Chez -

I have a question on your original post. If I am correct you removed the breasts skin on and cold smoked them. Did you brine them at all?

Man I love duck fat. In my house we take all the fat and render it into duck butter. Then we use it for cooking greens. YUMMY. I bet it would keep in the freezer for a long time. But we eat it up pretty quickly!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
No, did not remove the skin or the fat, no brine either. Dry rubbed, cold smoked, then seared in a skillet.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?