Smoked Duck Breast - Unbelievable recipe!!!!!!

[thesmoker]

Impress your family and friends with this amazing dish.  You couldn't get a better tasting duck breast at the best restaurants in the world.

Here we go...

Remove the bone and skin from the duck breast halves. Rinse well. For the brine, you will need...

one quart of apple juice or cider
1/4 cup kosher salt, or 3 Tbs canning salt
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked

Mix the ingredients, making sure the salt is completely dissolved. This will be enough brine for up to 1 and 1/2 pounds of duck breast halves. Soak the duck in the brine at least two hours, and overnight if possible (12 hrs maximum).

After brining, give the duck a quick rinse and then pat dry with paper towels. If you would like, coat each breast half with melted bacon grease. I choose not to do this but it would be extra tasty if you did.

Place the duck breasts into a BS at 225 degrees for approximately two hours, depending on the size of the breast sections. I used a mixture of Alder and Pecan bisquettes. 

Now start the plum glaze:
Plum Glaze for Smoked Duck

The Asian inspired plum sauce gives the roasted duck a great crusty surface and adds a sweet flavor. Baste the duck during the last hour of smoking or the last 30 minutes of grilling. Remember that duck is best slow cooked.

INGREDIENTS:
•   1/2 cup plum jelly
•   4 cloves garlic
•   1 tablespoon fresh ginger
•   1 tablespoon soy sauce
•   1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper [/li][/list]



PREPARATION:
Place on ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. About 1 hour before you are done smoking the duck paint over the entire surface. Continue glazing about every 15 minutes until done.

Duck is ideally eaten medium rare, but if you prefer well done (I let the internal temp get to 170 degrees and it was the juiciest duck i ever ate!), take them out when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

Enjoy!  Send me your comments after you've tried it.  You won't regret it!  My wife (who does not eat duck usually) just called me to make it again for her... 8)

[Wildcat]

Congradulations on your success.   ;)It is always nice to convert the spouse. 8)  Looks like MW has some new competition. :D  I have not had a chance to smoke a duck yet, but I have grilled them.

[iceman]

Wow ts that is a great sounding recipe. It's supposed to warm up a bit soon so I'll be for trying that one. You should get that posted in the recipe forum so everyone can find it easily. Thanks for sharing. :)

[MallardWacker]

NOW that is worth a try...Now would that be them wild type breasts???

[Wildcat]

NOW that is worth a try...Now would that be them wild type breasts???

Does it really matter?  I bet it would be good with tame or wild! ;D ;D

[iceman]

NOW that is worth a try...Now would that be them wild type breasts???

Does it really matter?  I bet it would be good with tame or wild! ;D ;D

Gotta agree on that. Last recipe MW told me to go ahead and try domestic duck because that's all I could get and it turned out great.

[MallardWacker]

OH ya there will be some difference...even between different types of ducks...I would think the domesticated ones will taste milder AND if you like the fat thing...you will get a thicker layer of fat with the tame-ee's.  Some ducks eat nothing but vegetation and others get into the bug and/or fish thing...and some a combo of the two.  They say sea ducks, mainly hunted on the east coast, they eat clams on the flats, stink up the whole house if you don't cook them correctly.

My favorites are, in this order: Teal, Gadwall, Mallard.

[manxman]

I bet it would be good with tame or wild!

Excellent recipe.  :)

I am off down the local childrens section of the zoo, think they have some tame ducks there.!!  ;)

[winemakers]

MW:

can you say Merganser?   offfaahhh,   (for the non-waterfowlers:  fish eating duck that tastes worse than the stuff left in the anchovie can).  Don't even shoot'em anymore.  I havent found a preparation that can make them palatable.


mld

[MallardWacker]

MW:

can you say Merganser?   offfaahhh......

You can say that again....My signature line over on the Duck Hunting forum is :"Friends don't let friends shoot Mergansers"...the drakes do make a good mount though.