The great duck experiment

bsolomon · September 01, 2004, 08:05:27 PM

We threw a little dinner party for 30 people last weekend. I had already done some cold-smoked salmon, and smoked some trout, and of course I had to make some ABTs, but I needed something else, so I decided to try smoking some ducks. Bear in mind I have never cooked duck by any method, let alone smoking, but I haven't had anything but success from the BS, so why not.

I purchased (3) 5lb frozen ducklings from a butcher we have here that specializes in exotics (buffalo, elk, venison, ducks, quails, etc...) I brought them home on Wednesday evening and let them defrost in the refrigerator. I have read several things regarding brining duck, and there does not seem to be any overwhlming consensus as to whether this is needed. Most say the ducks are fatty enough not to need it, and other say you certainly can't hurt anything by brining them. So, since I had the time, I decided to brine. I opened up the first two packages late Friday and had beautiful ducks. These went into the brine. The third duck was another story -greenish and obviously rancid.

The first two ducks came out of the brine the next morning, and were set out in the fridge to air dry. After exchanging the bad duck Saturday afternoon, I got it home, did a speed defrost and a pat dry, and then all three were ready for a rub (I tried the Lysander's poultry rub which seems to be quite good). The ducks were rubbed and set in plastic bags overnight.

Preheat BS at high and ducks out of the fridge at 8:00 am, into the smoker at 9:00 am, and smoked for 4 hours at 200 degrees with Apple, and cooked for about another 3 hours until the breast temp was 160 degrees (duck is usually served a bit towards the rare side). Out of the BS and into foil/towel/cooler for about 2 hours before carving.

Interestly enough, I was not able to discern any difference in flavor, texture, color, moisture, or skin crispness between the three ducks, all of which came out fantastic (although with so much fat, even smoking with the vent open for the first couple of hours was not able to remove enough moisture to get the skin anywhere near crisp).

Several people came up to me and said that this was the best duck they had ever tried, and others, who were not duck fans in the past, said they had now changed their minds. In any case, based on this accidental experiment, I would be inclined to say that brining and air drying don't make any difference, so anyone else smoking some duck might just want to go straight to the rub and then get smokin'...

MallardWacker · September 01, 2004, 08:30:02 PM

bsolomon,

Dude, it sounds like you got the number. That really does sound good. This year I will have try some duck breasts with the skin on and do it like you have descibed, I will try at least once. Also I think you got me interested in doing some farm raised type, I sure hope they are milder tasting then the wild critters.

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...

whitetailfan · September 02, 2004, 02:45:16 AM

I'm sure there is a big flavour difference Mallard, but I also think big time fat content difference as well. While the duck experiment provides us no reason to brine a tame duck, I'm sure going to if I am fortunate enough to whack a few green heads this season[:)] We raised ducks when I was young, and one of Mom's roast ducks was super juicy and there was lots of fat left, but I've never eaten a wild duck that had anywhere near that amount of fat.

whitetailfan
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

Fuzzybear · September 02, 2004, 03:16:50 AM

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................duck.....................geez I wish my transfer would come thru...hunting season/ducks/deer...my smoker is dying and drying up waiting for the move to Washington!

"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!

Chez Bubba · September 02, 2004, 04:57:37 AM

See http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=134&SearchTerms=duck,college for my first time experience.

I've come to the conclusion that duck done right is one of the finer things in life.

You're right about the fat though. Slow cooking will never render away the massive fat-to-meat ratio unless you cook the meat to charcoal stage.

Kirk

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

MallardWacker · September 02, 2004, 02:09:21 PM

You folks are correct about the wild ones. I have cleaned PLENTY of ducks the basicly had NO fat compared to those lovely little white ones. Maybe later in the season you may get a few that have a thicker layer but still never quite like the farmed raised ones. There is no dought that there probably huge differance in taste and I think we all no where the good flavor comes from, FAT baby.

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...

iscreamer1 · July 06, 2005, 03:52:08 PM

I love Duck and have smoked several in my offset smoker with great success. The fat was rendered, the skin beautifully brown, if chewy, and the meat juicy and good. I have read several of the posts about smoking in the Bradley and I wonder if this method would work. One way to rid a duck of fat is to prick it all over with a fork then place it in a colander on top of some boiling water and basically steam it for about 30 minutes. If you did that and then smoked it do you think the duck would pick up the smoke flavor? I may try that with a chicken (wouldn't want to waste a good duck). I'd like to try Chzbubba's method but what does MOM mean?

JJC · July 08, 2005, 04:14:53 AM

I think Irene is right--I remember my Mom doing roasted duck that way (poking holes in the skin before cooking to get some of the fat out and crisp up the skin). Also, I work in the Chinatown section of Boston, and they air dry their ducks for at least 24 hr before cooking to get rid of the moisture (but not the fat). I think bsolomonon's experience that brining did not make a difference is very consistent with the general wisdom that duck, while not hurt by brining, is not helped by it either.

John
Newton MA

Habanero Smoker · July 08, 2005, 10:14:02 AM

I believe Irene and John are correct about piercing the skin. The occasional times I smoke or roast duck I pierce the breast skin in several places. you just have to be careful to just pierce the skin, and not go too deep that your pierce the meat. If the meat is pierce, the fat will go into the meat, making the breast meat to fatty.

jon s smokhouse · July 10, 2005, 06:09:06 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">duck is usually served a bit towards the rare side<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

With me being more experienced with chicken and turkey and those are cooked more on the well done side, so the question I have is wouldn't cooking the duck on the rare side cause potential health problems such as food poisoning? [?]