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Grilling Duck
- Thread starter JWarren14
- Start date
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Plenty of experience in baking and grilling duck. Before we go into recipes, is it wild duck?
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Okay. Obviously there are jillions of recipes out there you can try, but I'll give you a couple few I've done.
First, is it just breast meat? Or is it the entire bird?
No matter what recipe you choose it is imperative to soak wild duck in order to get most of the gamey flavor out of it. I've used milk, italian dressing, but have found ice salt water to work the best. Allow the birds to soak for an hour to hour and a half. It'll draw the gamey blood from the meat.
Breast meat only recipe:
Mix Worcestershire, olive oil, hot sauce of your choice (I use Franks), garlic and pepper. Marinate the birds in the mixture for an hour minimum (longer the better)
Grill over medium heat around 5 min a side until 160-170 inner temp. I do medium rare which is closer to 160
Breast meat appetizer:
Cut breast filets lengthwise into strips, do the same with a few jalapenos w/o seeds and wrap 1 of each in a half a peice of bacon. You can do the same with dove too.
Whole bird (plucked, gutted, etc) #1:
If not already done, cut down the middle of the back in order to flatten rib cage a little.
After soak, marinate at least an hour (longer the better) in your favorite italian dressing with a little worcestershire and a squirt of lemon.
After marinating you can cram a mixture of minced thyme, rosemary, garlic powder and pepper under the skin. Break open ribs and grill skin side down as flat as possible until golden brown. Flip and grill until desired temp. Again, I do medium rare (160 in breast)
Whole bird (plucked, gutted, etc) #2:
Simple recipe. After soak, lay each bird breast down on a sheet of foil that the bird can be wrapped up in. Cover each bird in your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Baby Rays a lot). Slice an onion into half rings and use about 1/4-1/2 and onion per bird. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each. Wrap each bird where the seam is nice and sealed towards the top (opposite breast). Grill on medium heat until 160.
Those are a couple of my own recipes. I've also used quite a few from here:
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zduck.html
Just remember to ALWAYS soak the birds in a brine or ice salt water for an hour or so. If not, it'll likely taste super gamey and probably ruin your attitude towards duck.
First, is it just breast meat? Or is it the entire bird?
No matter what recipe you choose it is imperative to soak wild duck in order to get most of the gamey flavor out of it. I've used milk, italian dressing, but have found ice salt water to work the best. Allow the birds to soak for an hour to hour and a half. It'll draw the gamey blood from the meat.
Breast meat only recipe:
Mix Worcestershire, olive oil, hot sauce of your choice (I use Franks), garlic and pepper. Marinate the birds in the mixture for an hour minimum (longer the better)
Grill over medium heat around 5 min a side until 160-170 inner temp. I do medium rare which is closer to 160
Breast meat appetizer:
Cut breast filets lengthwise into strips, do the same with a few jalapenos w/o seeds and wrap 1 of each in a half a peice of bacon. You can do the same with dove too.
Whole bird (plucked, gutted, etc) #1:
If not already done, cut down the middle of the back in order to flatten rib cage a little.
After soak, marinate at least an hour (longer the better) in your favorite italian dressing with a little worcestershire and a squirt of lemon.
After marinating you can cram a mixture of minced thyme, rosemary, garlic powder and pepper under the skin. Break open ribs and grill skin side down as flat as possible until golden brown. Flip and grill until desired temp. Again, I do medium rare (160 in breast)
Whole bird (plucked, gutted, etc) #2:
Simple recipe. After soak, lay each bird breast down on a sheet of foil that the bird can be wrapped up in. Cover each bird in your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Baby Rays a lot). Slice an onion into half rings and use about 1/4-1/2 and onion per bird. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each. Wrap each bird where the seam is nice and sealed towards the top (opposite breast). Grill on medium heat until 160.
Those are a couple of my own recipes. I've also used quite a few from here:
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zduck.html
Just remember to ALWAYS soak the birds in a brine or ice salt water for an hour or so. If not, it'll likely taste super gamey and probably ruin your attitude towards duck.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Yeah, after plucking and chopping the head, wings and feet off, I normally burn the pinfeathers and furry feathers off with a little propane torch.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
MmmmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmm duck. What time should I be over?
Hardcore Texan
Magnet Man
Appreciate the tips and the recipes, I will definitely try at least one of them.
I knew someone would have some good advice.
The poppers sounded yummy, I have quail meat like that before, really good.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Yeah, I think the dove are better than the duck in that recipe. I imagine quail would be too. It's been quite a while since I've had quail, but I remember they were good eatin too.
Silver Oak
All Pro
is there an option to smoke it? more tender and less chance to dry out IMO.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
On my grill two weeks ago!!
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Yes, you can absolutely smoke it.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Fixed.
Shaft75
All Pro
You like venison and duck meat TB?
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Hell yeah!! In fact, Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family's formal dinner is Turkey and Duck... Love venison too.
Shaft75
All Pro
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Well, you can duck down and suck ol buck!
You've confused me with either Flaming Sparrow or Hobie
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Well, you can duck down and suck ol buck!
I reckon it's a good thing I wasn't around to answer. 
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
I reckon TB is correct, but I've never tried smoking it. I always used to screw the meat up when I had a smoker. Duck easily dries out, so you won't catch me trying to smoke it.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
One word: Brining
Here's a quick one......
For this duck recipe, an overnight brining will help keep the meat moist, and will remove a bit of the gamey flavor.
Apple Smoked Duck Breast
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.
After brining, give the duck a quick rinse and then pat dry with paper towels. Coat each breast half with melted bacon grease.
Place the duck breasts into a 225 degree Fahrenheit meat smoker for one or two hours, depending on the size of the breast sections. Use a small amount of apple or pear wood for the smoke.
Duck is ideally eaten medium rare, but if you prefer well done, take them out when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Real easy and tasty way to do duck breast is:
Score the skin in a cross hatch.
Put it skin side down in a dry med-high skillet (that can go in the oven) - let the skin render down to crispy.
Flip the breasts, put in a chunk of butter, a whole garlic clove or two and a sprig of rosemary.
Spoon the butter over the top of the duck and cook just long enough to brown the bottom.
Put the skillet into a 400 degree oven for about 4-5 minutes to get to med-rare.
Remove the duck from the skillet and let it rest. While it does saute mushrooms or blanched potatoes in the duck fat/butter in the pan.
Works really well with quail as well but you have to start with some olive oil since it doesn't have the fat of the duck skin.
TB - I made the duck at Christmas as well. Game at Christmas is a tradition in our family.
Brining is great for game.
Removing the skin from a duck breast is a tragedy.
Citrus also works very well.
Score the skin in a cross hatch.
Put it skin side down in a dry med-high skillet (that can go in the oven) - let the skin render down to crispy.
Flip the breasts, put in a chunk of butter, a whole garlic clove or two and a sprig of rosemary.
Spoon the butter over the top of the duck and cook just long enough to brown the bottom.
Put the skillet into a 400 degree oven for about 4-5 minutes to get to med-rare.
Remove the duck from the skillet and let it rest. While it does saute mushrooms or blanched potatoes in the duck fat/butter in the pan.
Works really well with quail as well but you have to start with some olive oil since it doesn't have the fat of the duck skin.
TB - I made the duck at Christmas as well. Game at Christmas is a tradition in our family.
Brining is great for game.
Removing the skin from a duck breast is a tragedy.
Citrus also works very well.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
I mentioned brining in my previous post, but I've always used the ice salt water for the soak.
I guess I just worded my post wrong. My point was, duck dries out easily if over-cooked and I generally stink at using a smoker. Heck, I used to over-cook steak....that's how bad I am at using a smoker.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Thank God.... I would always get odd looks whenever I told people that.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
I've done all the cooking at Thanksgiving and Christmas for the past 10 years so you get what I choose to cook. Funny thing is folks always worry about the kids and I have to beat them off the venison, ducks, etc. to leave some for the adults.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
I've always thought waterfowl was a holiday tradition too. Back in the day it was a turkey and ducks at Thanksgiving and a goose and ducks at Christmas. Now it's turkey and ducks on both due to not goose hunting anymore.
Additionally, my oldest brother makes an oyster dressing that is out of this World awesome. Fattening as heck, but that's what the holidays are for, no?