Pintails taste funny?
- Thread starter MD
- Start date
badgreenbird
Regular
- Location
- Dawson Creek, BC
I shoot plenty of pintails every fall, and don't find them to be any different from the other puddle ducks (mallard, gadwall, wigeon, teal, shoveler) as far as taste goes. Which is to say none of them are that great. But as said already, the key is to not overcook them! Well-done duck breast is great if you like liver. I don't.
Also as already mentioned, there can be significant taste difference depending on what that particular bird has been eating. My buddy cooked up a bunch of wigeon/mallard/teal breasts last weekend (did a great job with cream cheese, bacon & jalapeno peppers on the BBQ) and all tasted reasonably good except for one bird that was very strong/gamey. Raised on the local sewer lagoon? who knows...
But Ruffed Grouse are the best tasting wild game of any sort, in my books, and I've sampled lots...
Also as already mentioned, there can be significant taste difference depending on what that particular bird has been eating. My buddy cooked up a bunch of wigeon/mallard/teal breasts last weekend (did a great job with cream cheese, bacon & jalapeno peppers on the BBQ) and all tasted reasonably good except for one bird that was very strong/gamey. Raised on the local sewer lagoon? who knows...
But Ruffed Grouse are the best tasting wild game of any sort, in my books, and I've sampled lots...
Liver and fishy mud. That's what the mallards that I ate tasted like, and they were cooked medium.
I might shoot a few more some day and see how they are if cooked in domestic duck fat and turned into confit.
Ruffies are very high up on my list as well. I barely cook them and they are sweet and tender. Mmmmmm, can't wait till fall now...
Just goes to show tastes are different. I love having a nice roasted mallard for Sunday dinner but I can't be bothered to even bring a .22 or 410 along when deer or moose hunting for grouse any more. I find grouse meat dry and boring. My buddy is crazy about shooting them. He just about foams at the mouth whenever he sees one.
One time we made a bed of cabbage leaves in a dutch oven, put three or four grouse in there, covered them with onions and a bottle of home made elderberry wine, covered that with more cabbage leaves and cooked the whole mess slowly in the coals of a fire. That was okay.
One time we made a bed of cabbage leaves in a dutch oven, put three or four grouse in there, covered them with onions and a bottle of home made elderberry wine, covered that with more cabbage leaves and cooked the whole mess slowly in the coals of a fire. That was okay.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
People who think ducks taste bad probably eat white bread and store bought chicken and drink Bud Light. That's OK, more for those of us who appreciate real flavour.
Ouch Longwalker
but,whats wrong with Bud Light?Those ducks if they came off the Pitt Polder might have spent some time on the ponds under the Golden Eagle Bridge maybe??
Sometimes we shoot the old tough birds and other times we get the young tender ones.
Might be those Pintails you shot might be the more mature birds??
Gotta go and check out google and seasoned shot.
Rob
Or, they've only eaten terrible tasting wild ducks.
I don't shy away from strong flavours. Mule deer is my favourite "red" game, and lamb is my favourite domestic "red" meat.
The wild ducks I have eaten were absolutely revolting.
What type of ducks have you eaten? Some species are better than others, growing up in the grain belt of Alberta we mainly shot Mallards and mainly greenheads at that. Might be an acquired taste but I've always enjoyed roast duck and to this day I prefer a roast duck to a roast turkey.
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leveractionjunkie
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
Don’t think it applies to the OP or his wife and their pintails but wild ducks are the easiest thing to f up for the table. Properly handled and prepared most dabblers and even some divers are absolutely delicious. Same bird, same pan cooked just a minute or two too much or a few degrees too high and they turn into near inedible livery, rubbery messes.
Done right they’re like bacon wrapped prime rib.
Done right they’re like bacon wrapped prime rib.
leveractionjunkie
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
https://honest-food.net/how-to-cook-duck-breasts/
Slap that ^^^ in your word hole and tell me it ain’t the taste of heaven
Slap that ^^^ in your word hole and tell me it ain’t the taste of heaven
Crazy_Farmer
Regular
- Location
- Running Traffic, BC
Anyone who thinks Canada geese taste better then pintail need their heads checked lol. Next blasphemy I’m gonna hear is Green Wing teal are horrible to eat too!!! Hahahah
I’d shoot teal and pintail over mallards every day that ends in “Y”.
I’d shoot teal and pintail over mallards every day that ends in “Y”.
leveractionjunkie
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
Only thing better than a perfectly cooked greenwing is a perfectly cooked blue wing
Only thing better than a perfectly cooked greenwing is a perfectly cooked blue wing
With an appetizer of Cinnamon Teal...
Rob
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
The majority of watefowlers Ive met eat far less then they shoot. They find any excuse they can not to eat it. Meaning, the fact they dont taste good doesnt keep them out of the field.
As for actual taste, I find the vast majority of people who say they dont like wild game dont know how to cook. They overcook the #### out of it and complain about it, or they mishandle it in the field and wonder why it taste bad. Note - The OP does not appear to have this problem.
