Is duck supposed to taste like, well .... swamp ?
- Thread starter RobSmith
- Start date
For that metallic taste you guys were talking about, I think I got a solution for you. It's usually caused by the blood remaining in the bird. What I do is throw the bird (after I've gutted, feathered, and generally prepared it for cooking it) into a ziplock bag with some water and salt. I shake it up and sit it on the counter and keep a watch on it. The salt acts like a suction (I don't know why), drawing any extra blood out of the meat. Once I notice blood starting to show, I give it about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the bird or parts, if you're just cooking the breasts. After that, I take it out and give it a quick rinse to remove any salted blood water, and pretty much do the same as everyone else here has suggested. A good marinade that flavors it the way you like it, cooked medium rare with moisture the key.
BTW, thanks SJEMAC, for that 5 hour recipe. I've never tried that one before; I'm anxious to get out for duck hunting season and try it out.
BTW, thanks SJEMAC, for that 5 hour recipe. I've never tried that one before; I'm anxious to get out for duck hunting season and try it out.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I used to hunt for ducks in Saskatchewan, back in the evil days of lead shot!
I found mallards, teals, black ducks, canvasback, and most geese were excellent table fare.
Occassionally shot/ate scaup, eiders, ruddy ducks, mergansers, shovellers etc. I would say that these ducks were often the muddy tasting ones and I never bothered with them after tasting them once.
Diet I believe is key here, perhaps those mallards, teals & geese were feeding on alot of grain, so plentiful on the praries. Hence the better taste.
I even tried sandhill crane jerky, from some locals, and it wasn't half bad.
My opinion only....
I found mallards, teals, black ducks, canvasback, and most geese were excellent table fare.
Occassionally shot/ate scaup, eiders, ruddy ducks, mergansers, shovellers etc. I would say that these ducks were often the muddy tasting ones and I never bothered with them after tasting them once.
Diet I believe is key here, perhaps those mallards, teals & geese were feeding on alot of grain, so plentiful on the praries. Hence the better taste.
I even tried sandhill crane jerky, from some locals, and it wasn't half bad.
My opinion only....
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Agree with the soaking in salt water for removing the blood.
This is a recipe I was given by a buddy - cook for about 40 minutes on the bun warmer racks of your barbque. Ducks were a so - so proposition with my family till I used this recipe - now theres only a pile of bones left (and they are great sliced up cold as appetisers):
plucked ducks (SKIN ON)
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
garlic - as much as you like!
teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper
Marinate for 12 - 18 hours, use marinade while cooking - turn ducks every 10 minutes or so when cooking- watch for flare ups on the barby!
This is a recipe I was given by a buddy - cook for about 40 minutes on the bun warmer racks of your barbque. Ducks were a so - so proposition with my family till I used this recipe - now theres only a pile of bones left (and they are great sliced up cold as appetisers):
plucked ducks (SKIN ON)
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
garlic - as much as you like!
teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper
Marinate for 12 - 18 hours, use marinade while cooking - turn ducks every 10 minutes or so when cooking- watch for flare ups on the barby!
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Canvasbacks ( divers ) were the most highly prized of all duck species for table fare when market hunting was alive and well. This was especially true for Atlantic Flyway birds who fed on wild celery, wild rice & eel grass. On the west coast however, Cans are well-known to feed on dead & decayed salmon
... so don't think I'd care much for them. There is much to be said for what the birds are feeding on prior to harvesting them. While in Cuba, rice-fed Fulvous Tree Ducks come to mind as being really VERY good ! The Snow Geese feeding/grazing along the James/Hudson Bay coast in the fall ... pass !
I'll take all the wheat-fed Specklebellies the prairies have to offer, however.
In the Great Lakes area, Canvasbacks, Redheads & Ringnecks ("Diving" duck species) are much sought after table fare, and the Scaup ( Lesser & Greater / "Bluebills" ) I've had are quite acceptable with good preparation. Goldeneye (Whistlers) and Bufflehead are a little stronger in flavour (better in a stir fry) and most of my waterfowlin' buds don't bother with Ruddy's, Long-tailed (Old Squaw), Scoters ... or Mergansers of any type.
Of the Puddle ducks, Mallards, Blacks, Pintails, Wood Ducks & Blue or Green-Winged Teal all make good table birds. The bigger species are very good if they've been out on the stubble fields feeding on grain such as corn & barley, and Wood Ducks feeding on acorns are quite exceptional. When the birds are into a heavy diet of insect, crustaceans and molluscs ... such as crayfish and zebra mussels, well, they don't taste near as good. Those that hunt birds near locations such as sewage settlement ponds and the like ... well maybe that would explain a "swampy" taste !!!
Personally, I'll take a well-prepared dinner of roast Cans & Reds anyday over roast beef (and make both rare, medium rare at worst, please) Even a breast or two of grain-fed Mallard on the "barbie" gets the nod over steak
... so don't think I'd care much for them. There is much to be said for what the birds are feeding on prior to harvesting them. While in Cuba, rice-fed Fulvous Tree Ducks come to mind as being really VERY good ! The Snow Geese feeding/grazing along the James/Hudson Bay coast in the fall ... pass !
I'll take all the wheat-fed Specklebellies the prairies have to offer, however.
In the Great Lakes area, Canvasbacks, Redheads & Ringnecks ("Diving" duck species) are much sought after table fare, and the Scaup ( Lesser & Greater / "Bluebills" ) I've had are quite acceptable with good preparation. Goldeneye (Whistlers) and Bufflehead are a little stronger in flavour (better in a stir fry) and most of my waterfowlin' buds don't bother with Ruddy's, Long-tailed (Old Squaw), Scoters ... or Mergansers of any type.
Of the Puddle ducks, Mallards, Blacks, Pintails, Wood Ducks & Blue or Green-Winged Teal all make good table birds. The bigger species are very good if they've been out on the stubble fields feeding on grain such as corn & barley, and Wood Ducks feeding on acorns are quite exceptional. When the birds are into a heavy diet of insect, crustaceans and molluscs ... such as crayfish and zebra mussels, well, they don't taste near as good. Those that hunt birds near locations such as sewage settlement ponds and the like ... well maybe that would explain a "swampy" taste !!!
Personally, I'll take a well-prepared dinner of roast Cans & Reds anyday over roast beef (and make both rare, medium rare at worst, please) Even a breast or two of grain-fed Mallard on the "barbie" gets the nod over steak
Birds taken from slews and swamps might taste "swampy" but I would expect birds from sewage ponds to have a definate ####ty taste
Good post Beretta Boy! Canvas backs and red heads around here used to be good eating birds, but in recent years DU made a deal with a local slaugher plant to use the effluent to keep water levels up at a project lake that runs dry from time to time. Its a good breeding ground for various species and a good stopping place for migrating flocks but early season ducks are the ####s.
I think that there is a definate difference between game taste and down right bad taste. I think a lot of the potentially bad tasting ones can be sniffed out before the game goes into freezer bags and game that starts to smell bad during the early cooking process usually does not get any better when done.
I love my game meat aand I love the gammy taste, but I will not struggle through a single mouthfull that does not taste right.
I throw my agreement in with that; great post Beretta Boy. I've never hunted the west coast, but I'm always into learning more about a new hunting ground and the animals on it! LOL!
BTW, does anyone know a good recipe for BBQing a duck rotisserie style? A buddy of mine said he went to visit a relative and they cooked their duck this way. He said it was amazing. Anyone ever tried this before?
BTW, does anyone know a good recipe for BBQing a duck rotisserie style? A buddy of mine said he went to visit a relative and they cooked their duck this way. He said it was amazing. Anyone ever tried this before?
Osmosis:
If two solutions of different concentration are separated by a semi-permeable membrane which is permeable to to the smaller solvent molecules but not to the larger solute molecules, then the solvent will tend to diffuse across the membrane from the less concentrated to the more concentrated solution. This process is called osmosis.
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Covey Ridge ... you down near the big Cargill facility / Frank Lake ???
I live within sight of the lake
and sometimes downwind from the plant
They have been good as of late and often do not do their rendering til most of us are sleeping, but I wish they would take their operation south of the border. They add nothing to our community.
Love the big ol bottle of ketchup in the background...
I guess it takes a ketchup person to notice a bottle of ketchup.
To each his own, but I was too busy drooling and nothing looked liked it needed ketchup.BTW I like to cook with ketchup. Put any type of meat in a caserole dish. Add spices and onions. Pour 3/4 cup coca cola (not pepsi) over meat and then plop 3/4 cup ketchup on top. Cover. Cook on fairly high oven for 45-60 minutes.
Love the big ol bottle of ketchup in the background...
The youngest boy hates meat and won't eat it without the ketchup. He is none too struck on hunting either. His name IS Hunter.
I still believe he got mixed up with some other kid in the hospital nursery.
Somewhere in a $1,000,000 home in Fort Mac there's a British Engineer and his wife looking at a rabid little house ape swinging from the ceiling fan with a dead squirrel clamped between his teeth and wondering...............
where the bloody hell did those genes come from?!!!
My oldest was the same, never liked meat until he helped me dress a caribou I shot and then he bcame a boo fan, and it went from there.
i agree it sounds overcooked and it should never be taken past med rare. i marinate my whole ducks in buttermilk and it really helps with the livery taste( i like it but the wife does not) i like to barbeque mine drunken chicken style it really makes the difference in keeping the meat moist in a whole bird scenario. if it is breasts only sear them quickly keep them moving and moist and then serve med rare.
