one nyear old muscovy

[Capvin]

I have a chance to buy some butchered and ready muscovy ducks; which we love. They are one year old...Is that too old and will they be tough??

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've never eaten 1 year old Muscovy, but they will be fine to eat. You might have to cook them like older poultry, low and slow.

Are you getting a discounted price because they are older than the standard butchering age?

 

[Capvin]

Yes, to me it is a discounted price because I normally order them from a specialty food market on line and they are $50.00 each for a female at about 4lbs. This is a local guy who raises turkeys, ducks and chickens and will butcher and prepare them on order. I paid $20.00 for each. I will be ordering a turkey from him but this one will be butchered at about 6 months old, which I think is fine. Just got the ducks and will try one tomorrow and hope for the best. Normally I bone the breast out and pan fry it in butter to about medium rare and then slice it. It is my favorite so I am hoping for the best with these.

 

[ian4379]

i've buthcered an older bird. the breast was a little tougher and the flavour is stronger. not as tasty as a 12 week mussie but still alright. the meat buyers at auctions here dont seem to mind them being old!

 

[cukooformarans]

interesting ... so what is the ideal age range? I know I have heard that you can butcher them as early as 12 wks; however, I have some 7-8 mos old drakes that we just didn't get around to for various reasons and was debating if they would be too old. We have never eaten muscovy before and I don't want the first experience with it to be a bad one. (It will be hard enough to get DH to try it the first time, will be much harder the next time if it flops!)

 

[ian4379]

i do mine at 12 weeks, they havent started moulting at that age so theres no pin feathers, also the testosterone hasnt kicked in so it tastes nicer i think. kind of like how veal tastes different to normal beef.

if you wait till 16 weeks you gain an extra 500grams in weight, but you have to deal with pin feathers and the feed to get the extra weight on. some people do it at 20 weeks. in the end its just up to personal taste. the chinese buy up big time at the auctions for the chinese new year and they dont seem to care about age.

i chop off the back legs and mince them, then cut the carcass in half so you still have the breast on the bone, roast it for around 30 mins, let it rest for 5 mins, then slice the breast off the bone, slice the breast up and season with salt and pepper. my dogs get the offal and neck, one of them eats the head, beak and all. what amazes me with him is that they free range with him and he doesnt touch them! i'm lucky he's a smart dog. sometimes i'll make a stock with the bones if i can be bothered after all the buthering

i forgot to mention i only bother plcking the drakes, the girls i just skin and cut off the good bits, my hands are too big to get inside the carcass to gut the young ducks! i crumb the young duck breasts and make snitzels or parma's out of em, tasty.

my dog "bullock" duck bodyguard, he's a blue heeler or australian cattle dog if your wondering.