Plucking ducks...any advice?

[enola]

Granny I have eaten all sorts of wild game. Squirrel, ground hog, possum, deer, elk, black bear, pheasant, turkey, quail, snapping turtle, catfish, trout, perch, bass, alligator, emu, ostrich, rattlesnake,

I guess I qualify as a country girl?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

UMM, I think that goes beyond country girl . You get moved straight to the queen of the bayou . LOL

 

[enola]

Never been near the bayou.

grew up in the mountains.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

LOL, You may not of been there but sounds like you brought to yourself. A near by restaurant served gator here not too long ago but i passed.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

FYI, a friend and I did the last three ducks this past Saturday. At 9 weeks, they were a bit easier than at 8 weeks since some of the pin feathers had grown in a bit more and were easier to grab a hold of. We each still spent about 75 minutes on one duck and then figured they were good enough to throw in the smoker and then remove the skin once they were smoked, so a few pin feathers wouldn't be a big deal. Once again, the third we skinned. So, these three are resting in the 'fridge. Tuesday or Wednesday I'll freeze the skinned one and smoke the other two. I think smoked duck is going to be awesome.

 

[Rock Ranch]

Does anyone know how the commercial processors pluck them ? You'll have to let us know how smoked duck goes.

 

[madamiec]

Basically the same way they do the chicken but it takes much longer to do. This is why it costs twice as much to have them processed (or more) and why few processors do waterfowl.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Does anyone know how the commercial processors pluck them ? You'll have to let us know how smoked duck goes.

I did find that dry plucking is actually easier...or at least less mess than scalding. We only scalded after doing most of the body in order to remove the wing and tail feathers. I've heard that some dip them in a vat of melted parafan wax and remove the feathers by peeling off the wax, but I 1) don't have a vat of parafan and b) wanted to save the down for a pillow.

We had smoked duck tacos last weekend. Soft flour tortilla, sliced, smoked duck, some Chinese Hoisin Sause, slivered green onion, shredded Napa cabbage and sliced mango. It was so very good! Sort of a cross between a taco and Peking Duck. There was enough for 6 generous tacos. The carcass is in the fridge with a bunch of the reserved smokey skin. I'm going to make a soup this weekend.

 

[JHaller]

I'm new at duck processing and am also having a difficult time with them. Today I processed my 7th duck ever and got the carcass clean in less than 40 minutes. I read somewhere that the scalding water for ducks should be hotter than for chickens, so I tried scalding in 170 deg F (per candy thermometer) water. I had all the feathers off in about 15 mins. I spent less than half an hour grooming the rest of the carcass. So far, its the best-looking bird I've done.

I don't know if the hotter temperature affects the meat or organs in any recognizable way, but it sure was easier to pluck!