Processing a duck... I need some help

[SweetieChicken234]

I don't have ducks and I don't know anything about them. Can I clean it the same as a chicken? Scald temperature the same? Cut it open the same?

My neighbor asked me to process a duck for her and I told her I would. I'm going to watch some videos and try to learn. I know you all will have better tips.

 

[AshVau22]

I'm absolutely no expert on butchering chickens or ducks. Although I do have more experience with chickens. I butchered my first duck few weeks ago. Watched tons of videos. All I can say is it was an absolute pain in the A** to pluck that thing. I ended up just skinning it. I probably did something wrong. I had the water to temperature and added some dawn dish soap to cut through the oils. There was just so many feathers it never ended and the little pin down feathers I didn't have the wax and I did see that in some video. But as far as dispatching the duck and cleaning the inside was basically like a chicken. Just those dang feathers.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I'm absolutely no expert on butchering chickens or ducks. Although I do have more experience with chickens. I butchered my first duck few weeks ago. Watched tons of videos. All I can say is it was an absolute pain in the A** to pluck that thing. I ended up just skinning it. I probably did something wrong. I had the water to temperature and added some dawn dish soap to cut through the oils. There was just so many feathers it never ended and the little pin down feathers I didn't have the wax and I did see that in some video. But as far as dispatching the duck and cleaning the inside was basically like a chicken. Just those dang feathers.

Oh man so I'm in for a real treat with the feathers. Super. I told her I'm not going to charge her since it was my first duck and more of a learning experience.

 

[AshVau22]

Oh man so I'm in for a real treat with the feathers. Super. I told her I'm not going to charge her since it was my first duck and more of a learning experience.

Im sure breed of duck matters too. Mine was a jumbo pekin so he was massive. A smaller duck might not be as bad. I just know the people in those videos made it look way easier than it ways Or at least that was my experience.

 

[LinkinChicks]

It depends on how old the duck is, depending on age the ducks feathers should be easier or harder to pluck. I have done a decent number of ducks and they don’t pluck clean with a plucker like a chicken does. You’ll need to do some more work before/after. Pluck out the big feathers and some of the down by hand first and then scald/plucker. If you have access to some food grade wax or duck wax, that will make it nice and clean like a super market duck. The gutting part is pretty identical to chickens, but since it is your first it might seem a little different. If you save the gizzards, I’ve noticed waterfowl gizzards are a PAIN to peel vs chicken gizzards which peel super easily. Good luck!

 

[SweetieChicken234]

It depends on how old the duck is, depending on age the ducks feathers should be easier or harder to pluck. I have done a decent number of ducks and they don’t pluck clean with a plucker like a chicken does. You’ll need to do some more work before/after. Pluck out the big feathers and some of the down by hand first and then scald/plucker. If you have access to some food grade wax or duck wax, that will make it nice and clean like a super market duck. The gutting part is pretty identical to chickens, but since it is your first it might seem a little different. If you save the gizzards, I’ve noticed waterfowl gizzards are a PAIN to peel vs chicken gizzards which peel super easily. Good luck!

Thaks for the info. I saw in 1 video the people were pulling out feathers before scalding it. They did it by hand. No plucker. I don't have wax but in the case she asks me to do ducks regularly I may get some wax. Any specific brand? Also how do you melt it?

 

[LinkinChicks]

Yeah, pulling some of the bigger feathers before putting in a plucker will help a lot, but if you’re hand plucking entirely then the wax would be even more helpful. I think there’s some threads on here about using wax. I think any food grade paraffin wax would be okay, there is also a specific wax called duck wax that I think one company sells that is a blend that supposedly helps more than just the regular wax. You’ll probably need about 1 lb of wax, you melt it by adding it to the scalder then, after you pick off the big feathers and a little of the down (to help it penetrate better), you dip the duck into the scalder with the wax, then into some cold water till the wax hardens and then just peel it off. If you don’t use the wax you’ll like have a lot of little feathers after plucking that will be there. I’ve heard of people burning the little feathers off, but you’d have to dry pluck to do that as far as I know (I tried once on a wet duck ). I’ve also always added a drop of dish soap to the scalder if not using wax, it’s supposed to help the water penetrate the feathers better but I’m unsure how much it actually helps, I should probably experiment with it. I’ll be doing 20 in a few weeks so maybe I’ll try then… if you can avoid skinning, duck skin is pretty crucial to most recipes because it’s where all the amazing duck fat is, it adds amazing flavor and can be rendered to use for roasting veggies (tastes fantastic).

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I agree. The feathers are going to be your biggest difference other than that pretty much the same process. Also I agree the wax makes things easier.