We did it! Did in our first Duck the "old fashioned way"

[DB_Tex]

I was contacted by a woman who bought a straight run batch of mixed ducks and ended up with 8 males that were all mature and tearing up the 3 females. They were all healthy and organic backyard birds, and we decided it would be easier for first time processing to do it to a duck we hadn't met before.
It wasn't too bad!
We set up a chopping block, sharpened up the hatchet, severed the head for a clean painless kill, drained for a couple of hours, then set about dry plucking this one-- we decided to try every method at least once to see what worked best. The feathers slipped out of this rouen beautifully.
We halved and roasted him with rosemary and seasonings skin on, and I can tell you, the fella did not die in vain

Very lean and fine eating.

 

[itsy]

Congratulations!!! Sounds delish!

Photos next time for those of us who are novice duckers!

 

[DB_Tex]

I've got one photo from when we started plucking, and one from when he was finished cooking... doesn't look so fancy though. Hubs hatcheted the feet and wingtips off after we finished plucking so it doesn't look "grocery store" or anything.
Again, it was a backyard rouen male, 5 mos old. He didn't come out as tough as I anticipated, but he was extremely lean and a little dry-- next time I'll slow cook one in some orange or garlic sauce and the morsels should be tastier. I was surprised just how much of it was edible meat though! compared to grocery store chickens I had so little waste. I was surprised that a duck that weight class managed to feed 3 adults and 3 children. Not big portions, but certainly "enough"

 

[PurpleChicken]

Nice job. It's never as hard as people think and in my opinion the old fashioned way works best.

As for cooking duck well that's another story. If you get a chance, try a Muscovy. Yum.

 

[DB_Tex]

Turns out my mother never believed I would actually go through with it, and when the steaming crispy critter was on plates she decided THEN to tell me she had a bad experience involving duck at a chinese buffet, so I suppose I'll opt for something with wider appeal for the Christmas menu, but I'm still content to shuffle my culls off to freezer camp one or two at a time.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

I'm glad you were able to do it and it sounds like a success! Nothing beats "do it yourself" dinners when they truly are from scratch like that! Congratulations on your tasty meal and good luck in the future with the culls headed to freezer camp!

 

[Oregon Blues]

Duck is really delicious and home raised duck is miles better than store bought. If you can even afford store bought. It's expensive at the supermarket.

I find that duck goes further than chicken. It is richer and more filling, so a smaller portion satisfies. The same with goose. It goes a long ways because it fills you up and you feel like you've eaten a lot.

As for Christmas dinner, I suggest that you go ahead and serve duck, plus something different for those who don't want to try the duck. I think you will be surprised at what a hit the duck is. That being, of course, if you don't have a goose for Christmas dinner. Christmas goose! Now that's a holiday meal!

 

[DB_Tex]

Quote:
I don't have any eating geese this year, I actually need to have a pow wow with you sometime about starting up with geese. All I seem to find for sale in adults locally are culls (and geese are uncommon so the culls are *really* undesirable!) But I'd like to get a pair or two, allow them to breed, freezer the culls and maybe slip my good quality birds into the market.

Anyway, the little rouen drake was a success. I picked one of the small ones and only did one so I would know 1.)they were a good batch and 2.) If I mucked it up I'd minimize the tragedy. He didn't have enough fat to roast in to get to the point of confit, so next time I'm planning to roast a pair of them in a sauce of some kind.

I'm counting 9 left that are freezer bound.

 

[jerryb]

when you are processing one or two at a time i find that compound leverage pruning shears work well for trimming wing tips and feet. I used them for wild ducks that i shot back when I hunted duck a lot.

Jerry

 

[Oregon Blues]

Dusky Beauty, I'd be happy to discuss how to get started with geese for the table. Maybe you could start another thread here in meat birds, or over in the geese section and ask your questions.