re: How many of you debreast ducks?

Depends on how I want to cook them. If I bake them or want them in a gravy I pluck them. If I want them chicken fried or make jalapeno wraps with them I breast them.

Good luck hope you get a wall hanger.

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I pluck a few but 90-95% of them are breasted.

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this

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When plucking the duck and making the gravy/stew, what is your favorite method of cooking? recipe?

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We fashioned our own duck plucker using a cheap old 4" core drill bit with 6 or so 3/8" holes punched around it. Took some old chest tubing that an EMT friend had on hand, tied a knot on the ends of 2"-3" long pieces and fed them through the holes. Attached that to a cordless drill and works like a charm.

I pluck all of my ducks. I'll salt and pepper outside and in the cavity. I stick my finger up under the skin all across the breast to create a pocket and stuff bacon into it. Then I dust with flour and brown in a dutch oven. Remove, cram 1/3 of an onion into the cavity. Put them back into the pot (on their backs), fill the pot with water about 1/2 way up the side of the ducks, cover and cook on medium high until the breasts start to fall away from the sternum. Add water as needed while cooking to keep the level between 1/3 to 1/2 way up the sides of the ducks.

Hands down my favorite gravy in the entire world.

however my mesicans do it is what I get!

j/j

me personally....pluck specklebellies or mallards, breast the rest....

I absolutely love bacon wrapped duck breasts!!

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Do you pulck them yourselves?

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Yes we do.

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How long does it take you per duck?

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8 ounces of beer

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Do you pluck by hand or with a plucker?

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By hand

The first step is to open a cold beer, cause your hands will get dirty. Get a pot of water and put it to boil. Cut the wings off at the middle joint. Don't cut off the feet yet.
Pull off all the big feathers off the ducks. You don't have to get it off very good.

After you do this, you can wait for the water to boil. If you have a few ducks, it should be boiling already. Hold the duck by the beak and submerge it in the boiling h2o, watching the feet. When the toes begin to curl take the duck out the water.

Now for the trick, while the duck is still wet dip it in a bucket of fine saw dust and make sure you get it all over. Now all you have to do is pass your thumb over the feathers and they should peel right off. A lot of people use wax, but saw dust is a lot cheaper and works just as good. Don't leave the ducks in the water too long or the skin will tear as you are rubbing.
Oh, I forgot to take a sip of beer in between steps.

After you finish doing this to all the ducks, take a pair of crab tongs and hold the ducks over a fire to burn off all the little feathers. Pull out any pin feathers. Now you can cut off the feet and head and gut the ducks.

We keep the heart and gizzard and sometimes the liver. Now all you have to do is rinse out the cavity of the ducks and they are ready to cook.
By myself I can clean a limit of ducks in about 30 minutes, depending on how many sips of beer. I have everything set up and ready to go. The more people the better. Next time I clean ducks i will take pics of the process.

It is a little bit of work, but I take pride in knowing that my grandpa and dad know that I don't waste anything. I was raised that way. Hope this helps.

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ow for the trick, while the duck is still wet dip it in a bucket of fine saw dust and make sure you get it all over. Now all you have to do is pass your thumb over the feathers and they should peel right off. A lot of people use wax, but saw dust is a lot cheaper and works just as good. Don't leave the ducks in the water too long or the skin will tear as you are rubbing.
Oh, I forgot to take a sip of beer in between steps

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Never heard of saw dust.

I breast the majority of birds. When hunting with my dad, we pluck them. We use the boiling water technique but put Dawn liquid soap in the water. Easy to pluck. Then take a hand held torch and burn all of the little hairs.