Wild Duck

The best way to eat duck is to make duckabobs on the grill.

Keep the breasts,brine several,and quick cook on a grill.

No whole smoked duck recipe? Tea smoked or the like? I have BBQ'd many ducks before-kabobs, bacon wrapped, quick grilled rare and they are great. But I am looking for a smoke recipe. Thanks! OS

Did you do a search on Duck? There are several hundred replies (just ignore the posts BY "Duck") there was a few posts on it.

I have experimented with several wild ducks. I brined them in a mixture of a small amount of kosher salt, some brown sugar and water overnight. Took them out, patted them dry and covered lightly with olive oil and Atkins Rub, put them in my AmeriQue at 250* with a probe inserted into the breast to an internal temp of 170* , took out and wrapped in foil and let set for at least 30 minutes. I used 1 fairly large chunk of Cherry wood. They came out well enough to try again this duck season!

This recipe was given to us by our friend Scott "the Sporting Chef" Leysath. I think you might
like it, it's a really unusual take on duck. As he is a game chef, it is made specifically for wild duck, not farmed. Enjoy!

Smoked Duck with Horseradish Cream Sauce
If you like the taste of a smoke-cooked prime rib topped with a creamed horseradish, you'll love this flavorful duck.
4 servings

4 whole ducks, split
3 tablespoons olive oil
Cookshack Brisket Rub
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced

Season breasts with olive oil and Cookshack Brisket Rub. Smoke-cook at 250 degrees smoker for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until internal temperature at the center of the breast is 130 degrees. To prepare sauce, combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over duck.

Thanks for all the great ideas! Now all I have to do is shoot straight and I'll have some birds to experiment with.

No risk of salmonella with duck? The breasts are done at 130* instead of the 160* recommended for chicken and turkey?

In all the duck recipes that I received from Scott, he recommended smoking duck to rare to medium rare, and that is how I usually prepare it (I've only ever done wild duck, never farmed). I can't really speak too much of food safety, but since you are killing and cleaning the duck yourself, there is less of a risk of unknown contamination than you would find with poultry purchased at a store. Scott is a game expert, so I posted his recipe as he gave it to me, but please prepare it for yourself as you feel comfortable doing.

Thanks,
Cayley

Cayley:
Thanks for the info, will try it as soon as duck season opens and they happen to fly this direction!

I eat all my ducks (unless making confit) rare. I tend to think of Salmonella and E. Coli as dangers in comercially raised meat as opposed to wild game. Thoughts?

I don't know. I am no expert.

I know a beach was closed down here this year because of high levels of e. coli in the water related to wild geese frequenting the area.