Twice Seared Duck

July 7, 2019

Duck Done Right

With just a few minutes of preparation and some downtime while the sous-vide does its thing- you can have yourself a gourmet-quality meal of wild duck from your very own harvested birds.

Most duck hunters know the difference between dabbling (aka a puddle duck) and diving ducks. The two big differences are their diets and the location of their legs/feet to their body. On divers, the legs and feet are located further back on the torso to allow them to propel themselves through the water to feed on bottom plants and filter-feed through the mud. Dabbling/puddle ducks feet and legs are more central to their torso (they do more walking than divers) and their diets are more aligned to grain and grass seeds, some green grass leaves as well as some aquatic plants.

When it comes to cooking, we want a puddle/dabbling duck in our kitchen and on our plate. Examples include mallards, pintails, teal, wigeon, and black ducks.

So to start this recipe, I’ve pulled a big fat North Dakota migrator mallard out of the freezer. I had already plucked and prepared the whole carcass back in the Fall of 2017 when it was shot and froze it whole, so all I had to do was butcher it down to get to work.

*A limit of drake mallards. All it took were a couple of floater decoys, a mojo decoy and some thick cattails on the right slough for this evening hunt to come together.*

*Whole plucked mallard, skin on. Minimal breast damage, this bird was killed at close range with a proper lead for a good quick and clean headshot.*

When cooking a duck, I have a few methods aside from sous-vide that I like to use. They include but are not limited to: cutting it in half longways, seasoning and bbq’ing them, whole roasting, breaking down and using the cast iron to braise then cook low and slow in the oven, and if the bird happens to smell like mud (young birds, early season birds living on sloughs before the grain harvest is finished) then I will break the bird down and make jerky for myself and or the dog.

Heres a look at a butchered duck.

From the butchering of a duck I will use breast tenders, thighs and breasts. The wishbone, carcass, and any trimmed fat or skin is used for the production of duck stock.

Now that we’ve got our bird taken apart, its cook time.

For anyone working with waterfowl, be it a wild bird or a store bought – mind the golden rule. Whats the golden rule you might ask?

LEAVE DUCK SKIN AND FAT ON! (as long as it’s a bird who’s been eating clean and healthy, not a mud bird) Simple, but important.

Take a skin-on breast or two, and spread salt all over it and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and wipe away most of the salt, then cross-hatch the skin and fat with a sharp knife. This will help release fat and oils when searing and to help build the crust.

Since duck fat is so good we want to quickly sear (40 seconds) the fat side of the breast on high heat before bagging, so that as the water bath cooks the meat is also starts to render the fat. I like to sear in bacon grease and cast iron. I think season with pepper and an aromatic (thyme, rosemary.. etc) and add a paprika or garlic note to round out the flavor profile. Then bag and cook at 134F for 90 minutes. Alternatively, just sear to a medium and slice!

Seared, skin down. Since duck fat is so good we want to quickly sear (40 seconds) the fat side of the breast on high heat before bagging, so that as the water bath cooks the meat is also starts to render the fat. I like to sear in bacon grease and cast iron.

Seasoned meat side of breasts. I season with pepper and an aromatic (thyme, rosemary.. etc) and add a paprika or garlic note to round out the flavor profile.

Once removed from the bag, pat dry completely and sear both sides of breast using either a torch, a very hot cast iron skillet, or a bbq grill. If possible I like to use a hot bed of coals in a grill. After searing, slice into 1/2″ thick portions.