Smoking ducks (again)

[seanwiley]

I was thinking of making a couple as an alternative to turkey this thanksgiving. I see some of the rotisserie comments, but since I don't have one.... well, I'll start a new thread.

My first thought was to tackle it more or less like a chicken but then I started googling around for a few ideas. Here's a couple that I found:

http://www.steaks-guide.com/article-pag ... d_grea.htm Marinate in milk? Really?

http://bbq.about.com/od/otherpoultryrec ... 90821c.htm Smoked Peking duck

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tea- ... index.html Tea smoked duck

http://www.wvtrophyhunters.com/smoked_duck.htm

http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2008/09/ ... ked-d.html One for the big green egg

Anyone thought of spatchcocking it? I done chicken very well that way. Other thoughts? I might make a couple using different approaches

[mguerra]

Re: Smoking ducks (again)

It's not about duck, but last night there was a show on Cooking Channel about brining chickens in sweet tea before frying them. I might try that for this years turkey. In an Igloo, like we talked about last year! I forgot who recommended that, but great idea and I have been passing that little gem of info on to my friends and patients. Everybody thinks it's a super brining vessel. I hate to give up my mop bucket, though.

[Sanny]

Re: Smoking ducks (again)

The hardest part about smoking ducks is getting them in the little rolling papers.

The tail feathers and feet always stick out.

[seanwiley]

Re: Smoking ducks (again)

And yet, people manage to smoke pigs all the time. I must be doing something wrong

[Sanny]

Re: Smoking ducks (again)

And yet' date=' people manage to smoke pigs all the time. I must be doing something wrong [/quote']

Maybe 'cause the wings are smaller on pigs.

[bwright]

Re: Smoking ducks (again)

Well, my KK is coming very soon. But on my old Imperial Kamado I do ducks a lot. Stuff with a whole kafir lime,, cut in half, some kafir lime leaves, some Szechuan pepper (ground), kosher salt, ground black pepper, mint ( I have a wonderful Jamaican mint bush that works really well), and whatever else I have around that seems good. Baste before cooking, and once in a while with lemon or lime juice (once more kafir lime works best), soy sauce and a little agave nectar. I just take a sharp object and poke holes in the skin all the way around to release some of the fat. Cook very slowly for at least four hours. I can't wait to try it on my new KK. It does take a really good bird to make it good and I get a pasture raised one at my farmer's market. I'll let you know how it works after I get my new KK. I am sure it will be at least as good.

As for rolling, duck is not harder than pig, nor any easier either.

[bwright]

Re: Smoking ducks (again) now a goose too

I have, by now, done several ducks. They have all been great. My wife now thinks I am the king of ducks. Yesterday I did my first goose on the KK. I used about the same recipe as for the duck. The biggest surprise was that the goose was done much earlier than I thought it would be. I tried to start it at 450 but the cooker cooled when I put the bird in and I couldn't really get it up that high again. So I then cooked it at about 325. Given that it was a ten pound bird I used my old rule of thumb (mostly developed using my old Imperial Kamado with no thermometer) of 30 minutes per pound. I thus thought I would take nearly 5 hours. It actually was done in less than 3 hours. Since my guests were not arriving until at least an hour and a half later and I don't like to serve the main course immediately on their arrival (one of them grew up in France and they have a home there now so I had hoped to at least make an effort not to eat as early as Americans). So I just let it sit there at less than 200 degrees until I was ready to serve it. This was at least two, maybe three hours. It actually got cooler inside as it sat, going from nearly 180 down to 155. The long and the short of it is that it was absolutely delicious.

Maybe I can become the king of water fowl.