# Clue me in.



## Leaky (Sep 11, 2007)

Yep, I duck hunt a bit and bring em home for breasting, along with goose, upland, venison,etc. Smile My question - what is the problem with the general public and duck eating and the other stuff and the general public.? For my wife, is weird. She won't touch it since she it reminds her of rabbit which is a no, no.??? Now, I don't understand, and think her feelings are not representative, but is there a bigggggggg problem with the general public and game meat??? I've used duck meat in a variety or dishes, at the last, being in cut up portions in spaghetti sauce instead of hamburger, etc., and it just tastes great, at least to me. I think it tastes every bit as good as other meat additives. So, what's the problem with the general public? I pride myself with at least an average sense of taste, so again, is there a visual reference problem or just a fixed inflexible concept of "wild game" in general? I do see big $ being charged at high class restaurants but I know it ain't wild.   So clue me in.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Personally, I would think myself a hypocrite if I let someone else do my killing for me because I was not myself willing to do it.

I think a lot of people just can't handle the killing that goes along with game meat. For some reason, game meat is associated with killing even though the stuff that comes from the supermarket isn't.

I think most of it is emotional. 

If it isn't an emotional issue, I think folks have had some meat that was gamey or something and decided that they don't like game meat. It's unfortunate, but people still ask for steaks that are well done too. 

So if it isn't emotional, I think it is previous experience with gamey meat.


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## Leaky (Sep 11, 2007)

Sounds about right.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

I think most people find anything outside of chicken, beef and pork, and maybe some fish, "exotic." Its not something you normally get at the store, so its not ordinary. And their taste buds get so used to those flavors, that anything outside of the norm is "gross" or there is something wrong with it. 

I'll admit, some game I like, and others not so much. Most of it comes down to texture. Wild game is typically stringy and tough, unless you make special preparations to ensure otherwise. 

Another thing I find funny regarding this issue, is that most folks will eat wild game up like crazy until you tell them what it is. That or they act surprised that they actually liked it. Kinda funny how the human brain works.


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## CANTSHOOT (Oct 17, 2008)

My girlfriend puts it best, she said its hard to eat duck because they are beautiful. Cows, chicken and pigs aren't appealing to the mind so its easier to just eat them.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I get this from people all the time at work "how can you stand to eat that"? and this is while they are shoveling some fast food meat in their face. Well at least I know where my meat came from and exactly what it is I am eating, hell they could be eating cat for all they know.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

oh no they just cant eat something that used to eat breath walk around or live free they just like to get all there meat from the grocery store where they grew it cause meat from the store was never walking around it grew in the plastic wrap at the store for your consumption it all in there mind


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Chaser said:


> Another thing I find funny regarding this issue, is that most folks will eat wild game up like crazy until you tell them what it is. That or they act surprised that they actually liked it. Kinda funny how the human brain works.


This is the experience I've had cooking duck for folks who haven't had it or didn't like it the first time around. I think the way you cook and prepare it has as much to do with whether or not folks like it as anything. My inlaws hadn't ever had duck before and couldn't get enough when I cooked it for them in Vegas a couple Thanksgivings ago. My Ute fan friends... only one had eaten it a long time ago and didn't like the muddy taste, so I cooked it my way for him, his girlfriend and a bunch of others at a UFC night one time. Literally a couple minutes later, the plate of about 30 duck pieces was empty. I got one piece. :lol: Cooked it at the Halloween party... a couple bowls of it and people couldn't get enough. Some were kinda iffy when I said duck meat and a couple didn't like it at all, but most of the folks were on it like crazy again. Like Chaser said, most of them were surprised how good it was and even the iffy folks came back for more if I remember right. For some reason, I've ALWAYS told them it was duck before I gave it to them. Cookin it up again tomorrow afternoon too, expecting the same results. I've never cooked a goose for anybody, I'd have to shoot one first.


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## castnblast (Jan 15, 2009)

Riverrat, would you mind sharing your recipe for duck?


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## coolgunnings (Sep 8, 2007)

Yess RR please do tell. I didn't know that there was a good recipe for poop eating duckS LOL


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

castnblast said:


> Riverrat, would you mind sharing your recipe for duck?


Sure...

duck breasts - sliced into strips (slice the short way across)
duck meat marinade (let duck soak overnight)
1 can of chunk pineapple (the larger triangle shaped chunks)
1 package of bacon

marinade - you can kinda rough guess this too and sometimes it works great:
1 cup of cooking sherry or wine
1 tablespoon of oil (peanut, canola, corn)
1 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of ginger (add more to taste)

Stir that up, let it sit overnight but make sure the duck pieces are fully submerged.

Next day, take out duck slices, cut strips of bacon in half. Take one duck slice, lay a chunk of pineapple on it and then wrap a half strip of bacon around all of it and use a wooden toothpick to hold the "roll" together. When you've used up all your duck meat and bacon, you should have a tray full of these rolls. Cook on broil (top rack) either in stove on a foil covered cookie sheet or on high heat on the BBQ (I actually prefer cooking them on the BBQ) for about ten minutes for the first side and then the second side until the bacon begins to get crispy. Definitely get the heat up there so the bacon crisps before the duck dries out. Pull out of the oven or off the grill, remove toothpicks and usually cut the roll in half for bite size pieces and serve it up. It SHOULD disappear in a hurry... haven't ever had an experience where folks just couldn't stand it. 8)

For what its worth, I've cooked all sorts of duck up this way including divers and spoonies and folks don't seem to notice a difference or don't comment on it anyway. Hope some of you try it and get some more folks to enjoy some of the great eating you can get out of duck meat. Seems to get a really bad rap for taste by most folks.


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

I once had a freezer full of ducks, and a COMPRESSOR failure. I was panic cooking birds for two days. I baked about 20 and cut everything else up into chunks for my patented duck nuggets. I had this HUGE bowl of the sitting on the counter, just scooping them out of the pan and dumping them into this bowl, when a friend of my roomates came in and without asking ANYTHING, snatched one and stuffed it into his mouth.
I was HIGHLY amused by this, as he had told me in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that he hated duck and it wouldn't matter WHAT I did to it, he wasn't eating it. PERIOD!

He then asked me if he could have some. :twisted: 
I told him to pull up a plate and handed him the sauce, and he went to town like he hadn't eaten in days.
I would bet he put away over a pound and a half before he stopped.
He told me that was just about the best thing he had ever eaten and asked me what it was.
I told him to ask me tomorrow.
This of course made him suspicious and he DEMANDED to know what he had just eaten.
I told him to go soak his head and ask me later.
He got all belligerant, so I pointed at the garbage can where all the labeled bags were sitting. He read a few of them labeled Mallard, Pintail, Gadwall, Ruddy, etc. He suddenly went all pale and looked like he was going to be sick. :shock: 

STUPID GIT!
How can you stuff yourself full of something, TOTALLY love it, then get sick when you find out what it is?
Not like I was frying up horse testicals or something, for crying out loud!
He was so convinced that he HATED duck it made him sick to think that he had eaten it.
I imagine that to this day, he is still trying to convince himself that I tricked him into THINKING he ate duck, but that he really didn't. :roll:


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

RR, I like the sounds of your recipe, I am going to try that.

Artoxx, what is your recipe?


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## castnblast (Jan 15, 2009)

coolgunnings said:


> Yess RR please do tell. I didn't know that there was a good recipe for poop eating duckS LOL


Now that I've got the recipe, we'll be having bacon-wrapped "steak" the next time you come to my house for dinner.


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

*Six pack of beer
two cups of flour(more if you overdo the liquid)
two eggs
random spices to taste( I use lawrys, garlic salt, and sage or poultry seasoning, but whatever you like is what YOU should use)
1 stick butter(melted)
1/2-1 cup honey(If you don't like honey batter, omit or replace with teriyaki, worchestershire, or whatever)
Olive oil(for cooking)
Mix 1/2 can of beer, for a start (the rest is for the cook.)
flour, eggs, spices, butter, and honey in medium bowl, add flour or liquid(beer) according to texture of batter, you want it about the same as good thick pancake batter so it will stick to the nuggets.
Cut duck into bite sized pieces, dry off, dredge in batter, and cook in frying pan on medium heat in the olive oil, cook til batter is firm on one side, then flip nuggets, a fork is useful for this, tongs knock too much batter off.
You could probably deep fry them with this same recipe, but I haven't.
DO NOT OVER COOK. If the meat is getting too done, increase heat. You want the batter cooked about the time the duck is medium rare to medium MAX!
I use honey mustard for a sauce with the honey batter, but barbecue, or some other dipping sauce would work great too. Sweet and sour with the honey batter is to DIE for. lol
IF you are exceptionally sensitive, you can marinade the duck meat overnight in your marinade of choice, just make sure it is compatible with the spices you use in the batter. :wink: *
*NOTE:
I have only had ONE bad batch of nuggets out of however many dozens of times I have made them. This was the result of including my very first CANVASBACK, he had a slightly strange odor to him, but nothing I found concerning at the time. After cooking, ALL the nuggets tasted like a condensed version of how he smelled. SO, beware of smelly ducks.
The odor was a bit chemically if that makes any sense. Not sure if this is common with Cans or not, as that is the only one I have ever tried to eat up to this point.*


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## pocone (Sep 29, 2009)

Simple recipe that has worked well for me: 
-soak the ducks in salt water overnight
-rinse
-heat up a pan with some olive oil in it (a couple of table spoons)
-place a couple of breasts (make sure to dry them off) in the heated oil
-add some ground salt, ground pepper, and garlic salt (yep, I said salt and garlic salt)
-cook to medium or medium rare
Very simple, but very good. For me, the key is not to overcook the ducks. Once they are well done, I think they taste more gamey.


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## castnblast (Jan 15, 2009)

That recipe that riverrat posted was a big hit with me and the kids! I did up two birds and it was gone in a flash. Here's some pictures of the results.




























Thanks for the recipe. The only change I made was to add fresh mushrooms inside the wraps.

We'll do that one again, but next time on the grill.... I just about smoked us out broiling it in the oven.


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