We had a very busy weekend getting the last of our winter meat butchering finished. I've been putting these ducks off since I hurt my knee...but their time ran out. This batch of ducks was a first for me. I had never butchered ducks before....and I still have never eaten duck. But since we are a family of carnivores, and we are firm in our commitment to avoid grocery store meat...we are taking the duck plunge.
These were buff ducks, and we kept a pair in hopes that they will make more ducks...
I love ducks....they are like little cartoon characters. They bring back fond memories of my grandfather...when I was little he and I would go out and feed the ducks that lived in the creek behind our house.
But these are not fun ducks. These are meat ducks. The difference? Well, it's kind of like the difference between meat chickens and layers. If you've ever raised a batch of broiler chickens you know what I am talking about. They are bred for bodies not brains or character. Critters like this have one purpose....to be raised with kindess and butchered as humanely as possible.
They are much more enjoyable when they look like this...
4 comments:
Did you pluck, or skin? Looks from the photos like you plucked. We found plucking our butchered ducks to be SO difficult (compared to chickens) that the second batch we did, we ended up skinning them instead. Much easier.
Plucked them. It takes about 20 minutes from the time I caught one until it was dead, bled, and plucked. I have found the key to scalding them properly is to hold them by the neck and dunk feet first....pluck the legs; then hold them by the feet and do a second scalding to do the breast, back and neck. Then I dip each wing and pluck. I only plucked the first digit of the wing and cut the rest off. I also brought my scalding pot up to a full rolling boil and just dipped them in it rather than the dunk and swirl like scalding chickens. It didn't burn the skin on any of the ducks like it would have done chickens.
These posts are the ones that make me wanna run out and find a few of those gigantic aluminum pots and pick up cinder block! At the rate things are going... if it's gonna get done... I'll be the one doing it. Ha!!! I adore your guts 'n fortitude!
Weldr, I use my big water bath canner as my scalding pot. I have a propane burner that I sit it on and can keep the pot hot that way.
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