Well the deed has been done. I killed the first of the ducks today. I created a killing cone out of an old traffic cone and attached it to a large oak tree in the woods near the duck meadow. The hatchet, from France, was sharpened until it was razor sharp and in one thud it was all over. Death seemed to be instantaneous and I feel happy that the duck felt no pain.
The plucking was easier than I had anticipated. There are conflicting pieces of advice of whether to go with, or against, the grain. In the end I went with what seemed natural and the fastest.
I found a good site which gave advice on how to prepare the duck for the freezer. This guide from the Girl's Guide to Guns and Butter is an excellent aid to the task of butchering the duck and preparing it for the freezer.
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| Plucked |
I found a good site which gave advice on how to prepare the duck for the freezer. This guide from the Girl's Guide to Guns and Butter is an excellent aid to the task of butchering the duck and preparing it for the freezer.
I found an old bagging machine and we used this for the final freezer preparation. In addition to the bird, we have kept the gizzard, liver and giblets (neck and heart). The gizzard is the base for Salad de Gesier and ideal for lunch, I hope to make duck liver parfait as well.
There are four more to go later in the week and the freezer will now start to earn its keep. Overall an unpleasant task, but less distressing than I had anticipated.
3 comments:
On Masterchef they put the duck in a bag and pulled the feathers with the grain so as to keep the skin intact and have minimal mess.
This is an important step in raising your own meat - I'm glad you found an easy and painless way to kill the duck. I suspect the first will have been the hardest.
I look forward to eating a family-reared duck one day!
Looks delicious. I think this is one video I won't show Adam until he's a bit older.
Looks delicious. I think this is one video I won't show Adam until he's a bit older.
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