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One of the first questions from our clients when booking a hunt is "what will I do with any birds that I may harvest, & how do I prepare them?" Many people believe that goose & duck meat is simply inedible. UNTRUE!
A few simple principles must be followed to ensure that you will enjoy your game to the fullest. Wild ducks & geese in many cases are very low in fat, which makes them a great low fat protein source, but meats low in fat should be cooked slow, smoked, or seared quickly to preserve moisture & flavor. The biggest complaint with cooking waterfowl is that the meat simply dries out, thus making it tough & inedible.
Considerations & Tips for choosing & caring for duck & goose meat:
A larger goose is a tougher goose. Greater & Giant Canada Geese are wonderful trophies to take, but larger specimens of geese should only be used for smoking or jerky because of their tough, stringy meat. Lesser Canada's have less meat, but what meat they do have is wonderful for any roasting recipe, or recipes like Good Times Allegro® Goose found below. Lesser birds have a more tender consistency, which retains moisture. Speckle belly or White Fronted geese are fantastic, but snow geese should be treated on a case-by-case basis. Snow-white adults with no brown or grey plumage go for jerky or sausage, but treat juvenile flesh with more respect.
Duck Evaluations: A duck is what it eats. Even the greatest "grain-fed" puddle ducks can taste horrible if they've been munching green goodies from a stagnant pond. Diving ducks, which typically get bad press, can taste excellent if they've been dining on fresh water shrimp in lieu of other aquatic invertebrates & fish larvae. What we're getting at here is the quality of the ducks you take home is directly proportional to the quality of the water & food source utilized.
Excellent /Good Eating: Wigeon, Teal, Bufflehead, Grain-Fed Mallard, Gadwall, Ringneck, Pintail, Wood Duck
Good /Decent: Bluebill, Pond-Fed Mallard, Redhead, Canvasback, Goldeneye
Make Sausage or Don't Bother: Shoveler, Coot, all species of Merganser
Care for the meat properly. This might seem like common sense, but it will definitely make a difference in the finished product.
- Keep your bird(s) as cool as possible until you get it home.
- NEVER leave the skin on the meat unless you intend to roast it within a few days of harvest.
- If your birds are breasted, soak the meat in a solution of salt water 1 teaspoon per 16 oz. water for 24 to 36 hours; this will draw out the blood.
- Once removed from the salt water, trim all the fat, vessels, "sheen" & "silver" off of the meat.
- Make use of it within one week of harvest date, or freeze it in an airtight container.
- Whole, Dry, or Wet plucked birds should be drawn, flushed, singed of all "hairs" & used or frozen within one week.
- You can make good use of bird organs as well. Properly cleaned gizzards & untainted liver make wonderful recipe replacements & appetizers.
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