Wild geese are greatest cooked with the pores and skin on. That means you’ve obtained to pluck off their feathers, which generally is a tedious and time consuming activity. The most simple method to pluck a duck is just by tearing off the feathers (pull them in opposition to the grain) till the pores and skin is obvious and clear. There are higher strategies for the right way to pluck a duck, nonetheless, particularly when you have a bunch of birds.
Try this wax-plucking technique I discovered whereas searching specklebellies with Jonathan Wilkins of Black Duck Revival this winter. He demonstrated the tactic on specks, clearly, but it surely works simply as nicely on geese (or any waterfowl for that matter). The neatest thing about this technique of plucking a duck is that it means that you can use all of the meat from the fowl.
“Why put in all that work only to take the breast meat?” Wilkins had mentioned, shaking his head as he cleaned birds after a protracted morning of setting decoys and hauling gear. Here’s Wilkins’ course of, tailored from a conventional Louisiana technique, for the right way to pluck a duck.
Steps to Pluck a Duck Using the Wax Method
- Prepare your workspace
- Pluck key feathers
- Dip the fowl in melted wax
- Remove extra wax
- Ice the fowl
- Peel off wax
- Clean the fowl
As with any cleansing technique, wax-plucking has its execs and cons. It’s a bit messy, and numerous work for just some birds. But when you have a pile of geese or geese to course of, it’s surprisingly environment friendly when you get the cling of issues. Not counting the ice tub, Wilkins can flip a complete goose into one thing worthy of a butcher store in just some minutes. It’s additionally oddly satisfying to take away massive chunks of feathers to disclose a beautifully-plucked goose, prepared for all types of recipes. Here’s the right way to do it your self.
Supplies You’ll Need:
Prepare Your Workspace to Pluck a Duck
It will take some time for the water to warmth and the wax to soften, so make sure you begin this prematurely. Set up a burner outdoors with a giant pot, and use broken-down cardboard bins to cowl your workspace for simpler wax cleanup. If you boil your personal big-game skulls or have turkey-frying pot, the identical arrange works simply wonderful. Fill the pot ¾-full with water, then add the paraffin wax because it warms. Wilkins used about 5 bins of paraffin wax (1 lb. apiece) for the pot you see under (about 30 quarts), and added extra as we labored. He recommends a ratio of 1 half wax to 2 components water. Remember, you’ll want area for each the wax and dunking the fowl, so don’t overfill the pot. Keep the liquid scorching, however on’t let it boil. While you’re ready for the wax to soften, fill the cooler with ice and hose water, and seize a garbage can for the feathers. Then begin plucking.
Pluck Key Feathers
Yes, the entire level of waxing the birds is so that you don’t need to pluck them, however you’ll nonetheless must take away feathers in just some spots. Resist the urge to go too loopy right here, Wilkins advises. You solely must pluck sufficient to present the wax buy on the goose’s pores and skin, and to present you a seam to start out plucking.
Start by eradicating the tail feathers, then pluck a tough middle line by way of the downy feathers up the back and front of the fowl. This line ought to run vertically from the tail to the chest, and between the wings on the again. This line solely must be as huge because the feathers you may take away in a single pinch. Finally, pluck the wing feathers closest to the physique, all the way down to the primary joint.
Wax-Dip the Bird
Gather the partially-plucked duck or goose’s toes in a single hand, and the wings and the neck within the different. Lower the fowl gently into the simmering wax, submerging the physique as greatest you may. Lift it out, flip it over, and repeat. You solely want wax on the physique, so don’t waste wax on the wings, the top, and so forth. If you may have numerous birds to dunk, control how a lot wax you’re utilizing. It you begin to run out, add extra to the pot as you go. Too little wax on a fowl received’t create the onerous shell you want for simple feather elimination. Keep monitor of this by watching the wax you squeegee off the fowl (see under) and the thickness of the wax coating on the feathers as you take away every fowl from the pot.
Read Next: How to Butcher a Duck
Remove Excess Wax
After you dunk the duck or goose, maintain it above the pot and use the stirring stick with squeegee the surplus wax and water from the feathers. This often takes a number of agency strokes down all sides.
Ice It
Immediately dunk the fowl within the ice tub. Try to maintain the wings above the water, if solely as a result of it’s much less slippery (and hotter on your palms) while you pin the wings all the way down to take away the waxed feathers. Keep the fowl within the ice tub for as much as 5 minutes. It’s okay if the goose sits longer within the water when you’re engaged on different birds; you simply want the wax to completely harden right into a cool shell earlier than you may take away it.
Peel Off the Wax
Once your fowl is completed cooling within the ice tub, take away it from the water and smack it on a tough floor a couple of occasions, similar to a bag of gas-station ice. Pin the duck or goose by a wing, and use your different hand to dig away on the hardened feathers. The waxy shell ought to come aside in giant chunks, peeling away in tectonic plates to disclose the feather-free pores and skin. Work rigorously round any shot holes within the physique, as the delicate pores and skin there tends to drag away with the wax and expose muscle under.
Read Next: How to Cook a Wild Goose
Clean the Bird
Remove the wings on the first joint, then take a propane torch or the burner in your range to singe away the fragile pin feathers. Use a knife and lower across the fowl’s tail. The aim is to take away the oil gland and cloaca whereas additionally making a gap to extract the innards. You’ll want to chop by way of a couple of vertebrae, however keep away from slicing by way of the gut. Once the tail is eliminated, you may attain into the physique cavity and take away the center. Consider saving the hearts, gizzards, and so on. till you may have sufficient for future dishes, particularly if you happen to’re cleansing a pile of birds.
Bonus Tips for Plucking a Duck
If you have to transport the fowl to its remaining vacation spot, make sure you observe the rules in your state. We eliminated the wings however left the heads on for simple identification and clear up later.
You can lower the legs off, however Wilkins used this useful trick on a snow goose to take away the toes and the leg tendons. After your fowl is wax-plucked, snap the leg sideways on the joint and provides it a robust twist. With some apply (I attempted this myself with blended outcomes) you may pull the foot off with lots of the powerful tendons nonetheless hooked up, tidily eradicating them from the leg meat. Wilkins additionally throws the toes, which have numerous collagen, in when making inventory with fowl carcasses.