Duck is by far my favorite type of poultry. If you render and save the fat like ben said its an amazing cooking fat thats full of flavor. When I cook duck I like to cook the breasts separately from the thighs and legs. When you roast the duck whole you risk either over-cooking the beautiful breasts to insure the thighs and legs are tender, or you risk undercooking the thighs and legs to get a properly cooked breast. My favorite method to use every part to its maximum potential by taking the breasts and wings off the carcass and then removing the legs and thighs saving any excess skin and fat for rendering. Then i'd make a stock from the carcass and neck. As for the cooking I like the breasts cooked in a pan like a steak with a little pink all through the meat and the skin crispy. For the legs and thighs and wings I like to confit them low and slow (cooked submerged in its own fat). You can then take them out of the confit and crisp the skin side quickly in a pan. In the end you get an amazing cooking fat, a very flavorful stock, and very quality 2 meals one with the breasts and one with the legs thighs and wings. I think whole roasting is kinda doing a disservice to such a versatile animal. Hope you read this!
Traditionally in Germany, we have duck on Martinmas. Roast duck with red cabbage and potatoe dumplings and gravy and a bit of apple or pear chutney. Really really yummy.
Mike on Fit farmer, when he was on Joel S farm, they used dawn soap. Makes it so much easier to “pluck”. Had to scale longer and in the plucker about 3 min
Watched another guy that slaughtered ducks and he used a wax bath to remove the pin feathers after removing the feathers. Then into cold water to harden the wax, which then is just peeled off the bird. Bingo - all the pin feathers come off with the wax.
We just butchered our first duck this last weekend. We did it without wax, just used crinkle rubber gloves. Meh. 🤷♀️ Will be trying wax plucking method next time. I made duck confit with him. It was delicious and a wonderful reward for all our hard work. I love having ducks even if they are a bit more work. They are beautiful and taste so good. Ps I love seeing your daughter pick up the duck, great job farm girl!
Or just harvest them in the window like we mentioned in this video and you don't need wax and they pluck fine. Before 8 weeks or after 14 weeks. That's it. No wax.
He means fins on catfish. I used to sell live sea food in Los Angeles, grownin Bakersfield California. They have Sharp skewers in each of the three fins at the head and they can cut you like a knife.
Afew more tips for you. Duck is best when cooked medium rare, when cooked slow it will dry out and be tough. sear it on the stove top in a cast iorn skillet and put in the oven on high heat, also on the grill is good. also do not run water in your plucker because the feathers will bunch up on you and when the rubber fingers are dry they will pluck a duck better. hope this helps
Hey Justin & family, loved the video and love that you've got all the kids into the chores just like our little one. Just had a thought about bagging the birds. Have you thought of using vacuum seal bags? They come in a long roll so less wastage and also you don't run the risk of partially cooking the duck 😊. We do it with other wild game here in Australia so thought maybe you could do it for pasture raised? Keep up the grey work your so wonderful to watch. And we get great ideas from watching how you guys run your farm.
Absolutely amazing skills you all have! I learned so very much those children are so well balanced they've helped raised and calmly with dignity ended those ducks lives perfect!
"There's no water in it." He says with slight surprise and a little annoyance. Methinks upon reflection it is a very good thing there was not any water in it. Though I have not personally observed weeks old poultry scalding water. I suspect that it is pretty nasty. Storing it dry seems much more sensible.
Few days ago Fit Farmer had video on how to process ducks from Joel Salatin's farm. It looks so much easier. I did my ducks about a month ago and I suffered. Next year it will be Polyface style.
Little question from a non expert : is the butchering in front of other ducks not stressing for the ones watching? Or they can't see it? dont understand it ?
I watched The Fit Farmer processing ducks at Joel Salatin's farm they used soap in the scalder and then after defeather they dip the ducks in wax several times then ice water then broke the wax off to remove the fine pin feathers.
I have always avoided wanting to raise ducks for meat because I dreaded the whole pin feather thing......ie: Waxing. Just seemed like way too much work & expense. I think I might give ducks a try after watching your video! It is the same as processing a chicken. Thanks for sharing the video!
Duck is a beautiful meat. It is great roasted whole with the skin slashed to allow the fat under the great skin to render. Another good point is duck fat makes the best roast potatoes and roast parsnips. Roast everything in the same pan. Serve with redcurrant preserve or cranberry sauce. My mouth is watering already. Those ducks look delicious. It is a recipe from my childhood and oh my it is delicious.
That’s a good idea with the catfish skinner !! I’ll have to remember that next time I butcher! He makes it look easy lol Ps. catfish have skin not scales hence catfish skinner tool
Best thing about a duck is that fabulous crispy skin. Best thing at a Thai restaurant- duck a l'orange also awesome. I guess if you have 25 ducks it's OK to throw one in a crock pot-but it's wasting that skin! Fit Farmer has a cool video butchering ducks with Joe Salatin- they used a wax bath and a dry plucker.
Mr.Rhodes I watched a video , the cool water in the pluck closes up the ducks pores making feathers harder to come out until scolded again. Hope this helped.
Catfish pliers are for peeling the skin off of the catfish. They don't have scales at all. Adding a dish soap, that cuts grease, in the scalder will really help.
Justin, FIT FARMER Mike just did a great video at Joe Salatins farm on how they do it. They did add a tiny bit of soap, and then hot wax dip back n forth in ice bath to harden till it got a fair thickness, reusing the wax. It's late info, but maybe it will help with future duck plucking
I recently watched a video on how polyface butchers their ducks, they did use soap in the scalder, they also left the water off during the plucking until the last few seconds. They said the cold water closes the pores up some and makes them harder to pluck. But I guess it’s like skinning a cat.... there’s more than one way
🇳🇱NL.good evening in the netherlands 21.47 good afternoon in the usa again a nice video i always try to watch in the netherlands at night i fill you up from the beginning and i think it's great greetings and see you next video.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🍀❤️
And on cooking duck: cook it exactly like a good thick steak. Brine it for tendering, overnight is better. Spachcock/butterfly it, braze on a screamin hot cast iron, then pop it in the oven to finish. Eat it medium rare and it will be soft and delicious. It tastes like a cross between beef and chicken.
Look into pithing your ducks. It’s a lot cleaner than the cutting of the neck. Those pliers are for pulling the skin off catfish. Pithing is the best way to keep the head for stick with ducks
If you need to boil a lot of water (and have support troops like you) fill a minimum volume and bring to boil. Add water, bring to boil. Add water. Bring to boil. The trick with boiling water is, there is so much "motion" that it brings the added water at higher temperature faster than basic physics would predict or faster than the whole bunch in one go.
Have y'all ever considered raising quail? What I like about it other than they are good to eat is that you can keep breeders and hatch all you want in an incubator. And when you're not hatching the eggs you can eat them. And they are healthy.
If you have a pot of melted wax, you can dip the duck in wax then ice water then wax a few times after the plucker, it will grip all those little feathers and take them out real quick. You can also put dawn soap in the scalder to help the feathers come out easier. Those little feathers won’t cook out really, they will just kind of burn. We butchered a few ducks and didn’t get all those little feathers out and when we cooked it the feathers just burned and kind of ruined the skin.
My family Jul (Christmas) meal is a three bird roast of goose, duck and pheasant. The duck we take the skin off in one piece and leave the legs attached. Then we fill the duck skin with stuffing to make a “fake duck”. Super yummy but a lot of work deboning the goose and skinning the duck. Worth it for a once a year meal.
I love duck!!! Must have crispy skin, though. Then you get the meat candy from the duck like you can from pork. I also like confit in it's own fat! Yum!!! I bet Mike could give you a few cooking ideas for them!
To get all the tiny feathers off use wax and ice water dip it back and forth to get a thick layer of wax then peel it off and all the tiny feathers should come off
Your ducks are beautiful you definitely need to smoke one using apples and onions in the duck cavity and in the water bath inside the smoker once you eat smoked duck you be spoiled ; then you can take the legs and thighs and make duck confit check with Chef Google pants ,how to do it Also the liver makes best pate are used to make a lot of duck liver pate . Up quick way to cook the duck liver is to vacuum seal it and poach it then put it in the refrigerator sealed in the bag add spices to the bag before seal it. 👍 ✌❤👨🍳🎅🚌👍
ducks are underrated on farms. small and medium farms. the sheer amount of forage they eat. If we didn't have the farm subsidies program we would be a lot more like china, France . Doing more duck, geese.
Put the bird in boiling water for 30 mins, then 30 mins in your oven on the hottest setting. Best crispy skin and juicy flesh without been overly fatty. It will smoke like mad in your oven but on it's so worth it. Trick from Nigella Lawson that works a treat.
Hey Justin, I watched a video by The Fit Farmer- Mike Dickson, How To Process Ducks For Meat/PolyFace Farm, they don't use water in the plucker and they use paraffin wax to remove the feathers. Give it a watch. Good luck
Mike from the fit farmer posted a video on his RUclips channel recently in which he was butchering ducks at Polyface. They dipped the ducks into pure, melted wax to get out the pin feathers after they went into the plucker. You should check it out! Have a nice Labor Day weekend!
Justin just wanna say we are buying our small little homestead this year and your vids have really made me excited to whats to come
Duck is by far my favorite type of poultry. If you render and save the fat like ben said its an amazing cooking fat thats full of flavor. When I cook duck I like to cook the breasts separately from the thighs and legs. When you roast the duck whole you risk either over-cooking the beautiful breasts to insure the thighs and legs are tender, or you risk undercooking the thighs and legs to get a properly cooked breast. My favorite method to use every part to its maximum potential by taking the breasts and wings off the carcass and then removing the legs and thighs saving any excess skin and fat for rendering. Then i'd make a stock from the carcass and neck. As for the cooking I like the breasts cooked in a pan like a steak with a little pink all through the meat and the skin crispy. For the legs and thighs and wings I like to confit them low and slow (cooked submerged in its own fat). You can then take them out of the confit and crisp the skin side quickly in a pan. In the end you get an amazing cooking fat, a very flavorful stock, and very quality 2 meals one with the breasts and one with the legs thighs and wings. I think whole roasting is kinda doing a disservice to such a versatile animal. Hope you read this!
I love the way you act as a dad, husband, farmer and friend! You are the real role model !!!
It amazes me how you children take charge of their chores, that’s incredible God bless your family. ❤️❤️
Lilly is such a good little farm girl. She is so game to dive in on any task.
The reality of where our food comes from, people forget. This is something that I'm not sure I could do, but I respect those that do.
Traditionally in Germany, we have duck on Martinmas. Roast duck with red cabbage and potatoe dumplings and gravy and a bit of apple or pear chutney. Really really yummy.
Mike on Fit farmer, when he was on Joel S farm, they used dawn soap. Makes it so much easier to “pluck”. Had to scale longer and in the plucker about 3 min
Watched another guy that slaughtered ducks and he used a wax bath to remove the pin feathers after removing the feathers. Then into cold water to harden the wax, which then is just peeled off the bird. Bingo - all the pin feathers come off with the wax.
We just butchered our first duck this last weekend. We did it without wax, just used crinkle rubber gloves. Meh. 🤷♀️ Will be trying wax plucking method next time. I made duck confit with him. It was delicious and a wonderful reward for all our hard work. I love having ducks even if they are a bit more work. They are beautiful and taste so good. Ps I love seeing your daughter pick up the duck, great job farm girl!
Or just harvest them in the window like we mentioned in this video and you don't need wax and they pluck fine. Before 8 weeks or after 14 weeks. That's it. No wax.
Catfish don’t have scales they have skin
He means fins on catfish. I used to sell live sea food in Los Angeles, grownin Bakersfield California. They have Sharp skewers in each of the three fins at the head and they can cut you like a knife.
Ducks were the first “meat” we raised starting 8 years ago, definitely worth it!
Catfish don’t have scales. They have skin and you pull the skin off with that tool. A good teaching video.
Afew more tips for you. Duck is best when cooked medium rare, when cooked slow it will dry out and be tough. sear it on the stove top in a cast iorn skillet and put in the oven on high heat, also on the grill is good. also do not run water in your plucker because the feathers will bunch up on you and when the rubber fingers are dry they will pluck a duck better. hope this helps
Hey Justin & family, loved the video and love that you've got all the kids into the chores just like our little one. Just had a thought about bagging the birds. Have you thought of using vacuum seal bags? They come in a long roll so less wastage and also you don't run the risk of partially cooking the duck 😊. We do it with other wild game here in Australia so thought maybe you could do it for pasture raised? Keep up the grey work your so wonderful to watch. And we get great ideas from watching how you guys run your farm.
I always learn so much from your family. Keep up the great work! And as always, love your family. So humble and ❤ loving
Lily just grabbed that goose like it was nothing! 😂 She is so cool!
Absolutely amazing skills you all have! I learned so very much those children are so well balanced they've helped raised and calmly with dignity ended those ducks lives perfect!
"There's no water in it." He says with slight surprise and a little annoyance. Methinks upon reflection it is a very good thing there was not any water in it. Though I have not personally observed weeks old poultry scalding water. I suspect that it is pretty nasty. Storing it dry seems much more sensible.
Those are some tough kids!
Well, can’t wait to see who all will like the duck. Great vlog. Kids are amazing.
When I was a teenager, we had ducks for eggs. One of them got injured so we had it butchered. It tasted awesome!
How cool! I’ve been waiting to see this video! I love your daughter, she’s the sweetest and so freaking adorable.
Your "barn electrical" needs some safety updating! Get the cover plates!
Few days ago Fit Farmer had video on how to process ducks from Joel Salatin's farm. It looks so much easier. I did my ducks about a month ago and I suffered. Next year it will be Polyface style.
Little question from a non expert : is the butchering in front of other ducks not stressing for the ones watching? Or they can't see it? dont understand it ?
Thank you Justin and all you're family
You all have kept me going until the end ?
Thank you so much
Anthony
🌹
I watched The Fit Farmer processing ducks at Joel Salatin's farm they used soap in the scalder and then after defeather they dip the ducks in wax several times then ice water then broke the wax off to remove the fine pin feathers.
I have always avoided wanting to raise ducks for meat because I dreaded the whole pin feather thing......ie: Waxing. Just seemed like way too much work & expense. I think I might give ducks a try after watching your video! It is the same as processing a chicken. Thanks for sharing the video!
Duck is a beautiful meat. It is great roasted whole with the skin slashed to allow the fat under the great skin to render. Another good point is duck fat makes the best roast potatoes and roast parsnips. Roast everything in the same pan. Serve with redcurrant preserve or cranberry sauce. My mouth is watering already. Those ducks look delicious. It is a recipe from my childhood and oh my it is delicious.
That’s a good idea with the catfish skinner !! I’ll have to remember that next time I butcher! He makes it look easy lol
Ps. catfish have skin not scales hence catfish skinner tool
Good job!! Fine example of all your ducks in a row!!😊
Stay blessed family💯💖
Rebecca is a real trooper, coming out to help! I watched Mike Dickson's video of duck processing at Joel Salatin's. Interesting.
Best thing about a duck is that fabulous crispy skin. Best thing at a Thai restaurant- duck a l'orange also awesome. I guess if you have 25 ducks it's OK to throw one in a crock pot-but it's wasting that skin! Fit Farmer has a cool video butchering ducks with Joe Salatin- they used a wax bath and a dry plucker.
Mr.Rhodes I watched a video , the cool water in the pluck closes up the ducks pores making feathers harder to come out until scolded again.
Hope this helped.
Hi Justin I love your videos and keep up the great work
Catfish pliers are for peeling the skin off of the catfish. They don't have scales at all. Adding a dish soap, that cuts grease, in the scalder will really help.
Justin, FIT FARMER Mike just did a great video at Joe Salatins farm on how they do it. They did add a tiny bit of soap, and then hot wax dip back n forth in ice bath to harden till it got a fair thickness, reusing the wax. It's late info, but maybe it will help with future duck plucking
Love how most of the time spent with the kids are also teaching moments!
We raised130-150 chickens for our family of 9 kids. Watching the scalding immediately brought back the smell associated with processing....
1st person in these comment streets! Hope all is well! I'm so excited for y'alls new baby!
I recently watched a video on how polyface butchers their ducks, they did use soap in the scalder, they also left the water off during the plucking until the last few seconds. They said the cold water closes the pores up some and makes them harder to pluck. But I guess it’s like skinning a cat.... there’s more than one way
We'll try that next time. But I can't imagine it going much smoother.
Remind me when I was young. My dad did the same thing. He showed me how the chicken butchering was like.
I like duck basted with black currant, orange, maple syrup sauce. Skin goes all nice and crispy. I drain the fat as it cooks. Mmmmm
Pluck them without water i just watched the Fit Farmers video on butchering Ducks. Thank you for sharing!
I watched a video that the fit farmer put up of Joel’s and the guy didn’t want the water on in the plucker xx
This is really good for the kids
🇳🇱NL.good evening in the netherlands 21.47 good afternoon in the usa again a nice video i always try to watch in the netherlands at night i fill you up from the beginning and i think it's great greetings and see you next video.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🍀❤️
I have cooked duck before. I recommend using Ina Garten’s recipe for duck. It turned out better than ever!
Those pliers are for skinning a catfish. Catfish don’t have scales.
And on cooking duck: cook it exactly like a good thick steak. Brine it for tendering, overnight is better. Spachcock/butterfly it, braze on a screamin hot cast iron, then pop it in the oven to finish. Eat it medium rare and it will be soft and delicious. It tastes like a cross between beef and chicken.
Look into pithing your ducks. It’s a lot cleaner than the cutting of the neck. Those pliers are for pulling the skin off catfish. Pithing is the best way to keep the head for stick with ducks
The neck skin on a duck makes a wonderful sausage casing
Oh and don’t over cook the duck!! They are better if cooked medium rare.
Roast duck: moist dark meat; with its fat, crispy, delectable skin - better than goose - yum.
If you need to boil a lot of water (and have support troops like you) fill a minimum volume and bring to boil. Add water, bring to boil. Add water. Bring to boil. The trick with boiling water is, there is so much "motion" that it brings the added water at higher temperature faster than basic physics would predict or faster than the whole bunch in one go.
Ah 138F - so boil a quantity that gives 138F at the last moment when you add cold water (with basic physics)
Duck is really good. Rendered duck fat potatoes is really good too.
Great video instruction. Thank you for showing the process.
Roast duck with blackberry sauce is so delish!
You are so blessed to have such a hardworking children. Want to see more videos of your children 🙂
Catfish pliers, you hold the catfish by the gills and literally peel the skin off with the pliers. They have skin instead of scales. Nice ducks.
Busy day turned out easier than you figured..👍
Seems duck tacos are in the near furture 🌮🌯
Have a good evening 🌻🌻🌻
Have y'all ever considered raising quail? What I like about it other than they are good to eat is that you can keep breeders and hatch all you want in an incubator. And when you're not hatching the eggs you can eat them. And they are healthy.
If you have a pot of melted wax, you can dip the duck in wax then ice water then wax a few times after the plucker, it will grip all those little feathers and take them out real quick. You can also put dawn soap in the scalder to help the feathers come out easier.
Those little feathers won’t cook out really, they will just kind of burn. We butchered a few ducks and didn’t get all those little feathers out and when we cooked it the feathers just burned and kind of ruined the skin.
Why would I do that when this worked just fine without wax?
Duck fat is the Best for cooking so full of flavor. Duck butter is also Awesome
Post a video of how you cook it!
Curry duck and dhal and rice with uopargar!!! Trinidadian special(trini river lime)
Good to see the beautiful one feeling well enough to help butcher
My family Jul (Christmas) meal is a three bird roast of goose, duck and pheasant. The duck we take the skin off in one piece and leave the legs attached. Then we fill the duck skin with stuffing to make a “fake duck”. Super yummy but a lot of work deboning the goose and skinning the duck. Worth it for a once a year meal.
I love duck!!! Must have crispy skin, though. Then you get the meat candy from the duck like you can from pork. I also like confit in it's own fat! Yum!!! I bet Mike could give you a few cooking ideas for them!
I think its great your kids are learning how to do this.
Can you link where you get your bags from and the ties
Justin!!For Thanksgiving the family should have Turducken!!! Just an interesting thought.
Awesome video justin, your hard work keep the family eating and eating good 👍
You can also smoke your duck. Those pliers are catfish skinning pliers. You can get them most anywhere fishing supplies are sold
Love the ways you guys work together
Skinning catfish; they are scale-less.
To get all the tiny feathers off use wax and ice water dip it back and forth to get a thick layer of wax then peel it off and all the tiny feathers should come off
Peking duck is amazing
Your ducks are beautiful you definitely need to smoke one using apples and onions in the duck cavity and in the water bath inside the smoker once you eat smoked duck you be spoiled ; then you can take the legs and thighs and make duck confit check with Chef Google pants ,how to do it Also the liver makes best pate are used to make a lot of duck liver pate . Up quick way to cook the duck liver is to vacuum seal it and poach it then put it in the refrigerator sealed in the bag add spices to the bag before seal it. 👍 ✌❤👨🍳🎅🚌👍
First! Love this channel! Hope I can have a farm like them someday
Duck meat is gooood :) Having duck is always a special occasion in my family.
ducks are underrated on farms. small and medium farms. the sheer amount of forage they eat. If we didn't have the farm subsidies program we would be a lot more like china, France . Doing more duck, geese.
Cooked right ducks are delicious.
Roasted is great.
Enjoy! 😎
I'm excited too! 🦆🦆🦆 Beautiful Sunrise!
Lily you are a trooper you get right in there your so cute 🙏
I’m wondering if the guard goose is going to have a “failure to thrive” problem when you process the other geese. Hopefully not.
Why don’t ducks like going to restaurants ?
Because they always get the bill.
(Sorry for the bad pun)
Put the bird in boiling water for 30 mins, then 30 mins in your oven on the hottest setting. Best crispy skin and juicy flesh without been overly fatty. It will smoke like mad in your oven but on it's so worth it. Trick from Nigella Lawson that works a treat.
Wow, you guys work fast!
Hey Justin, I watched a video by The Fit Farmer- Mike Dickson, How To Process Ducks For Meat/PolyFace Farm, they don't use water in the plucker and they use paraffin wax to remove the feathers. Give it a watch. Good luck
I think I'll try that dry plucker idea. Definitely don't need wax though.
I love that the kids are so excited!
I did enjoy this episode a lot, you guys are great♥️
I saw u had the cold.water on in tumbler turn it off try it dry tumble and less scolding time
It is a catfish skinner. You slice through the skin around the neck and then pull the skin down to the tail.
The catfish pliers are for skinning catfish, no scales. My daddy had me skinning 20-30 lbs cats, when I was 9 yrs old. We didn't have chickens.
Arun, you should try a curry duck. It's delicious
I love duck , I quarter apples ,oranges, and onion and stuff the duck with them, then rub what spices you like on the skin, and roast it.
Mike from the fit farmer posted a video on his RUclips channel recently in which he was butchering ducks at Polyface. They dipped the ducks into pure, melted wax to get out the pin feathers after they went into the plucker. You should check it out! Have a nice Labor Day weekend!
We didn't need wax, but thanks. You can see in this video they plucked just fine.
I always heard you are supposed to use the pluckers dry only use the water for cleaning the pluckers
Duck a la Orange is great for newbies. Need some acid to cut the fat, greasiness