Wild Mallard breast, HELP?

[Brookie]

This was a true feast. Mr and Mrs Jack nailed it. For you fellow PBC folks I have had good results with this same batch of Mallards in the barrel. Fast cook at 400+ degrees to 140’ internal temp. For these types of hot cooks I’m using 1/4” steel rods instead of the rebars. Makes a world of difference.
Cheers. Brookie

[PaulstheRibList]

Looks great!

[Dadof3Illinois]

Those look awesome!!! Great job.

[JCGrill]

Another idea I recently saw on TV is duck breast pastrami. Curing should make it plenty moist. No recipe, but I suspect you guys could figure it out.

[Powersmoke_80]

Looks Fantastic and cool name tags.

[EdF]

What a feast!

[OneEyedJack]

Henrik, we didn't hear about you coming for dinner last night, so we went ahead without you. Here are a few photos of the preparation, cooking and plating.

Here are 10 mallards almost ready for the grill. The cavities were generously seasoned with salt and pepper and stuffed with a few slices of green apples. Grills were Webers with SnS inserts and fueled with a full chimney of KBB and just a hint of apple wood smoke. Just prior to roasting, the birds were rubbed with a little bit of canola oil and then moderately seasoned with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Mrs Jack came up with the place setting name tags - pretty cool!...


This not well staged photo are the birds after roasting. We shot for an IT of 140*F so as not to be too rare for the newbie wild duck eaters at the table. Thanks to the able assistance of Brookie, the IT's were nailed. The piece of meat in the lower left corner is a chicken breast for Mrs. Brookie who refuses to eat wild ducks. The chicken was marinated in Italian salad dressing before grilling - she liked it!...


Here's the plated results. Sides were wild rice into which was mixed some sautéed onions and mushrooms finished with vermouth wine. Mrs. Jack prepared a nice dish of au gratin zucchini. A dipping Cumberland sauce was provided. I think the dinner went very well as witnessed by the newbies picking up the birds and getting the last shreds of meat off the carcasses. Oh, and there was plenty of great red wines being passed around the table...


Dessert (not pictured) was a store-bought tiramisu cake that put the whole operation over the top!

[Henrik]

Cool, your plan is rock solid. Love the sides and especially the cumberland sauce. Keep us posted, pics mandatory ;-)

[OneEyedJack]

Thank you for the input! Reading some of my game cook books, I'm now thinking to roast the birds whole and then cut in half with shears rather than serving a whole duck to each person. I'm thinking Cumberland Sauce for those who want it. Sides will be wild rice with sautéed mushrooms and onions with a little vermouth. Mrs. Jack is going to cook a zucchini dish. Mega red wines and some kind of tart dessert to finish. I'll monitor the IT closely. Henrik, if you're interested, come out to San Francisco, dinner is on the 24th! Ditto Spinaker. Member Brookie will be in attendance. I'll post photos.

[Henrik]

Oh, and serve them with a rich creamy sauce, they need it.

[Henrik]

Yes, go ahead and get your mallards on those grills! They are leaner than duck in my experience, but not much. Monitor those temps closely. Rather than cooking them to the perfect temp, I’d take them off the grill 2-3 degrees below target temp and let them rest 10 minutes before serving. Just like with duck they overcook easy, which kind of ruins the whole experience.

[Spinaker]

Henrik

[OneEyedJack]

I'm planning on throwing a dinner party that features whole roasted wild mallard ducks.I'm planning on using a 22" and 26" Webers and I think there is enough real estate to cook 10 birds. Using indirect with a SnS at high temps like about 350*F. I'm shooting for medium rare. Anyone have experience roasting whole ducks this way?

[Powersmoke_80]

Henrik, That's why I called you out, I figured you were the Wild Man,on game that is. That sounds perfect and I will let you know how it turns out. I agree with skin on as that is how they were served at the game dinner. Thanks Dude

[Jon Solberg]

Henrik Nailed it!