# Grilled mallard, not what I expected...



## Hookineyezz (Sep 11, 2008)

William H Bonney said:


> roughly 375 to 400 degrees ( if you have a thermo on your grill).


I have a thermo on my grill and I get it up to 675 deg in the winter. bout 750 in the summer . I cook everything on HI, EVERYTHING...Probly because of the fact I cook on a 1300 degree broiler all day at work :lol:


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## treeman (Mar 18, 2002)

I agree it was most likely overcooked. Brush with oil and a little salt and pepper and grill to medium rare. Yummy.


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## Swamp Boss (Mar 14, 2003)

I especially like the Mesquite Marinade available @ Westborn Mkt but have also used Italian Dressing, Allegro and a Teriaki sauce. If you follow the directions of other chefs on the site and still can't find the taste of mallard appealing, don't even try cooking any of the cat- food species!!!


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## Snuffy (Sep 9, 2010)

Over cooked leads to very dry which ruins the duck. In the past 10yrs I have done nothing but grill it.
1) cut into 2X1 chunks
2) Marinade over night (half cup milk, 4 tbl spoon soy, garlic salt, maybe some beer or wine)
3) cut jalepeno into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slivers
4) cut bacon in half (this will help you avoid drying it out)
5) place jalapeno on chunk, wrap in bacon, secure with toothpick
6) place on tin foil to hold in all moisture
7) when bacon is done, duck is done


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## Steven Arend (Jun 27, 2003)

The best way that I have found on the grill is to cut the breast into 1 inch strips and rap in bacon sprinkle some southwest chipotle and grill for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat till its just starting to turn pink in side. I do the same thing with geese.

Steve


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Another good way I've found to "mask" the liver flavor is to make fajita's. 

Cut into strips, marinade in Italian dressing and then HOT & FAST in a cast iron skillet on the grill. Throw in your peppers and onions, then have at it.

Soft tortilla's, sour cream, pepperjack cheese...

Only had one bad experience with this recipe,, that's when I decided to try it with a blue-bill.... I knew better too,,, and I tried it anyway. 

Now there's NO EXCEPTIONS!! ALL divers instantly become training dummies for the dog.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

:evilsmile


Shiawassee_Kid said:


> butterfly, squeeze butter and lawry's, grill each side about 2 minutes. gauranteed you overcooked it. if center is grey (what most people think is done), its overcooked.
> 
> nothing better in my eyes than butterflied mallards or gadwall over a hot grill.
> 
> another thing most people don't do is trim blood meat. if its bruised, discolored or blodclotted i toss it. dog gets it. would you eat a piece of blood clotted fillet mignon? I won't eat a piece of duck cleaned by someone else unless i know how they clean it...this changes everything when cooking duck. I see way too many people trying to clean out shot holes and other junk...cut around it and toss the damaged meat, your pallet will thank you later.


I never took too much care in trimming blood clotted areas and such until I watched Shi Kid do it in duck camp in North Dakota. Takes some time, but what a difference it makes. So I take more time trimming now. Honestly sometimes duck breasts are so shot up they're hardly worth cooking because of the clotting. So those I save for the crock pot.

Duck does have a unique flavor. And if you don't like dark meats, you may not care for it much. But above all of that, as everyone has said, you definitely overcooked it. Not really that much different than venison on the grill...2 or 3 minutes on a side, still pink inside, and she's done. Any more...may as well re-sole your shoes with it


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## Duckman Racing (Oct 11, 2004)

I have tried a variety of methods, but my favorite for grilling is to use this marinade: http://www.mccormick.com/Products/GrillMates/Marinades/Grill-Mates-Garlic-Herb-Wine-Marinade.aspx This stuff is great on everything from chicken, to pork, to duck and goose.

And as mentioned, make sure you do not overcook the duck.


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## bucknduck (Nov 7, 2003)

If you're not a big fan of duck and have tried many different ways to cook them with no success, try a Turduchen! Stuff a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey. Cabelas sells these, but we make our own.

One of my many favorite goose recipes is to cook the goose breasts in marmalade and white wine, or red whine and blackberry jam and serve over rice. No leftovers when it comes to waterfowl in my house.

Just using salt, pepper and a bit of garlic tells me that you didn't do your homework to find some good recipes and how-to's before cooking the ducks.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Did it taste like sewage pond or stale Cheeto's? :lol:



greenhead1984 said:


> I always wrap them in bacon.......mmmmmmm..... bacon.




We've been eating Canvasback once a week for the past couple months.


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## Canuck (Oct 11, 2000)

I like my duck cook in the oven. I slice a apple and onion into thin slices then I place a few of these into a corning ware dish. Then you place the duck breasts on top the the slices, then spinkle lightly with garlic salt, poultry seasoning and then cover the breast duck breasts with the remaining apple and onion slices and add water just enough to cover the bottom. Cook for about one hour at 325 degrees. The leftovers make great sandwichs the next day with a little mayo and pepper. :corkysm55


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## oldsalt mi (Oct 5, 2010)

Grill it or pan fry then cut up and dip in A1


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## twoteal (Jul 22, 2001)

I recently had it treated like a sirloin that was chicken fried steaked and I was very suprised. I mostly bacon wrap after a marinade and kabob the crap out of'em. dales steak suace is a favorite as well as the cajun A1 marinade. onion and peppers in between, If I over cook'em the get layed on rice as it steams and helps soften them back up.


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## EN1796 (Jul 16, 2009)

I really appreciate all of the suggestions. Seeing that I have one wood duck left and a few geese I will have to try some of your methods.


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## grizzly (Dec 11, 2000)

For a zesty marinade: add 2 teaspoons Montreal Steak Seasoning to 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Add meat; marinate 45 minutes. 


The best way to cook this is medium to medium rare. I promise you that this is good. When the wife and kids ask for it something must be right.

If you try please let us all know how it goes.

Grizzly


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## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

EN1796 said:


> I really appreciate all of the suggestions. Seeing that I have one wood duck left and a few geese I will have to try some of your methods.


Be kind to your wood duck - it's just about the best eating duck there is. Most of the marinades people have suggested will work well on it, just don't over-spice or over-cook it: Medium Rare is enough. Treat it like a good steak, and you'll be well rewarded. As for your mallards, well, mallards can taste very different from one another. It all depends on what they've been eating. Corn fed mallards shot out of a field are a lot more tasty than swamp mallards, sort of like corn fed venison or cedar swamp bucks. Don't give up on grilling mallard just because you had a couple you didn't like. 
When all else fails for me, I make gumbo. All my divers except Cans and Reds go into the gumbo as do any puddle ducks that get really shot up. I breast out all my gumbo ducks and freeze em until I get enough for a 3-4 gallon batch of gumbo and then I freeze the gumbo in 2-3 serving sized containers and it lasts me most of the year. NPR did a Mardi-Gras story on gumbo a few years back and they gave a recipe that's still on their website. I use it as a "basis" for my gumbos, substituting duck for chicken, except that I pre-boil my ducks with garlic and spices and then drain it and dice it into pretty small chunks. If you're into making a really good gumbo here's a link to the recipe: 
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/feb/010226.gumbo.html#normal


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## VETRCR (Jun 3, 2008)

Got a few recipies from the Ducks Unlimited magazines. There is a stir fry that is awsome. There was also one about roasting whole ducks that
was good.Im sure you could find them on their web site. Other than that medium rare.


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