Joined
·
212 Posts
here on long island n.y. dec rec not to eat mergansers at all.they smell as bad as they look.
Best and worse ducks to eat?
21 - 40 of 40 Posts
Joined
·
150 Posts
Teal and Woodies are my favorite, but any puddle ducks are worth eating. Never ate a diving duck I liked except in jerky form. Canada and snow geese are excellent in "beef stew" or barbecued like pulled pork. Brant are fun to hunt and shoot but I am not sure any living creature enjoys eating them. I did hear of a recipe some use for Brant: "take a brant and pluck it, put it in a pot of water, boil for 3 hours, remove Brant and discard, eat the pot." 'Nuff said.
Joined
·
237 Posts
I have eaten a coot or two...andys Cajun fish fry works wonders....and have stuffed them with cream cheese, jalapeños, and wrapped with LOTS and I mean LOTS of bacon.....it's no woodie or mallard, but it's ok...aunt betty said:
My method is to take the meat and do a soak in water in the fridge. Change the water at least every day for 3 days for divers, mallards and other puddlers I leave for 2 days. Teal and woodies and HEN hooded mergansers don't need anything except to be pan fried and eaten. Goldeneyes are generally ground for burger as are Canada geese. Scaup and ringers are good in the pan. A lot of my birds are served as philly cheese steak...yum. Snows and specks I have found are really good. Drake mergs of any type I try not to shoot anymore, too strong even after soaking. Mallard stir fry is great, another way split the breast and make a pocket, fill with blue cheese, bread them and pan fry quickly then finish in the oven... :thumbsup:
Joined
·
2,254 Posts
Pretty much all puddle ducks where I am.
Mallard and Pintail and GWT I like best, all seem to be about the same. Med rare on grill/pan/smoker after week marinade.
Wigeon are good and I'd rate next.
Gadwall next.
Spoonbill/Shovelor next... OK, but I cook in a way to not highlight the meat flavor.
Ate two ringneck, it was OK. Absolute hell to get the skin off though!
Ate one canvasback, it was very good, shot in AZ so not a coastal bird, I liked it as good as mallard. Don't see many here.
I can cook it all to be decent, but if there are enough ducks flying, I'll probably avoid shovelor in favor of mallard. I like it fine, but can tell my wife doesn't think it's as good.
Mallard and Pintail and GWT I like best, all seem to be about the same. Med rare on grill/pan/smoker after week marinade.
Wigeon are good and I'd rate next.
Gadwall next.
Spoonbill/Shovelor next... OK, but I cook in a way to not highlight the meat flavor.
Ate two ringneck, it was OK. Absolute hell to get the skin off though!
Ate one canvasback, it was very good, shot in AZ so not a coastal bird, I liked it as good as mallard. Don't see many here.
I can cook it all to be decent, but if there are enough ducks flying, I'll probably avoid shovelor in favor of mallard. I like it fine, but can tell my wife doesn't think it's as good.
Joined
·
575 Posts
My order goes something like this:
1. Green Winged Teal and Woodies
2. Mallards, Widgeons (I have found many Widgeons to have white fat and it gives the a good flavor.)
3. Gadwall, Pintail, and Blue Winged Teal (the BWT can go higher sometimes)
4. Redheads, Canvasbacks
5. Divers.
Of course this can change based on their diet. Either way I will shoot em and cook em.
1. Green Winged Teal and Woodies
2. Mallards, Widgeons (I have found many Widgeons to have white fat and it gives the a good flavor.)
3. Gadwall, Pintail, and Blue Winged Teal (the BWT can go higher sometimes)
4. Redheads, Canvasbacks
5. Divers.
Of course this can change based on their diet. Either way I will shoot em and cook em.
they all eat just fine in my opinion, I pretty much for all stick with throwing the breast in a good cast iron pan with some butter seared medium rare with little garlic powder, salt, pepper, and onion powder. I've also cut the meat into chunks and used duck and goose meat on many occasions for a beef substitute in stews and beef stroganof.
Joined
·
37 Posts
I prefer Woodies and Teal but I also really like Mallards too. About the only Duck I've ever tried and found to be unfit for human consumption are the Mergansers.
Ive heard you can soak them in milk for a couple days, wrap them in bacon and grill them medium rare. This way they look nicer and smell a little better when they go in the trash.
Ive heard you can soak them in milk for a couple days, wrap them in bacon and grill them medium rare. This way they look nicer and smell a little better when they go in the trash.
Joined
·
171 Posts
Tier 1- Canvasbacks
Tier 2- Redheads/Mallards/Green Wing Teal/Pintail
Tier 3- Ruddy ducks/Gadwall/Widgeon/Blue Wing Teal/Ringneck duck/Coots
Tier 4- Lesser Scaup/Bufflehead/Non Great Salt Lake Goldeneye/Cinnamon Teal/Northern Shoveler
Tier 5- Common Merganser
Tier 6- Great Salt Lake Goldeneye
Tier 2- Redheads/Mallards/Green Wing Teal/Pintail
Tier 3- Ruddy ducks/Gadwall/Widgeon/Blue Wing Teal/Ringneck duck/Coots
Tier 4- Lesser Scaup/Bufflehead/Non Great Salt Lake Goldeneye/Cinnamon Teal/Northern Shoveler
Tier 5- Common Merganser
Tier 6- Great Salt Lake Goldeneye
Joined
·
17 Posts
Teal, woodies, mallards are my favorites. Wigeons, grey ducks, cans, pinnies and red heads are all good eating but I tend to marinate them. Don't eat coot or merganser. There's a reason mergansers are called flying anchovies. I do enjoy eating divers too just gotta do it right.
How to cook divers: clean them, soak them in milk (overnight preferably), marinate them the next day, cut them into medallions and sear them on the grill until medium rare. Favorite thing I like to do with them after that is cut them into strips and do a stir fry.
How to cook divers: clean them, soak them in milk (overnight preferably), marinate them the next day, cut them into medallions and sear them on the grill until medium rare. Favorite thing I like to do with them after that is cut them into strips and do a stir fry.
Joined
·
1,312 Posts
Labrador ducks.
Joined
·
10,056 Posts
I have eaten black duck, mallards, pintail, brant, buffs and geese. The only stand out in my mind are geese. They are great when done right. Everything else was marginal to awful every time. I find that once they are in the salt marshes nibbling on barnacles and God knows what else, they all taste the same. Irony, slightly fishy, with livery highlites and a funky, fart like finish....
Joined
·
816 Posts
Lawn darts and scoters can be downright nasty. Best depends on feed. Canvasbacks in the wild rice are fine. Mallards in the barley for a few weeks are good, but I do like just about any bird as long as it has been brined and smoked.
Joined
·
1 Posts
Feeding wild game to your pets should probably be avoided as I’m pretty sure it’s illegal and waterfowl don’t require population control… Humans in general are doing a well enough job at that through habitat destruction.
Joined
·
88 Posts
All,
Coming from Texas, I can tell you that by the time they get here, they all just taste like duck. I fried em', smoked em' rotisserie em' boiled em' for gumbo, made jerky with em', even chicken fried em'. But I can tell you this, the leg/thighs are something to talk about. They actually taste good grilled and basted with a hint of your own special secret sauce.
If you haven't saved a few limits of (large) duck legs for super bowl Sunday, you are missing out.
Just throwing that out there.......
Coming from Texas, I can tell you that by the time they get here, they all just taste like duck. I fried em', smoked em' rotisserie em' boiled em' for gumbo, made jerky with em', even chicken fried em'. But I can tell you this, the leg/thighs are something to talk about. They actually taste good grilled and basted with a hint of your own special secret sauce.
If you haven't saved a few limits of (large) duck legs for super bowl Sunday, you are missing out.
Just throwing that out there.......
21 - 40 of 40 Posts
