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Cured Smoked Duck Breasts - Wow!

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Little Chef
Little Chef Posts: 4,725
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Trimmed up the skin on 6 breast filets....Cured them in a wet brine for 3 days. Dried exposed in fridge for 36 hours. Smoked, BGE, 250* indirect with Apple and Pecan woods 2 hours. Came out AWESOME!!! (next time I'll probably reduce time on the egg to 1.5 hr)

DSC00954.jpg
Understand, these slices are cut very very thin on the bias.... *also, see note below.
DSC00953.jpg

When I first brought a slice to Bubba Tim for a taste, he looked, and said "That's a lot of fat, isn't it?" I said, trust me, just eat it. He did, and all he said was, "Oh WOW!"
For anybody who still think Pork Fat Rules??? Gotta try this one! ;) I'd have to go for Duck Fat Rules....LOL! :laugh:

*although these pics appear that the meat is still 'raw', the meat is extremely firm, and well cooked. It is the addition of Prague Powder (aka Pink salt) that gives the meat such a pink appearance, same thing with 'corned beef brisket'.
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    Dang Michelle looks awesome! -RP
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  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
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    Nice meal. My favorite is duck breasts or thighs. If you ever get back to Hotlanta and have not been to the DeKalb Farmers market, you need to make time for the experience. Take cash as they do not do credit cards. Quack Quack.
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  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
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    I'm not much of a quack quack fanatic but those look really good Michelle
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    That was my highlight of the 08 fest, I really was impressed mostly by the amount of seafood they carried. -RP
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    RP - Thanks! They are very rich....more of an appetizer with a crostini and some citrus. They really did come out great, if I am allowed to say that.... :blush: Trying to expand my charcuterie skills. ;)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Thanks Pat....Tim isn't a quack quack fan either! Until recently...LOL! I'll see if I can't make a few of these for Atlanta. ;)
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    Looks good LC, I'm waiting for stike to jump in on this thread. Earlier this year he used a very traditional method that involved a great length of time and a rafter in his cellar.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
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    Woweeee does that look great. I know what I'll be trying in the fall.
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    Do you have Michael Ruhlman's book, Charcuterie? -RP
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  • Boss Hogg
    Boss Hogg Posts: 1,377
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    Michele,
    I have a plan for the ducks. I'll shoot 'em, then you cook 'em! :whistle:
    Brian
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Richard...We had the wonderful opportunity to experience DelKab Market twice while we were in Atlanta for the Stats Comp. All I can say is, it is a DAYUM good thing we don't live nearby! I would HAVE to work there in order to support my addiction to the market!! LOL!!! (What paycheck??) :ohmy: ;)
    Can't wait to go back there in October!! ;)
    BTW...we used a debit card with no problem, so perhaps they are evolving to be more consumer friendly. ;)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    That may have been for duck procuitto? :blink: I tried some myself, and it came out decent. But we don't have the adequate space, not to mention cool temps, to do the procuitto truly properly. ;);)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Boss...Works for me!! :woohoo: :woohoo: No buck shot allowed though.... :blink: You can borrow my Marlin if you need to..... :ohmy: :laugh: ;)
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  • Ross in Ventura
    Ross in Ventura Posts: 7,234
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    That looks fantastic LC, thanks for the post

    Ross
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Yes, I have his, as well as Kinsella & Harveys, and others. Just haven't had much time to use them! :blink:
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  • AnnaG
    AnnaG Posts: 1,104
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    Wow indeed!!! First, it looks great in the pics and second the BT gave it the thumbs up, well then... Nuff said... Good looking cook!

    Ps, thank you for not including the head or feet... Hee hee... :)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Thanks Adam! Are you coming to Atlanta? All the way from Minnesooooota?? Looking forward to meeting you! ;)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Thanks Ross! ;)
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    good stuff.

    i posted my duck prosciutto, and didn't get half the interest you did. gee i wonder why

    must be my shiny forehead.

    hahaha

    have you done duck prosciutto? it's so ridiculously easy, it's almost illegal to take any credit for it. but it is magnificent

    here's my charcuterie plate from easter. duck prosciutto on the left. cured the ham too, but no pics other than pre-curing. also did a smoked homemade kielbasa. have been having fun trying some stuff

    duckandsausage.jpg
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
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    MIchelle,

    That looks great!

    That is quite a lot of fat under the skin. Nothing like the ones I shoot here in the winter. I guess flying from the Yukon to the Mississippi Delta burns up a lot of stored fat, ya think ? ;)
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  • Chef in the Making
    Chef in the Making Posts: 902
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    I love duck and they look great
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    Yeah, That's exactly it....we visited about it through e-mail and I saw some pictures, it will be best for him to tell the story.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    videlicet:
    duckbreast.jpg

    ...my sincere belief is that the electrical fields induced by the romex and armored cable work in concert with the electromagnetic alignment of the salt ions brough about by the coaxial cable signal to produce the finest texture imaginable.

    nah. it's actually so much easier than that, that i need to make it sound difficult.

    i'm proof any idiot could do it
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    That's the picture I like the best. Sort of looks like a modern day mummy. Heheee.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Stike...I did duck prosciutto a couple of weeks ago, and it was decent...not fantastic. :( We simply don't have the proper space to dry properly...guess I need to get a "special" fridge for that..... :blink: ...not a bad idea, actually...LOL!!) Did you use the dry cure several days, then hang and dry a couple weeks? This was certainly no prosciutto....just cured and smoked. ;)
    Did you make the dried sausage on your charcuterie platter as well?? :ohmy: I want to get to that point, but know it really will take a dedicated refrigeration unit.
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    ROFL!! I had little 'duck breast cocoons' suspended from under fridge shelves....lol!! Looked a lot like your little mummy! :woohoo: :laugh: ;)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    This was a "snow bird"...flew down last fall and stayed with us for the winter.... :woohoo: :laugh: :laugh:
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    Thanks Anna!! I'm not too big on food that looks at me, or looks like it can run away from me! :woohoo: :laugh: ;)
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    ruhlman is a little laissez faire about the temps and humidity for curing. he's a fan of curing salts (well, nitrite and nitrates), so he seems to tend more toward the old farmhouse approach.add the nitrate/ites and hang it wherever you want (within reason). my basement is definitely not a humidity/temp controlled environment.

    it was nothing but salt. no cure.
    traditional prosciutto method.

    salted overnight, then rinsed of salt (i need to wash it a little better next time). dusted with white pepper, hung in cheesecloth.

    you know i'm the guy that is always playing fast and loose with sanitary issues. but even i had my fingers crossed. kept losing my nerve and put it in the fridge one day. then decided that wasn't going to undo anything, and that i really needed to trust the three or four hundred years of folks that did this before me (and ruhlman, who seems unfazed), haha).

    in truth, it really was transformational. i can take no credit for it, yet my wife and i were eating it as i sliced it and our eyes were rolling into the back of our heads. was great...

    the sausage there, on the platter... no. not mine.
    this was the kielbasa though.

    easter_kielbasa.jpg

    a little salty. every one of ruhlman's recipes so far i have followed to the letter and found a tinge too salty. and i like salt. got some dilled pickles going right now. week four. perfect. but halfway thru they were too salty and i added water and vinegar to balance it.

    blah blah blah.
    anyway, it's all been fun. not much worth posting here though. non-BGE for the most part. i am going to do some duck prosciutto and smoke some as a test. again though, not cured. just salted and hung.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    that's a yummy mummy. like the ladies here on the forum!
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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