St. Joseph, Michigan                               Just 2 miles south of EXIT 28 on I-94
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.WATERFOWL ON THE PLATE.

..Preparation Tips & Recipes
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 PREPARATION TIPS 

I’ve heard more than one person express their disgust when it comes to eating duck or goose meat.  They've heard it's greasy and doesn't taste good.  In some cases, I'm sure they've even experienced such.  

The 'greasy' and 'unpleasant' taste of waterfowl can be avoided by following some very simple steps.  In fact, when these steps are followed, I personally rank waterfowl as the equal of bear and elk meat - both of which I think are as good as sirloin and better than venison.

How much you will or will not enjoy a meal of waterfowl is based 100% on how you clean, prepare and cook the bird.  Following are three simple steps that, when followed, will not only provide you with a completely grease-free meal, but also one whose taste will be a pleasant surprise.  

If you’ve had a bad experience with a meal of duck or goose, I urge you to try just one more time using the advice I’m presenting here.

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GENERAL PREPARATION

STEP 1:  Skin the Bird

This is the ONLY way you're going to avoid a greasy meal. 

They’re called ‘waterfowl’ for a reason.  In order to keep their feathers dry (and themselves warm), ducks and geese come equipped with hundreds and hundreds of oil glands in their skin.   When you pluck the duck or goose, you leave all those oil glands behind, so when the bird is cooked, this oil permeates itself throughout the meat.  THIS is why you have a greasy meal.

So how do you avoid the grease??  Very simple:  Always SKIN waterfowl.  Never, EVER pluck.

Side note:  I've actually had people tell me you HAVE to pluck ducks and geese so you'll have the grease to soak into the meat to keep it from being too dry.  What a crock.  Untrue.  If you follow all three steps presented here, you will have a meal of juicy (not greasy) waterfowl.  And speaking of 'crock', a crock pot is an excellent place to cook your skinned waterfowl.

How to skin a duck or goose:

  • Flip the bird on its back. 

  • Between each leg and the body is a piece of loose skin.  Pull this skin out with one hand and poke your knife through the skin with the other. 

  • Take both of the bird’s feet in one hand and hook a finger or two of the other hand in the hole made by the knife. 

  • Pull toward the head.

  • If you just want to fillet out the breasts, all you’ll have to do is pull the skin up to the neck and down to the wing/armpit area.

  • (NOTE:  Some hunters just cut through the feathers right down the breast plate and peel back the feathers.)

  • Cut along the breastplate and remove the meat.

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STEP 2:  Forget it's a Bird

Treat waterfowl meat like beef.

The next thing to think about is just what kind of meat you have here.  Consider this:  Ducks and geese eat mainly grasses and grains (there are fish-eating ducks, of course, but they’re not part of this conversation). 

What American favorite of the table can you think of that also eats mainly grasses and grains??

That’s right -- BEEF.

You’ll also want to bear in mind that waterfowl have almost no white meat.  A common mistake when preparing waterfowl is the notion that, since they’re birds, they must be prepared in the same way as a chicken or turkey.

That's just not a good idea.  Waterfowl meat has absolutely no resemblance to chicken or turkey.  None.  So here we have a bird that eats pretty much the same things as cows and has almost all red meat like cows.  How should you cook it??

When you prepare ducks or geese, treat them like beef.  It doesn’t matter if you’re making them into small steaks, putting them in a stew, grinding them into burgers, making jerky, smoking, or whatever you may decide to do.  If you treat ducks and geese like beef, you may not even notice the difference.  I guarantee if you were to make a couple of waterfowl steaks for an unsuspecting guest, they’d swear they were having beef.

Even if you want to roast a bird, just season it like beef.  That's all there is to it.  Except for Step 3, which is at least as important as these first two steps.

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STEP 3:  Do NOT Overcook

I’ll cut right to the chase on this one.

Unless you like liver, do NOT cook waterfowl to well-done.  A duck or goose cooked to the point where there’s no red/pink in the middle will taste EXACTLY like liver – and I mean EXACTLY... like... liver.  I found this out the hard way when I was making myself a goose steak and wandered away from the grill for too long.

The less red/pink in the middle, the more like liver the meat will taste.  I personally have to leave my waterfowl very red/pink in the middle (I can’t stand liver).  Conversely, if you’re into liver and onions, this may be right up your alley.

Check out the tasty recipes presented below.  These have been perfected over almost 30 years of trial and the occasional error, and some errors were worse than others (how do you think I found out about the 'tastes-like-liver'?).

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DRUMSTICKS

A quick note about drumsticks.

If you have a nice, pristine drumstick (duck or goose), they're excellent eating but only take the drumstick off the bird if it hasn't been shattered by either the shot or hitting the ground.

You're going to want to season the drumstick like the rest of the bird - in other words, just like a steak - and then either grill, broil, bake or fry.  Don't try to get too fancy with the drumstick.

You'll find when eating the drumstick hot, the ligaments can be a little tough to bite through, so try this helpful hint:  Once cooked, put the drumsticks in the fridge overnight.  You'll find them at least as good as cold chicken and, when cold, the meat will slide right off the ligaments and bone.  Yummy stuff.

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 RECIPES 

As you go through and try these recipes, bear in mind that I almost never refer to a specific amount of a spice or stock.  Just do it to taste - or smell.  Whenever I make my Goose Vegetable Soup, I measure nothing.  I put in spices and then smell the steam coming out of the pot.  When it smells right, I taste.  I don't miss very often.

Where duck is specified, use your favorite puddle duck.  I mainly use mallard, but wood duck is also outstanding.  I admit to having never tried any of these recipes with diver ducks, although they may be just as good.

Please don't use store-bought duck or goose.  That would be tantamount to sacrilege.   :)

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 GOOSE VEGETABLE SOUP.

  • 2 Canada goose breasts  OR  4 duck breasts

  • 3 or 4 average-sized potatoes

  • 1/2 lb peeled baby carrots

  • 1/2 lb frozen peas

  • 1 medium onion

  • 1 bunch celery

  • salt

  • pepper

  • mushrooms (optional)

  • 2 packs beef gravy mix (optional)

PREPARATION:

1 Fill a crock pot (or other stewing pot) about 1/2 full with water.  Place on oven and set to Medium heat.
2 Dice breast meat.  Place in water.
3 Dice potatoes (skin if desired).  Place in water.
4 Put carrots and peas directly into water.
5 Chop garlic (may replace with garlic salt, garlic powder, or minced garlic - to taste).  Add to water.
6 Dice onion (may replace with onion salt, onion powder, or minced onion - to taste).  Add to water.
7 Chop celery (may replace with celery salt, celery powder, or minced celery - to taste).  Add to water.
8 Add salt and pepper to taste.
9 Add mushrooms and gravy mix (if desired).
10 Place lid on pot and allow mixture to cook on low or low-med heat until potatoes and carrots are done (approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour), stirring occasionally.  When potatoes and carrots are done, dish is done.
11 Serve.

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 WATERFOWL STIR-FRY.

  • 1 Canada goose breast  AND/OR  2 duck breasts

  • 1 boneless pork chop

  • 1 boneless chicken breast

  • 1 pkg frozen cocktail shrimp (30 - 50 count)

  • 1 green bell pepper

  • 2 red bell peppers

  • 1 medium onion

  • 1 garlic clove (or minced garlic)

  • 1 pkg mushrooms

  • teriyaki (or other stir-fry sauce)

  • 1 cup water

PREPARATION:

1 Set pan on med heat.  Add 1/2 cup water.
2 Dice chicken and pork.  Place in pan.
3 Dice goose / duck breast(s).  Place in pan.  Stir.
4 Wash and slice peppers.  Add to pan.  Stir.
5 Wash and slice onion.  Add to pan.  Stir.
6 Add garlic and mushrooms.  Stir.
7 Add shrimp.  Stir.
8 Add 1/2 cup water (if needed).  Stir.
9 Add sauce.  Stir.
10 Place lid on pan.  This will allow for steaming of vegetables.  Add water if mixture gets too dry.  Keep on heat until chicken and pork are thoroughly cooked. 
11 Serve. 

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 GOOSE GIZZARD NUGGETS.

  • Canada goose gizzards

  • garlic (minced, salt, or powder)

  • onion (minced, salt, or powder)

  • pepper

  • barbeque sauce

PREPARATION:

1 Cut up gizzards to bite-size.  Fry to desired level of doneness.
2 Add garlic, onion and pepper (to taste).
3 Use BBQ sauce for dipping.

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 MIGRATION CHILI.

  • 2 Canada goose breasts  OR  2 duck breasts

  • chili fixin's

PREPARATION:

1 Grind the duck or goose into hamburger (for 'chunky style' chili, dice the meat rather than grinding it).
2 Cook the meat as you would hamburger (for 'chunky style', cook to medium rare).
3 Cook chili fixin's per normal.
4 Add meat to fixin's.
5 Serve.

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 WATERFOWL POT ROAST.

  • 1 Canada goose breasts  OR  2 duck breasts

  • 2 - 3 average-sized potatoes

  • 1/2 lb peeled baby carrots

  • salt

  • pepper

  • 1/2 cup water

PREPARATION:

1 Slice each breast long-ways into approximately 3 or 4 strips.
2 Place in frying pan at med or med-high heat.  Add salt and pepper (to taste).
3 Add water.
4 Dice potatoes.  Add.
5 Add carrots.
6 Re-season, if necessary.
7 Serve.

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 SMOKED DUCK or GOOSE.

  • Canada goose breasts  OR  duck breasts

  • pepper

  • teriyaki

  • grill

PREPARATION:

1 Cut goose / duck breasts into thin strips.
2 Marinade overnight in mixture of teriyaki and pepper.
3 Soak hickory chips for no less than 30 minutes (several hours is my personal preference).
4 Line grill with aluminum foil.  This allows for easy clean-up.  Poke holes in the foil to allow ventilation.
5 Spray a thin coating of non-stick (Pam).
6 Light charcoal in grill.
7 When flames have diminished, add soaked hickory chips to charcoal.
8 Put meat on foil with about an inch (or more) between strips.
9 Cook to desired level of doneness.
10 Serve.

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 GRILLED DUCK or GOOSE.

  • Canada goose breasts  OR  duck breasts

  • Your favorite steak seasonings

  • Grill

PREPARATION:

1 Slice each breast to half thickness (will give you twice as many breasts, although thinner).
2 Light charcoal.
3 When flames have diminished, place meat on grill.
4 Season as you would your favorite t-bone or sirloin.
5 Cook to desired level of doneness.
6 Serve.

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 OTHER SUGGESTIONS.

Other tasty options would be to take several pounds of duck and/or goose breast meat to your favorite meat processor and have him make up some or all of these treats:

  • Sticks ("Slim Jims")

  • Jerky

  • Hamburger

  • Sausage

Waterfowl hamburger makes outstanding chili and spaghetti, and you'd be surprised how good some breakfast sausage will taste.  The duck or goose jerky and/or 'Slim Jims' are terrific!!

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  If you have some you'd like to share with other hunters, send them along and we'll add them to this page.  

Email your recipe

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