Preparing A Duck For Your Oven

Heat the water to around 160 degrees, the wax is advertised to melt at 145 degrees, and drop a cube of wax into your container. When it melts, you want at least a quarter of an inch of wax on top of the water. Add more wax as needed. The commercial wax I bought suggests a 25% mix of wax to water. Remember, do not boil the water or you’ll not get a good coating on the bird.

Dip the bird, holding it either by the head or feet, and swish around a few times to coat it evenly with the wax. The key, or so I think, is to have about half of an inch of wax on water fowl before you let it cool. Additionally, keep your water only hot enough to melt the wax, so you get a more even coating on the whole carcass. If the water is too hot, your wax coating will be too thin, especially if it’s boiling, and will require numerous dunking to coat. Once the wax has hardened, pull the wax downward with an even amount of force and the wax will come right off.

Here are some suggestions I have for safe field and home handling of waterfowl:

• Do not pile your ducks on top of each other, or they’ll retain the heat.
• Field dress the bird(s) as soon as possible.
• Remove the “crop” so it does not ferment and it will do so quickly in hot or warm weather.
• Avoid cutting or rupturing the gall bladder sac, next to the liver, or opening any internal organ. This can cause your meat to stink very badly.
• Clean the inside of the carcass by using a paper towel or clean cloth. Do not use leaves, grasses or other natural items like river water, pond water or snow.
• Keep your duck(s) well ventilated, and again, do not stack them on top of each other. Avoid temperatures above 40 degrees or bacterial will start to reproduce rapidly. Refrigerate as soon as possible or prepare and freeze.
• When freezing your bird, mark it with a permanent maker by type of duck, date processed, and rotate it as you use the meat. I suggest, and this is just my opinion, you cook the duck within 6 months of freezing for best flavor.

Take care and be safe in the woods and waters of America.

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