WILD DUCK SMOKED WITH HAY AND LAVENDER

WILD DUCK SMOKED WITH HAY AND LAVENDER

For about 2 people

The local duck hunting season is currently in full swing in the Netherlands. Almost nothing that has to do with eating makes me happier than working with fresh mallard duck. It really pays off in this case to befriend the local hunter. Especially if he knows his proffesion, obtains the duck in a good way, and hardly does any damage to the bird. Of course you can also go to the poulterer or wholesaler for wild duck, but the hunter from the region really has the very best and freshest quality available. It is of course some extra effort to pluck and fillet the duck, but you will be amazed how much better the quality will be compared to the commercially available game birds. I'd say go out and befriend your local hunter.

INGREDIENTS

• A whole wild duck on the carcass without legs
• herbal hay
• Wild Food - Poultry Rub
• Honey
• rosemary
• Thyme
• Olive oil

NECESSETIES

• Cast iron skillet or oven dish
• BBQ with lid and indirect heating option
• Heat shield for kamado use
• Smoking wood, pellets or chips (hickory)
• Core thermometer
• Brush

PRE PREPARATION

• Pluck the duck if necessary, remove the wings and neck.
• Now cut the duck in at the legs and at the end of the fillets, now cut through along the ribs from and leave the fillets attached to the bone and separate from the rest of the carcass.
• Now clean the part to be prepared well and burn off the last feather remnants with a gas burner.
• Now rub the skin side with some olive oil and sprinkle the duck with our Wild Poultry rub.
• Spread a generous layer of hay on the bottom of the cast iron pan and generously spread lavender and a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary.
• Place the duck on the hay, making sure there is some lavender under the duck. in this way, the flavor of this soaks into the duck nicely.

PREPARATION

• Preheat the BBQ to a room temperature of approximately 120 degrees.
• Sprinkle the glowing charcoal with a generous handful of pellets or smoking wood chips.
• A little tip when using chips, it's often suggested that you should soak them in water for some time. It is better not to do this, it ensures that the smoking wood starts to steam when heated. With steam you cook your product much faster, which is something you don't want with this low temperature preparation. Finally, you also add smoking wood to generate smoke, so why wet the wood and ensure that it does not smoke but steam.
• Place the heat shield in the BBQ and now put the cast iron pan with the duck on it.
• Place the thermometer in the center of a duck fillet, making sure you are a little closer to the carcass than to the skin. This is because the cooking in this way mainly takes place from the skin side towards the carcass.
• Set the core temperature to 52 degrees, then the duck will be cooked medium.
• Ensure a good air flow, you always want smoke to escape, because stagnant smoke affects the product in a negative way.
• Note a stable room temperature of around . 120 degrees, lower is of course also possible.
• Smoke the duck to a core temperature of around 40 degrees.
• Remove the duck from the BBQ, remove the heat shield and increase the room temperature to about 165 degrees.
• Using a brush, generously brush the duck with liquid honey.
• Place the duck back on the BBQ without a heat shield and continue cooking at 65 degrees to a core temperature of 52 degrees.
• By increasing the temperature for the last part of the preparation, the honey has a chance to caramelize.
  After reaching the target core temperature, let the duck rest for a while and then enjoy your delicious, fresh wild duck.