I stopped doing it several years back. Glad I made the change. I wax every bird I bring home. The recipes possible with a whole plucked duck are far better than just bacon wrapped. Once I learned to wax, the process is near as simple as breasting. Besides, I make my own dog food. The hearts gizzards and liver add up to about two full gallon ziplock freezer bags. It gets added to the dog food.

Explain the waxing process

It’s a great process as far as finished product, but takes to much time.
I’ll pluck a handful a year and breast the rest instead.

Waxing is a way of pulling all feathers and pin feathers off f the duck. I keep an old smaller 16 quart crawdad pot and a burner on the ready. In that pot is 6 inches of water and about an inch of gulf wax. Turn the burner on and let the water boil. While that's happening I cut the legs and feet off, leaving the head. I pull tail feat feathers and any large wing feathers. Then I pull a couple lines of feathers up the breast and a couple up the back. The big trick is to NOT pluck a lot. If you expose the skin the wax will stick to it. So when you pick your lines up the breast and back don't pick them like you're plucking. Just pull enough for the wax to get in behind the feathers.



Holding the beak I dip the duck up to the neck and slosh it around in the melted wax and water for 20 30 seconds. Hold the duck up, let the excess wax drip into the pot and drop the duck in cold water. I usually do 2 at a time. Let that wax get solidified again and pull it off. With the wax comes all the feathers, pin feathers, down... Throw it all back in the pot. I keep a strainer in the pot and I strain all the feathers out of the wax.

I looked at a lot of youtube videos trying to find a proper procedure. They all showed plucking the ducks exposing skin. That is not the right way. That is way too time consuming and meticulous to get the wax off the duck. Just pull a few in the lines. Let the wax do the work.

The only thing that takes a while is waiting or the pot to heat up. I have an old crawdad burner that sounds lijke a jet. It will boil the water in 5 minutes or less. So while I prep the ducks the water is ready. The time difference isn't even a factor when done right. I intend on running a hunting operation when I retire. The guides that work for me will be waxing the birds for the clients.

Then you got to gut them. I have cooked duck whole, the legs and breast are the only place there is meat. Not worth messing with for me.

I used to keep the legs, but have not been messing with that. The breast I like to leave skin on if no shots in it. I pluck the feathers just off the breast. If any shots in breast, I take skin off clean blood out good (important) and also cut silver skin off under it, and on the other side, I cut silver membrane off. Makes a big difference.

Out side before and after...(skin off)..



Inside before and after..(skin on)...

This shows how it looks pulling the wax. I will try and find the whole procedure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pIgTvuSSg4

Guy 1/3 of the duck is in the legs and thighs. I just wont throw it away any longer. You did a leg and thigh recipe that was outstanding. It was a wine and mushroom over wild rice.

Yep! I don't do every bird but it's definitely worth it for the puddle ducks.

This is a good one

https://www.traubsupplyduckwax.com/

On occasion we will pluck our puddle ducks, particularly gadwalls and teal. Just depends on how they are going to be cooked. Most of the time we breast the ducks but we keep the meat on the breast plate bone. I did this video a couple years ago of how we do it if interested. Most important are the right scissors - we use the Gerber brand for the job.

Try rubber gloves and water. Little feathers come right off. No wax mess, works for me.

Getting the feathers off the breast on puddle ducks is easy, getting the feathers off the rest of the duck is hard, but who cares, you don’t eat the rest of the duck.

I like waxing them Wal
I don't duck hunt much these days due to my poor performance hunting deer so when I have a couple few, I wax them. It is pretty easy, melt a couple chunks of Gulf Wax in water in the crawfish/shrimp boiler and dip them in ice water. They wax comes off so easy and you some thing that looks like Pilgrims Pride. You can beer can the gadwalls.

It really is not much problem if you have the wax handy. After dipping them, I turn the burner off. After a couple of hours the wax that is left forms right on top of the water. Pop off the wax and it is nothing but water beneath. Easier than it sounds.

I like to braise the whole duck and make gravy.

But that's not true unless you stopped eating the rest of the duck. Am I mistaken, wasn't it you that posted a kick arse leg thigh mushroom recipe? So far as gumbo. I dont want to cook gumbo with only breast meat.

I like the way you're thinking Ben Lilly.

Yeah the legs and the breast you can eat, but not the rest of the duck. But the legs you need to cook the hell out of them so they go tender, otherwise they get hard as a rock. When I eat the legs, cut them off, take skin off, freeze and save them till I have a bunch, then cook the hell out of them in a pressure cooker till they get tender.

I like to pepper them up, age them in tupperware a week...


Then on cast iron...

Those breast that have been shot, it needs to come off the bone and skin off so you can clean all the blood clots out and also feather that get punched into the meat. If I have a bird and one breast has been shot and the other side is good, I leave skin on the good one, but the other breast skin comes off, and cleaned thoroughly...