How to Cook Duck Breast the Right Way

When you hear about “duck” being served, what comes to your mind? I used to envision a fancy restaurant and a waiter with a silver dome and a white towel draped over his arm. However, that isn’t the case when I bring home ducks after a hunt and prepare duck breast for my family.

When I first started duck hunting, I had no idea what to do with the meat when I got home. It became apparent that I had to figure out a good way to cook it especially if I was going hunting every weekend during the winter.

Don’t Try Fancy Duck Recipes Right Away

Several Gourmet dishes include Duck. High-end restaurants across the world have concocted things like Duck Confit, Duck à l’orange, and many others. Chefs have developed many fruit sauces that pair well with duck.

These elegant recipes are quite fun. However, you cannot expect to create a wonderful gourmet dish if you haven’t learned the basics. In this post, I will discuss the proper way to prepare a duck breast that can be used for any dish. You will be able to pair this perfectly cooked cut of meat with any special sauce and impress your dinner guests.

Procure the Duck

There are two ways to accomplish this. You can go to the store and pick out a farm-raised bird if you’d like. Many meat markets, butcher shops, and supermarkets will sell whole ducks that are already clean and ready for the kitchen.

However, if you’re anything like me, you will choose to hunt them yourself. There is nothing more fun than sitting in a duck blind with your friends and calling ducks in. It’s a wonderful feeling to come up with a wood duck or mallard that you were able to take yourself.

Whatever strategy you choose to procure your duck, you will have fun with it. I know people who would never dream of hunting but love shopping at local markets.

Prepare the Duck Breast for the Kitchen

If you’re the type that prefers the market route, you can skip to the next section. However, if your duck was shot over a swamp, and brought in via the mouth of a labrador, we have some preparation to do.

I discuss this in many of my articles. Certain things need to be done outside before the game ever enters the kitchen. These are things I have learned from my wife over the past 15 years. Dirt, blood, feathers, feet, and head need to stay outside. The game needs to look like groceries when it enters the kitchen.

1. Pluck all feathers from the breast. We want to leave the skin on.
2. Insert your Knife at the bottom of the breastbone near the bird’s belly. A Filet Knife works well.
3. Find the flat bone located between the breasts. Cut along the breastbone straight down toward the rib cage until your knife contacts the bones.
4. Cut under the breast along the rib cage toward the wing until the breast is removed.
5. Repeat the process on the other breast.
6. Use a lighter or bottle torch to singe the fine feathers that are still left on the skin.
7. Thoroughly rinse any blood and feathers before going inside.

Soak the Breast

Waterfowl of any kind contains a lot of blood in the meat. These birds can leave the ground or water suddenly and fly at very high speeds. With this kind of strength, there is a requirement for large amounts of blood in the muscle.

Blood is not appealing to eat for most people. The fact that some people don’t get rid of blood properly may be one reason that wild game gets a bad name. Blood is likely the cause of the “Gamey” taste that people talk about.

Soak the breast in cold water in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Change the water in the morning and evening. This will help draw out the blood and improve the flavor of the meat.

Prepare the Duck Breast for Cooking

Now that the breasts have soaked, remove from the water and pat dry. Score the skin with a sharp knife. You can do this by making 4 or 5 cuts through the skin or making the cuts in an X pattern. Don’t cut too deep, just cut through the skin.

We want to score the skin because heat will cause the skin to shrink suddenly and curl the breast when you start cooking. This would not be ideal for even and consistent cooking.

Apply seasoning to the breast. You can use whatever seasoning you’d like, but I prefer salt and pepper. If you make fruit sauces or other recipes, this becomes less important.

Cook the Duck Breast

This part is extremely simple. Most of the reasons Duck can turn out poorly have already been addressed in the preparation. For cooking, we have two goals.  Don’t dry it out by overcooking, and make sure the skin is crispy and not rubbery. We accomplish this with high heat and minimal cooking time.

1. Heat a skillet to medium-high and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter, avocado oil, or ghee.
2. When the skillet is hot, add the duck breast to the butter skin side down.
3. Let the breast cook in the sizzling oil for 1-2 minutes and flip.
4. Cook the breast skin side up for 2-3 minutes and flip again.
5. I like to spoon the butter over the breast while it’s cooking.
6. Flip the breast again so the skin side is down.
7. Cook for another 1-3 minutes until the breast looks good and brown on the outside but still has a soft feel when pressing down with a spatula.
8. Remove the breast and plate. Let the breast rest at room temperature for at least 10 minutes. If you cut into the breast too early, it will lose fluid and dry out.
9. Cut into slices and serve with your favorite sauce after resting.

The breast should be slightly pink on the inside and the skin should be crispy and not rubbery. This produces a delightful dining experience.

Conclusion

Now that you know the basics of preparing duck breast, you can begin to explore a plethora of duck recipes. Try different sauces and herbs to place with the perfectly cooked breast. And be prepared to impress all your dinner guests.

For more extensive cooking advice, I recommend checking out Oak and Blade. Use my recommendations for the basics and look to him when you’re ready for more advanced techniques! https://www.instagram.com/oak_and_blade/# https://www.youtube.com/@oakandblade

For more outdoor adventure and cooking posts, check out the rest of my blog here.

Good Luck