hanging your ducks

[weatherby_man]

Shoot em, bring em home, breast em, salt water brine em, rinse em, put em in the fridge. Then portion pack and freeze the next day or two. Has worked well for me and all the duck I ate this past year were wonderful.

[CSG]

I am a chef by trade, so I understand the thoughts behind all the ideas posted, I have just never cooked wild game.

the hanging part is done to improve the flavour of your meat, the chemical reaction of the enzymes decomposing the meat creates more flavour, like when you find an animal that has been dead for a week, it stinks, the same thing is happening when you hang but in a controlled environment and at alot slower rate. controlled decomposition.

the brining of the meat is done to impart more flavour in to the meat and make it juicier. the salt and flavourings you add to the brine will find their way into the meat and stay there when you pull it out. there is nothing in a brine to break down the meat to make it more tender. things like vinegar or citrus juice would break it down though. I would put citrus in my brine but probably not vinegar. there is a chance that if left too long in the brine the vinegar will slowly cook your meat.

aging meat is really done to tenderize it. that is why it is done with wild game that has been running/flying its whole life. the muscles are worked alot and are tough when cooked. also, if you are eating wild game then the animal is probably old and this compounds the toughness of the meat. we age beef because it is usually slaughtered at 1 to 1 1/2 years. chickens, pigs, lambs are all slaughtered young (less than a year) so they dont really require hanging however they will benefit from it.

[branthunter]

Birds hung uncleaned will go bad in 1 day in the warmer weather if they've been gut shot, longer once it gets colder. Your best bet is to gut them the day you shoot them ( the biggest hurdle to this action being that when you get in late who feels like doing that after getting all your gear and gun sorted out), sprinkle a little salt into the gut cavity, and then put them on ice in a cooler. The contact with the ice cools them rapidly and then they will keep that way for many days until you get to finishing them in whatever way suites you. I breast and take the legs of most of my birds but since my Peace River adventures this year am resolved to pluck more of those big fat pea fed honkers..That's the best way but, on the other hand, I confess that I mostly just hang them and do them as soon as I can get to it, that being quicker in the early season due to the warmer weather, but often enough for several days later in the season once temperatures drop.

[870]

Shoot em, bring em home, breast em, salt water brine em, rinse em, put em in the fridge. Then portion pack and freeze the next day or two. Has worked well for me and all the duck I ate this past year were wonderful.

yep. that's what works best for me.