How to Defeather a Duck

Ducks that are bagged in the wild need to be defeathered correctly.

After a successful duck-hunting trip, you will need to clean your game either in the field or as soon as possible afterward by removing the innards and stripping off the feathers. Very small or young ducks can usually be hand-plucked with little fanfare, but larger and older game ducks have feathers that prove more challenging. There are a couple of ways to deal with feather removal to make your duck ready for cooking.

Things You'll Need

• 2 buckets
• Pinning knife
• Thermometer
• Hot water
• Cold water
• Heat-proof gloves
• 1 lb. paraffin wax

Instructions

Scalding Method

1. Heat the water for scalding and check the temperature with the thermometer. The temperature for scalding ducks is 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Hand-strip as many feathers as possible, then put on the heat-proof gloves and hold the duck by the feet, lowering it into the hot water for one or two minutes.

3. Remove the fowl from the hot water and begin plucking the feathers. A pinning knife may be used for scraping the tiny pinfeathers loose.

4. Submerge the duck into the scalding water additional times, if necessary, to loosen remaining stubborn feathers.

5. Rinse the duck with clear water to wash away any feathers that stick to the skin.

Paraffin Wax Method

1. Put cool water in one bucket. Heat the other bucket of water until it reaches 135 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the pound of paraffin wax and allow it to melt. Recheck the temperature, making sure it stays in the proper range.

2. Remove as many feathers as possible from the duck, then put on the heat-proof gloves. Lower the duck by its feet or head into the bucket. Drag the duck through the water with the wax to ensure that all surfaces are covered. Raise the duck from the bucket for a moment.

3. Dip the duck a second time to get an additional layer of wax. Again, move the duck around to make sure it is completely covered by the wax.

4. Plunge the duck into the bucket of cool water to set the wax. The wax should be firm but pliable for easiest plucking.

5. Check to be sure the wax has hardened, then begin peeling the wax away from the duck's body. The feathers should come away with the wax.

6. Re-dip to remove the last of the feathers, if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• When using the paraffin method of defeathering, don't let the wax become too cold and brittle after dunking or it will fall apart in your hand as you attempt to peel off the feathers. The wax should be just hard enough that it can be removed while bringing a section of feathers with it. Experience and practice will make it easier to determine the feel of the proper wax temperature for peeling.

• Paraffin is flammable, so use extreme caution to avoid flareups.

• When scalding a duck to remove feathers, it's important to have the water hot enough to loosen the feathers but not so hot that it damages or cooks the duck skin. Keeping close to the temperature range suggested helps to ensure that the cleaning results in a properly defeathered fowl.

References

• Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: How to Pluck a Duck
• Consumer Tips and Reports: How To Be the Best Plucking Plucker To Pluck a Duck
• University of Minnesota: Home Processing of Poultry
• Ovis: A Brief Manual on How to Clean, Pluck, Hang, and Freeze Game, and How to Cook by the lnternal Temperature Method

Resources

• Epicurious: Duck a l'Orange
• Ohio State University: Freezing Meat, Poultry and Game