# Smoking Duck Breasts



## aftershox454

Hey guys,

new to this forum but thought i might get more help on my duck breasts here than anywhere else!

alright so i have my basic brine down and have found that the more citrusy/acidic the brine the better penetration into the meat i get hence better flavor.

however the smoking process has got me a little mixed up

duck breasts are not thick by any means and therefore dry out quickly.

to remedy this i am qraping them in bacon to help hold in some of that moisture. however by doing that it seems as though the smoke is getting to the bacon and not my duck 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






if i take the bacon of and leave enerything the same the breast dries out.

now with food safety as my #1 concern, if i remember right i need to get the duck up to about and internal temp of 160.

in a 200 degree (or what my factory gauge says is a 200 degree)  smoker that takes me about 1.5 - 2 hours. if i try and lower the temp a little and extend the amount of time in the smoker - duck crackers are what i end up with

any boduy got some tips on how to keep those smaller cuts of meat moist but still get that great SMOKE flavor?


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## pokey

I haven't tried just doing the breast, but with whole duck with the skin on, I've had no problem with drying the bird out when smoking at 250*. Perhaps if you cured the breasts instead of using just a citrusy brine you might be able to cold smoke the breasts safely?


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## redneck69

here is a receipt i found on another site...give it a try

For this duck recipe, an overnight brining will help keep the meat moist, and will remove a bit of the gamey flavor.





> *Apple Smoked Duck Breast*​Remove the bone and skin from the duck breast halves. Rinse well. For the brine, you will need...
> one quart of apple juice or cider
> 1/4 cup kosher salt, or 3 Tbs canning salt
> 1 bay leaf, crushed
> 1 clove of garlic, crushed
> 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked
> 
> 
> Mix the ingredients, making sure the salt is completely dissolved. This will be enough brine for up to 1 and 1/2 pounds of duck breast halves. Soak the duck in the brine at least two hours, and overnight if possible.
> 
> After brining, give the duck a quick rinse and then pat dry with paper towels. Coat each breast half with melted bacon grease.
> 
> Place the duck breasts into a 225 degree Fahrenheit meat smoker for one or two hours, depending on the size of the breast sections. Use a small amount of apple or pear wood for the smoke.
> 
> Duck is ideally eaten medium rare, but if you prefer well done, take them out when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.


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## aftershox454

redneck69 said:


> here is a receipt i found on another site...give it a try
> 
> For this duck recipe, an overnight brining will help keep the meat moist, and will remove a bit of the gamey flavor.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Apple Smoked Duck Breast*​Remove the bone and skin from the duck breast halves. Rinse well. For the brine, you will need...
> one quart of apple juice or cider
> 1/4 cup kosher salt, or 3 Tbs canning salt
> 1 bay leaf, crushed
> 1 clove of garlic, crushed
> 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked
> 
> 
> Mix the ingredients, making sure the salt is completely dissolved. This will be enough brine for up to 1 and 1/2 pounds of duck breast halves. Soak the duck in the brine at least two hours, and overnight if possible.
> 
> After brining, give the duck a quick rinse and then pat dry with paper towels. Coat each breast half with melted bacon grease.
> 
> Place the duck breasts into a 225 degree Fahrenheit meat smoker for one or two hours, depending on the size of the breast sections. Use a small amount of apple or pear wood for the smoke.
> 
> Duck is ideally eaten medium rare, but if you prefer well done, take them out when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.
Click to expand...


This is the recipe I first started with and wth the help of some guys on another forum, I found that making the brine listed above for acidic with either pineapple or orange juice helped.

i didn't notice just using the bacon grease vs wraping in bacon so maybe I'll ha to try that this next time around


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## rbranstner

Are you talking about wild duck or farm raised duck? Wild duck like most wild game has little to no fat at all so they will dry out.


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## aftershox454

sorry,

yes wild duck mostly mallards, all the rest gets thrown into the sausage pile.


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## silvertrigger

Could you just lay strips of bacon on top of the breasts instead of wrapping completely? That way the smoke still gets to the duck from underneath and sides. Never tried it, just a thought.


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