About to make duck but I can see tons of black hair/feather follicles. What to do?

Order a duck online and just unwrapped it. It looks like a preteen boy's face. Lots of black feather follicles just below the skin. It will take me forever to remove them all. Any suggestions for quick removal? Or will they just burn up as I cook it. Help!

melissav
  • Posted by: melissav
  • February 20, 2011
  • 29196 views
  • 6 Comments

6 Comments

innoabrd
innoabrd February 21, 2011
One way of taking care of all the little hairs is to singe the bird. Kind of like the lighter, but do it over a gas burner or a sterno. You simply pass the bird over the flame a few times quickly to singe it all off. The longer bits under the skin I usually tweeze.
 
melissav
melissav February 20, 2011
Didn't have any paraffin handy so I attacked it with tweezers. I think I got the large majority of them but there were so many I couldn't get them all. We'll see what happens. Didn't see the lighter response until I had thrown the duck in the oven. Will definitely try next time. THanks.
 
mainecook61
mainecook61 February 20, 2011
Paraffin is for getting the down/pinfeathers off (after the feathers) and is an almighty pain in the ***, although it does work. I've done it! It's the reason slaughterhouses that handle chickens will often not do ducks, as the down and pin feathers won't come off in the chicken-plucking machines.
I think that if it's just some unsightly remainders from less than efficient plucking, a lighted match or (better) a lighter of some sort should do the trick. It's what I use on our home raised ducks when the original plucking leaves something to be desired.
 
always040
always040 February 20, 2011
Worse comes to worse - go at it with tweezers?
 
Sadassa_Ulna
Sadassa_Ulna February 20, 2011
Wow, SKK's suggestion sounds like giving the bird a leg wax! It makes a lot of sense; with leg waxing there is paper or gauze involved. I found this online:
Wax Picking: Is used primarily for water fowl.
After the carcass has been either wet- or dry-picked
(and most of the feathers have been removed) dip the
carcass into hot (130-160 o F) paraffin for 10-15
seconds. Have a pan of cold water handy and dip the
carcass into it to harden the paraffin. Finally, peel the
hardened paraffin off the carcass to remove the
remaining feathers--including the pin feathers.
 
SKK
SKK February 20, 2011
Hunters in my family (I am not one of them) dip the duck in paraffin after they have taken the outer feathers off. They then let the duck sit for about 15 minutes and then peel the paraffin off. Hope this helps. Let us know how it all turns out.
 
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