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Home » Wild Game » Ducks and Geese » Pulled Duck

Pulled Duck

By Hank Shaw on January 24, 2022 - 7 Comments

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5 from 7 votes
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Pulled duck is simply slow-cooked duck legs and wings — or goose legs and wings — shredded and served in any number of ways: tacos, a sandwich, a burrito, empanadas, etc.

That said, there are a few ways to go about it, depending on what sort of equipment and time you have available.

A platter of pulled duck.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

By far the easiest way to make pulled duck is to toss a bunch of duck or goose legs or wings into a pot, cover with water, add salt to taste and simmer until the meat falls off the bone. Shred, discard the bones, eat.

Skinless legs and wings are fine, but you will want fat in there somewhere, so I normally do this with with skin-on legs.

If you do have skin-on legs and wings, you can essentially make an easy duck confit by packing them into a casserole, covering with water or broth, adding salt and slowly baking until the water has cooked away. The fat will render, and you can shred and chop the skin and meat.

And while both of those methods are fine, to make pulled duck in the style of pulled pork, which I like a lot, you will want instead to smoke your duck or goose legs and wings first, then braise in broth until the meat falls off the bone, then chop and shred with more duck fat.

Now that’s some pulled duck I can get behind, and it’s what you see in the pictures.

Even with the added steps, this isn’t rocket science. Salt your duck legs, smoke at low-ish temperatures for a few hours, then simmer in a pot until the meat is super tender.

Choice of wood for the smoke is up to you. I prefer fruit wood with duck, like cherry or apple.

I use homemade duck stock, but you can use beef, vegetable or chicken broth, or water, or a combination thereof.

Close-up of a platter of pulled duck.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

If you don’t have a smoker but want to get some of that smoky flavor in there, I highly recommend seasoning your duck or goose with cherry wood smoked salt, which you can buy online. Any smoked salt will do.

Using Pulled Duck

Once you have a mess of pulled duck, you can use it as a fantastic taco or burrito or enchilada filling, put it on a sandwich with, say, Korean BBQ sauce, or any other sauce you like, serve it tossed with pasta, or chop it small and put it in ravioli or empanadas or German bierocks or English pasties.

My personal favorites are as a taco filling with homemade flour tortillas and an avocado-tomatillo salsa, or with a South Carolina-style mustard barbecue sauce and some cole slaw on a bun.

But you do you.

Once made, pulled duck will keep a week in the fridge and it freezes well.

Other Cooking Alternatives

If you want to use an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, cook the legs at high pressure for 1 hour, letting the pressure drop naturally. A normal pressure cooker should render the legs tender in 35 minutes, again letting the pressure drop naturally.

For a slow cooker pulled duck, after the legs have been smoked, put them in the slow cooker, cover with broth or water (with some salt to taste), and cook on “high” for 6 to 8 hours.

Close up of a platter of pulled duck.
Print Recipe
5 from 7 votes

Pulled Duck

These instructions are for a sort of barbecued pulled duck, with a preliminary smoking step. See the post above for alternative cooking methods, which are easier, but a bit less flavorful.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time5 hrs
Total Time5 hrs 10 mins
Course: Appetizer, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 259kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds duck or goose legs and wings, skin on or off
  • Salt
  • 1 quart duck or chicken broth

Instructions

  • Salt the legs and wings well. Get your smoker ready and set it to about 200°F. Put the duck legs in the smoker — if they are very fatty, set a drip tray under them. Reserve any fat that collects because it tastes amazing! Smoke the legs for 1 to 3 hours; I do 2 hours.
  • Put the legs in a heavy, lidded pot and cover with the broth and enough water to cover the legs by about 1 inch. Cover and either cook in the oven at 350°F or on the stovetop on medium-low until the meat is beginning to fall off the bone, about 2 to 4 hours — the low end is for domesticated ducks, the high end for very old wild ducks and geese.
  • Remove the legs and pull the meat and skin off the bones. Discard the bones. Shred with forks or your fingers, or chop. Season with salt and black pepper, and mix in some of the smoked duck fat, and whatever sauce you want.

Notes

The remaining broth is fantastic, and can be used as a base for my recipe for duck soup, or Nordic “pho.” 

Keys to Success

  • Any sort of wild or farmed duck or goose will work with this method, as will sharp-tailed grouse, wild turkeys, guinea hens or even pork. 
  • Don’t smoke longer than 3 hours, or the meat will be unpleasantly smoky. 
  • Take your time on braising, especially with wild birds. There are always a couple that are tougher than the rest. Just keep braising until you can pull the meat off. It won’t hurt the final result. 
  • I prefer to just leave the pulled duck with salt, pepper and some of its fat, adding different sauces later for different meals. 

Nutrition

Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 134mg | Sodium: 613mg | Potassium: 35mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 3mg
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Filed Under: American Recipes, Ducks and Geese, Featured, How-To (DIY stuff), Recipe, Wild Game

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for David ConisonDavid Conison says

    September 27, 2022 at 5:37 am

    Hey Hank!
    Thanks for the recipe. Is there any reason not to do this method with whole ducks (domestic)?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 27, 2022 at 7:46 am

      David: Only in that I am not a fan of shredded duck breast. I prefer it cooked like steak. But there’s not reason not to other than that.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for Karen BrantKaren Brant says

    January 26, 2022 at 10:04 am

    Where did the worry of over cooked fowl taking on the liver flavor? Is it assumed and not mentioned? I love the recipe technique, I can also get behind the smoked and multi recipe uses. But no liver taste, please.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      January 26, 2022 at 3:17 pm

      Karen: That’s breast meat, not legs.

      Reply
  3. Avatar for Joe CriddleJoe Criddle says

    January 25, 2022 at 6:41 am

    Smoking the meat is fine, but most of that flavor goes into the liquid/ stock/ broth. You can get the same result by smoking a few mushrooms, (cold or indirect heat), and adding them to the liquid. After the meat is fall apart tender and its flavor has been imparted to the broth, I like to restore the umami to it by simply adding a tablespoon each of soy sauce and Vietnamese fish sauce, (it won’t taste fishy, but it will have that savory quality you want again).

    Reply
  4. Avatar for AimbigAimbig says

    January 24, 2022 at 8:05 am

    I just checked in with some old blind buddies to see how their fields were doing and the season going, and sure enough, the whole crew (like 15+ hunters) still THROW away the legs and wings.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Bill FuhryBill Fuhry says

    January 24, 2022 at 5:49 am

    I basically did this with the venison barbacoa recipe (including the hour in the smoker) with skinless goose legs and it worked out great. I cooked low in a crock pot basically overnight, though – probably 6 or 7 hours. There really is that worry point when the muscle all kind of seizes up and is tough and rubbery, and then you re-cover it and walk away and let science take over and it works.

    I’m glad Hank got me taking the legs from those giant Canadas and I now preach it to others in the blind.

    Reply

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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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