Now comes the fun part, gutting the bird, drawing the bird, eviscerating it, whatever you want to call it.
Now comes the fun part, gutting the bird, drawing the bird, eviscerating it, whatever you want to call it.
Gutting Your Game Bird
Grab a small, sharp knife and make two cuts.The first is in the throat area. This is so you can poke the hose or tap into it and flush the cavity out. The second cut is from below the breastplate bone toward the anus. In fact, you might want to cut the latter out at this point and some say you should also cut off the Pope’s nose, which is the end knob on the carcass. Try not to cut any entrails in the process of making this slit.
Reach through the slit with two fingers remove the gizzard, the heart, lungs and entrails and drop them into a bucket. Using a bit of stiff hose, a teaspoon handle or the like, run it up and down the backbone to remove the material attached either side. Give the whole thing a good rinse and see what’s left. Any yellow fat can probably be left if it doesn’t come away readily.
Any charred feathers left from the singing can be rubbed or pulled off and the whole carcass should now look good enough to be sitting in a supermarket. When finished, leave the duck sitting on its bottom until it drains.
Again, put the duck in a freezer bag; remove as much air as possible and seal with a knot. Put in a second bag, remove the air from this and secure with it a twisty and a homemade label with the meat details, especially the date. Most meat will freeze successfully for six months. You might stretch this to a year, but expect some meat to get freezer burn.