How to Sear Duck Breast

Keeping it simple with duck breasts is sometimes the best preparation. After learning this method of searing your duck breasts, you may not want to go back to any other way of cooking them!

Puddle ducks such as Mallards, Pintails, Gadwall, Teal, and Wood Ducks are generally your better-tasting ducks and need minimal attention to make them taste great. Exceptions for divers would be Canvasbacks and Redheads; they also taste great! Other duck species are suitable for a basic sear, although their taste can vary based on diet and geography. Less desired ducks may just need a nice sauce to accompany them. Some options for that are sweet pepper jelly, eel sauce and/or Yum Yum sauce, or spicy mayo.

The best way to sear a duck breast is to leave the skin and fat on. You get this by plucking the breasts or the whole bird. You can sear duck breasts without the skin and fat. However, it is a different technique, which is detailed below. Also, a friendly reminder to keep the legs of your birds; they are tasty just the same and only need a different preparation. Be on the lookout for a future recipe for duck legs.

All you need to sear a duck breast is a skillet, some seasoning of your choice, and some cooking oil if you have not kept the skin and fat. If, like me, you prefer to dry age your duck breasts for a couple of days first and it's not cold enough to age them outside (hang ducks between 34-38 degrees), you can put the duck breasts in your fridge. After the breasts have properly drained and dried, you can begin cooking or vacuum seal them and place them in the freezer for use down the road.

Total prep time: 25 minutes (not counting plucking or dry aging period) 
Total cook time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: depends on how many breasts you cook

Ingredients:

• Duck breasts (preferred with skin on)
• Seasoning (I recommend Camp Chef Citrus Herb seasoning. Any steak seasoning works great, too)
• Cooking oil (I recommend Olive Oil, not Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 1 Tbsp. of butter (optional)
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper

Once your breasts have been dry aged for at least a couple of days, bring them out of the fridge and set them on the counter to come up to temp. I recommend waiting at least 20 minutes, up to an hour, or even a bit longer before you cook them.

Whether or not you leave the skin on the breast will determine which searing method you should use. Below, I will break down how to do each.

For Skin-On Breasts

If your birds have a lot of fat under the skin, it may be best to "score" the skin in a cross pattern to expose the fat. DO NOT cut too deep and get into the meat. You just want to cut through the skin layer if possible. After that, season your breasts on both sides with your seasoning of choice. Allow the season to sit and work its magic for 15-20 minutes. Then, you want to pat your breasts dry with a paper towel to remove any excess liquid that may have formed from sweating caused by the salt.

If your breasts contain a good bit of fat, you will not need any cooking oil in the pan. If they are early-season birds or don't have much fat, you may need to add about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to your skillet. Ideally, if there is any fat at all on the birds, you will want to cook with that instead. 

With skin-on birds, you want to start in a "cold" pan. Don't preheat it ahead of time. If you started in a hot pan, the skin would immediately shrink and cause the meat to shrink as well, causing a lack of skin contact with the pan.

Place your breasts in the pan skin side down and turn your pan on LOW heat. This allows the fat to render and the skin to begin to crisp without cooking the meat too much. Do not overcrowd the pan, or you will not get a good sear. This may take up to 12 minutes or so if they have a lot of fat to render. Leaner birds may only take 8-10 minutes on the skin side to get rendered and crispy. Before flipping over the breasts, turn your heat up to medium-high and cook the breasts for an additional minute or so to get them nice and crispy without burning them.

After flipping, you will likely only cook for an additional 1-2 minutes at most. If needed, use a small plate or cast-iron skillet to weigh the breasts down to keep them nice and flat. This also helps with creating a good sear! Use your finger to poke the breast and check for doneness; it's similar to checking the temperature of a steak. Shoot for something around 132-135 for medium-rare. You will want some give to the meat for medium-rare to medium doneness. If you prefer more on the rare side, that is A-OK! Just don't go too far past medium if you can help it. Pull from the pan. Keep in mind right after the breast is removed from the pan to rest, the temp will continue to rise a little before it starts to go down. Keeping the final resting temperature under 145 degrees (medium) is recommended.

For Searing Skinless Breasts

You are going to season the breasts the same way as with skin: on both sides and allow them to sit for 15-20 minutes. Pat dry before searing. Here is where it changes greatly. You will preheat your pan to medium-high heat and wait for your pan to start lightly smoking; that is when you know it's ready. Place 1-2 tbsp of olive oil or any other oil with a high smoke point in the pan. Once the oil is up to temp, place your breasts in the pan with what would have been the skin side facing down. This helps keep the breasts from turning into the shape of a football. As with most cooking, do not overcrowd the pan. You will likely only need to cook the breasts for no more than 2 minutes on the first side. Check for brownness and a good sear before flipping. Once you flip it over, use your tongs to press the ends of your breasts downward onto the pan. This helps with searing and keeps it flat. If needed, use the same plate/weight option to keep it flat. You will likely only sear on the 2nd side for 1-2 minutes. After it's got a nice crust, remove it from the pan.

(Applies to Skin-on or Skin-off)

After they are done searing, remove the breasts from the pan and allow them to rest for at least 6-10 minutes before slicing. I suggest slicing thin, which helps with tenderness and helps find any pesky shot pellets that might be in there. If you finish your ducks on the rarer side, sprinkling a little kosher salt after you've sliced the meat can help bring out the flavors. If you'd like to serve it with a dipping sauce, you are welcome to do so. In fact, it's encouraged for those eating wild duck for the first time or who just aren't big fans of waterfowl. Enjoy!

--Wild Game Cook