PeterHenry Posted November 8, 2020 Report Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) Has anyone noticed a diffrence in taste between ducks fed with potatoes vs barley or similar? I roasted a brace for dinner today and they tasted odd - not terrible, but certinly not like I was expecting or hopeing. Not fishy, but distinctly un-duck like. They were shot a significant distance away from the coast - like the better part of a county away - I also got the impression they were released ducks. So the only thing that springs to mind is that one of the pepole who runs the shoot where they came from mentiond that they were fed with potatoes - not up to the day we shot them, because I found grain in the crops, but obviously up until fairly recently. So, in anyone's experience, would that alter the taste? Edited November 9, 2020 by PeterHenry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted November 9, 2020 Report Share Posted November 9, 2020 Does other food that you are eating taste OK? Covid19 symptom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 9, 2020 Report Share Posted November 9, 2020 The feed will make a difference...grass fed beef against corn fed for instance, but even then you have to have a delicate pallet to notice it. How long before you prepared the duck and how was it stored prior to preparation? Could it have gone off a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterHenry Posted November 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2020 2 hours ago, amateur said: Does other food that you are eating taste OK? Covid19 symptom? No, but that was my first thought too - everything else tastes fine - it's just the ducks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterHenry Posted November 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2020 2 minutes ago, Walker570 said: The feed will make a difference...grass fed beef against corn fed for instance, but even then you have to have a delicate pallet to notice it. How long before you prepared the duck and how was it stored prior to preparation? Could it have gone off a bit? They were delt with the following day - and stored overnight on the tile floor in the pantry to keep them cool. After that they were put into the freezer. There wasent any off smell when I was plucking and gutting them though, and none when I put them in to cook. I bought back about six ducks in total, and made confit with the legs, which tastes fine - but then that's quite a flavoursom way of cooking something, so it may have masked any odd flavours - or alternatively I havent gotten around to the legs from these two ducks yet??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 9, 2020 Report Share Posted November 9, 2020 Interesting. We fed ducks potato both boiled and rotten as a matter of course on ponds and nver noticed anyhting strange. See how the others taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted November 15, 2020 Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 Are you sure they've only been eating potatoes ? Grass and grain fed ducks taste the best to me. Hate it if they've been on ponds and dabbling in mud, I can taste it in the meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearwater Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 One shoot I go on feed their ducks spuds and I never take a brace home, I never thought the spuds made a difference but makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 21 hours ago, figgy said: Are you sure they've only been eating potatoes ? Grass and grain fed ducks taste the best to me. Hate it if they've been on ponds and dabbling in mud, I can taste it in the meat. Connected to the above. If the spuds still have lots of mud/earth on them then the ducks will swallow the lot, which may explain the taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterHenry Posted November 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 On 09/11/2020 at 15:00, Walker570 said: Interesting. We fed ducks potato both boiled and rotten as a matter of course on ponds and nver noticed anyhting strange. See how the others taste. On 15/11/2020 at 23:19, figgy said: Are you sure they've only been eating potatoes ? Grass and grain fed ducks taste the best to me. Hate it if they've been on ponds and dabbling in mud, I can taste it in the meat. On 16/11/2020 at 17:05, Shearwater said: One shoot I go on feed their ducks spuds and I never take a brace home, I never thought the spuds made a difference but makes sense 23 hours ago, Walker570 said: Connected to the above. If the spuds still have lots of mud/earth on them then the ducks will swallow the lot, which may explain the taste. All good points thanks - I think it may have something to do with mud now that I think about it - I'll see what the next ones taste like and keep you informed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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