Hickory Smoked Duck Bacon

Yes, bacon traditionally comes from a pig but you've heard of turkey bacon and soy bacon... why not duck bacon? Originally a recipe for ground duck jerky, Duck Bacon makes a great breakfast meat. If you find yourself with stronger flavored ducks on hand, this brine/marinade treatment is just the taming they need. Having a Smokehouse Jerky Gun to make the strips is key but the meat can be rolled out and cut by hand. To give it the best smokey flavor, cold smoke using the Smoke Chief Cold Smoke Generator and finish cooking in a frying pan. Duck Bacon can be cold smoked and cooked right away, stored in the fridge for up to 3 days after cold smoking or frozen for long term storage (place meat strips between sheets of waxed paper and place in a sealable freezer bag).

2 pounds ground duck meat

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon granulated onion and/or garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil, coconut oil or bacon grease for frying

Directions

Skin ducks and remove all breast, leg and thigh meat cleanly from bones, tendons and ligaments. Grind duck meat with the Smokehouse 3/4 HP Meat Grinder using the 7mm grinding plate. Add remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate 12-24 hours.

Fill jerky gun with cold meat and squeeze out strips of desired length on to Smokehouse Drying Screens. Fill the Smoke Chief with Smokehouse Hickory Pellets. Place in a grill or smoker set up for the Smoke Chief. Cold smoke 45 minutes to an hour. Heat oil or bacon grease in a skillet on medium-high heat. Fry duck until browned on both sides, 1-2 minutes per side.

Article and photos by Tiffany Haugen. For a copy of Tiffany’s book, Grill It! Plank It! Wrap It! Smoke It!, go to www.tiffanyhaugen.com.