Hi Guys and Gals,
i am going to smoke 2 ducks for an international lunch here at the office and looking for a recipe for the brine. I found on the net from Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie. The recipe is for 2 breasts, no skin:
Original recipe for 2 duck breasts
1 litre water
6 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp pink (curing) salt
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c fortified wine
2 tsp dried thyme
1 ea bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp rubbed sage
So if I up this recipe for 2 full ducks, I thought I will multiply everything with 8.
2 full ducks total 4.3Kg with bone.
Brine
8 litre water
42 tbsp salt
16 tbsp sugar
16tsp pink curing salt
480ml maple syrup (Thinking that "c" means cup)
480ml fortified wine
16 tsp dried thyme
8 ea bay leaves (What is ea? one leaf?)
12 tsp juniper berries
8 tsp sage
boil these and cool and refrigerate.
put ducks in brine refrigerate 12 hours.
Rinse ducks, pat dry, and place on a rack in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 24 hours.
Smoke to an internal temp of 71 degree
Any other ideas?
Do you have favourite brine recipe for smoking the ducks?