Long Island Opening Week/Cooking Brant

B

Blake Heller

Member
Im sure this will be a spirited debate, (not my intention), but does anyone have a solution to the unpleasant smell and flavor of these birds?

As we all know brant are extremely fun to hunt. My gunning partner Ranger and I enjoyed the first split here on Long Island in my first week on the "new" South Bay duck boat that I purchased this summer. But the issues arise after the hunt when its time to take care of the birds.

I've tried brines, but that doesn't seem to do it. Honestly, the poor eating quality of these birds may just push me deeper into the marsh in pursuit of better table fare like mallards and black ducks, as I struggle to regularly shoot brant if I cannot eat them.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Best of luck to everyone as the season progresses.



View attachment duckboatView attachment ranger
 
Good morning, Blake~


Yes, Brant feeding on Sea Lettuce (aka Ulva lactuca or just "cabbage") develop a truly obnoxious odor in their flesh. Driving home with them in the back of my enclosed vehicle requires good plastic bagging. They are still delicious if feeding on their traditional Eelgrass (Zostera marina) diet - but, sadly, Eelgrass is fast disappearing from most of the South Shore.



So, I marinate the breast fillets in Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing - usually overnight. I cook them on the grill, just enough the heat them through. I should probably test them with our meat thermometer. I'm guessing 160 degrees might be "done" - but defer to other chefs.


All the best,


SJS

 
Good Morning Steve,

I?ve done some research on this topic and have noticed that people have pointed to the declining eelgrass beds throughout Long Island. A sad truth to say the least.
 
Breast, remove ALL fat, grill medium rare. DO NOT pick and roast in oven. You will be sorry.
Brant are best eaten the day they are shot. DO NOT FREEZE, as this just further enhances the sea cabbage aroma.
I can tell you that I NEVER ate a bad one!
 
I concur with Steve and George. Once they are on the sea lettuce, the aroma goes downhill. I'm with George on the processing-get rid of the skin and the fat. Then, make up some seasoned flour, with whatever you like. I like salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder(I know, the real thing is better, but we're talking flour here). Slice the breast meat thin, dredge in the flour, maybe a minute a side in the pan. Basically, once you have set all the pieces in the pan, one by one, it's time to turn them over. Once you turn them over, it's time to start at the first piece and take them out. You're all done, the brant tastes great. Forget roasting them in the oven, they will stink your house out and give off a smell that will make you not want to eat it. Do it right, you have a fine eating bird.
 
Thank you all for your input!

So you guys are not marinading the breast in any liquid to remove the blood?

I have heard the blood is where the off flavors and smells come from. Also sad to hear the breasts are worse eating after being frozen since I?ve already frozen 8 breasts.

Live and learn I guess!
 
Jerky. All our geese get made into jerky and it comes out quite good. Secret is, breast them out, get the silver skin/fat/bloody meat out, and get them right into a good brine. We usually pre-soak them overnight in regular water in the fridge first. Then brine them in equal parts kosher salt and brown sugar. Heat up a good amount of water slowly on the stove until the salt and sugar dissolves. Let it cool, put the breasts in and let them soak another night in fridge. After that, we pat them dry and run through a jerky slicer. You can use a knife but the slicer has paid dividends for the $90 I paid in terms of the massive amount of geese we've shot.

From there, we make a jerky marinade which is usually:

Soy Sauce
Liquid Smoke
Prague Powder #1 (just a small amount)

Those are the base ingredients.

Honey
Jalapenos
Lime
Chili Peppers
Ground Pepper
Cumin
etc

These are your optionals. Sometimes we will do a Jalapeno/Lime/Honey, other times we do peppered. You can find some awesome recipes online.

Then they go into the dehydrator on the meat/fish setting until they are dry but still a touch flexible.

I highly recommend anyone that does a lot of goose hunting to get a slicer and dehydrator.
 
I used to make jerky with all my divers (except redheads): mergies, buffies, etc..
Kids ate it up.
Try it with your Brant
 
Carl said:
I used to make jerky with all my divers (except redheads): mergies, buffies, etc..
Kids ate it up.
Try it with your Brant
Click to expand...

I'm debating going this route with some divers as well. I have friends that have told me they have had sea-duck jerky and it is phenomenal as well.
 

Jerky can work very well, and be tweaked to ones own preference of taste.

Some friends of mine also grind the meat of some waterfowl and make a Hot Stick, or some type of smoked sausage.

It's all pretty much up to the individual, as how to best consume the bird, and not waste it.

Get creative with your use/cooking, as it enhances the waterfowling lifestyle, and is very rewarding.



my 2 cents
VP
 
I slice the duck breast before marinating.
Then marinate in a mixture of soy sauce, white wine, brown sugar, garlic, pepper, chili pepper, etc.. Increase/decrease spice to your taste.
Good stuff.

All other ducks (gadwalls, redheads & cans mainly) I dry-aged the breast for 4-5 days in the fridge, then brined for 8 hours & grilled/pan seared.
 
Vince Pagliaroli said:
Jerky can work very well, and be tweaked to ones own preference of taste.

Some friends of mine also grind the meat of some waterfowl and make a Hot Stick, or some type of smoked sausage.

It's all pretty much up to the individual, as how to best consume the bird, and not waste it.

Get creative with your use/cooking, as it enhances the waterfowling lifestyle, and is very rewarding.

my 2 cents
VP
Click to expand...

I've not done the spicy snack sticks myself but know of friends who have and they say they're delicious. Smoker is coming some time after Christmas so I might have to give it a shot myself.
 
Eons ago, I cubed up a bunch of breasts--brant, of course--seared and turned them into chili, which a bunch of friends and I shared. They all swore they were eating venison! Next day, I put leftover brant chili on the stove to reheat--BAD MOVE! The cabbage smell pervaded everything. It was disposed of. As far as brant jerky, I tried that, only to find that after the first day, the jerky took on a smell similar to hartz mountain turtle food--Hope that evokes some memories.
Brant are best breasted, grilled medium rare, and eaten with some good crusty bread, BUT on the same day they are dispatched, The great question is: How can anything that handsome and graceful taste so bad? I shall pray for the return of eelgrass wherever they feed.
Birds down here decided to begin foraging in cutover soy. They had quite a different flavor. Oddly, the idiots who do the winter count couldn't find the brant that year as they moved inland, prompting our advisory council to suggest shrinking the season and bag. They were quite red faced when told where the brant were feeding![sly]
 
the jerky took on a smell similar to hartz mountain turtle food


Now that is pretty funny right there. Also agree on cooking rare, it's the only way to eat fowl.

 
George is right on with his comments, I took his advice years ago and it has changed my practice. A fresh, seared off in a pan or fast grilled brant breast is actually quite good as he says. The flavor is mild as is the scent. I know scent and flavor are intertwined, but a very fresh breast is very mild in both scent and flavor, they border between very good and nearly excellent.

The freezing angle is right on too, I never freeze them anymore..

The thing I do most with them is to chop in to fairly small cubes 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch and brine with several changes of brine to make chili or stew. Once you get the brine to be pretty clear and breasts pale, they are excellent in chili or stew. This process takes a couple days and the meat and rinse brine is pretty strongly scented, but they are good once cooked.

For jerky, the flavor/scent came through strongly, that is not something I'd try again (mostly because I have good preps otherwise).

I like hunting them enough to go to the trouble.
 
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The slicing thin and flour method will work. Do not, I repeat do not make jerky. I made some and even my dog threw it up
 
I'm thankful for this thread...we're heading to Hatteras for a hunt on Jan 1, and likely to encounter some brant. Now I may think on that bird before I pull the trigger!
 
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