Pluck! or Breast!

Mauser243

Well-Known Member
Just in from plucking 5 brace of partridge, the question is do most people now breast birds, rather than plucking them, as i seem to speak to more and more people that do just as said, take the breast out only.

Mauser.
 
I often take the breasts and legs off pheasants. Partridges I always dress properly for roasting.

Never had to do 10 at once, though!
 
before i pluck my pheasants i always boil the kettle and pou
r the hot water over them makes the feathers come out so much easier
 
Plus one with Bodach.

Woodcock come before anything else in my book.
It never ceases to amaze me how few people have tried it. All the more for me :lol:
 
Just in from plucking 5 brace of partridge, the question is do most people now breast birds, rather than plucking them, as i seem to speak to more and more people that do just as said, take the breast out only.

Mauser.
Breast Partridge & Pheasant, Pluck Woodcock & Snipe
 
i always breast pheasants . Never tried plucking a woodcock though , I just give them to my neighbor , he makes trout flies with them i think.
 
pheasants i tend to skin rather than pluck i dont like to waste anything i then wrap with bacon to stop them drying out even the wife likes them everything else gets plucked a quick fry to brown them off and into the oven ,atb wayne
 
Last edited:
This depends on the cooking that the meat is intended for!!!! I love to pot roast my pheasant in the slow cooker, just chuck in some carrot, onion and neep, pop in a bit chicken stock and pop on until done (normally 4 hours) then thicken the juices for a good gravy. I will also breast them out especially if Im hosting friends or if they are intended for mid-week. Partridge will always be plucked and cooked with with loads of garlic and white wine, the same as the old french recipie Chicken with 40 cloves ( I cook alot of my birds this way). Duck again either plucked for a roast bird especially Widgeon, served with a Bigarade sauce, Mallard breasts are used for pan frying. Woodcock I have only ever breasted fried in butter ate scoffed on buttered toast!!!



nutty
 
one of the lads on the shoot puts one foot on each wing then pulls steadily on the legs then ends up with clean crown and legs of pheasent wings guts etc stay with the wings.must get him to demo again next saturday.
 
Sort of mixed consensus then, with dressing birds (feathered b4 any comments :) i only breast pheasants, as partridge, grouse, etc taste much better cooked in carcass. Like the idea roedeerred but just cant picture it somehow.

Mauser.
 
Sort of mixed consensus then, with dressing birds (feathered b4 any comments :) i only breast pheasants, as partridge, grouse, etc taste much better cooked in carcass. Like the idea roedeerred but just cant picture it somehow.

Mauser.
roedeerred is right it works
 
Breast and leg man here on larger birds but I like to get the clothes I mean feathers off the smaller birds and spit sorry roast whole.
 
Pluck everything, as I oven roast nearly all my birds, if you can go to the effort to shoot the bird you should be able to go to the effort to present the bird properly for the table, just my opinion.

Spent an hour or so plucking a goose last night then gave it away.
 
don't overlook skinning and wrapping in bacon/parma ham/ pancetta as discussed on page 1.
all the flavour of a roast carcass with none of the hassle and feather stubble of plucking
 
It all depends what I am hoping to do with the bird, but I really do hate plucking. I bought one of those drill mounted pluckers and am having no luck with it at all.
 
Back
Top