Boning Ducks

Appears in
Chinese Technique
Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

  • About
Duck is actually a little easier to bone than chicken, since the layer of fat reduces the likelihood that you’ll cut through the skin. A sharp paring knife and a little patience are all that is necessary. The duck’s anatomy requires a slightly different approach, which will also be of help to you if you ever bone a goose or a turkey.
  1. Trim the duck and cut a slit along the skin of the neck to expose the wishbone.

  2. The wishbone ends at the wing joint. You may have to feel for it. The joints of a duck feel a little sharper, more angular, than those of a chicken.

  3. With poultry shears, cut the wing joint free.

  4. Because a duck is naturally fatter than a chicken, it is easier to pull the meat from the carcass. Work carefully, always keeping the knife edge toward the bone, pulling the meat away with the other hand.

  5. When you reach the thigh joint, sever the joints to release the carcass.

  6. Keep the tail attached, and detach the rest of the backbone.

  7. Scrape the meat away from the thigh and drumstick, as for chicken.

  8. The boned duck, ready for stuffing, and its bones, ready for the stockpot.