Free-range duck necks are very strong, ropy and flexible, with tiny vertebrae that are impossible to break open with a cleaver. They are much stronger and more muscled than chicken necks, because my Muscovys free range for years before they’re harvested. They are not overfed, fragile little commercial broilers designed to disintegrate at 100 days. Their necks and beaks are their weapons when they fight and they love to fight. You need a knife that can slip in between duck vertebrae and separate the muscle-bound bones, leading to a clean separation. The King-S Chef is that knife. For the first time, I was able to cleanly cut one off (for stock-making collagen, not for eating) without much effort, unlike many previous episodes of scrambling and cursing as a slippery, marinaded duck carcass tries to shoot off the cutting board towards me as I apply force . I didn’t have to apply any muscle, which saved fatigue and let me get a duck in the oven that much faster. There’s not a single bit of meretricious ornamentation on it to catch food debris or juices. I like this knife so much, I just bought it a little Guy Fawkes Day present- a Work Sharp Benchstone, a grown-up-man-dude knife sharpener. [RIP Guy Fawkes, you were a real one.]

    • verity_kindle@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      14·
      2 days ago

      Constructive criticism is always welcome. Would you like to add something constructive to help along a new knife poster? If ya don’t teach, well, I won’t learn nothin.

  • bitofarambler@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    wow, you were able to cut through the vertebrae or you are able to more easily navigate around a vertebra to separate the neck?

    either way, touuugh, I eat a lot of duck necks.

    In China, they use cleavers and hack, hack, hack away very loudly.

    • verity_kindle@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Today I learned! I’ve slow cooked them, I’ve roasted them in carcass juices, how do you get the meat off of them? My teeth aren’t the right shape, halp. They look delicious to gnaw, but they defeat me. I even took a filet knife and tried to peel them. I feel like someone raising meat, such as I, should have a better answer. EDIT: I didn’t answer your question. I was able to navigate around the vertebrae.

      • bitofarambler@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        a pretty popular snack in china is steamed, simmered or boiled duck necks. I prefer steamed, so I steam them for three to four hours in a rice cooker(set and forget), at which point they’re soft enough to bite through. then I steam a chunk of hot pot base for 3 minutes ish so it becomes a soup, put the ducks ina bowl, pour the melted hot pot over them, and then eat the meat off the bones with gloves.That’s the same way the snack is served in china, except half the time they’ll cut them up with a cleaver and put them in a bag right before they give them to you.

        ichopped up one with a cleaver until I realized that the cleaver was being severely dented with each chop.

        then I was like I can just eat these without chopping them up anyway, haha

          • bitofarambler@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
            2·
            2 days ago

            none at all in the rice cooker! just a steam tray, so the necks aren’t stewing in its own juices, although I’ve screwed this up a handful of times and and ended up more boiling them. I don’t even know if it makes a big difference in taste, especially with the hot pot base. I’m used to slicing meats and rinsing them off thoroughly before steaming, which does make a big flavor and texture difference vs boiling or stir frying directly without rinsing off.

            the hot pot base will have over a dozen spices mixed in with the beef tallow:

            you can pick a block up at most asian supermarkets, cut off a chunk and steam or fry it on low, and it’ll very quickly, within minutes, melt into a sauce that you can pour over and mix into the ready-to-eat duck necks.

            pay attention and check on the duck necks after three hours because depending on their freshness, they can get so soft they’ll almost be mushy, which is less pleasant to eat, but certainly never stopped me.

            and if you like that spicy hot pot base, you can cut off a chunk of that and throw it into basically anything you’re frying or making into a soup or anything and it’ll be absolutely delicious, just throw it in at the end. What I do is cook the meal separately and then steam the hot pot base in a little saucer and pour the base into the cooked, finished meal after it’s melted into a sauce and mix it up, it seems to keep the taste of the hot pot base fresher and stronger.