I've eaten 24 species of duck killed in SC (23 of mine and old squaw that LR killed). The only ones that are consistently bad are Red-breasted mergansers and surf scoters. White-wing and black scoters were fine approaching quite good. Hooded mergansers (peeled of their skin and fat) are not noticeably different from wood duck. Ruddy ducks are excellent and bufflehead are quite edible because they're small and the inside is warmed enough before the outside gets too done. Overcooking any duck totally ruins it.
I've roasted whole gadwall with skin and fat before and wasn't impressed with the taste. Why is their fat so orange?
I might try a skin-side dry-fried black scoter next season. Most of them are dining on seaweed anyway - it's probably why they eat so well.
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