Beyond the Blend: Flocked and Loaded Wild Fowl Rub
Poultry seasoning was built for birds raised in a barn. Yours flew eight hundred miles to get here.
A wild duck is dark meat end to end, it carries almost no fat once the skin comes off, and it tastes like whatever it was eating three weeks ago. Flocked and Loaded stands up to all of that instead of burying it, and anything built for a wild goose has no trouble with a chicken.
Flavor Profile
Wild fowl wants brightness and a little sweetness rather than more savory piled on top. That is the whole idea behind this blend, and it is why it leans on citrus and sugar where a chicken rub would lean on herbs.
Orange Peel and Orange Oil: The backbone of the blend. Citrus and waterfowl is a pairing that goes back centuries for a reason, because the acidity cuts through rich, iron-heavy dark meat the way a squeeze of lemon cuts through an oily fish. The oil carries the aroma, the peel carries the bitterness that keeps it from reading like dessert.
Smoked Paprika: Color and a low, rounded smokiness that sits underneath everything else. On a bird going into the smoker it compounds what the smoke is already doing. On one going on the grill it supplies what the grill cannot.
Brown Sugar: Sweetness, but also browning. Sugar is what gives a duck breast the dark crust people want from a restaurant plate, and it balances the mineral edge that makes some people think they dislike wild duck.
Citric Acid: A second source of brightness that holds up through a long cook where fresh citrus would cook off. It is the reason the finish on this blend stays sharp instead of going flat and sweet.
Garlic and Onion: The savory floor. Enough to anchor the blend without competing with the citrus.
How to Use Flocked and Loaded
Whole birds. Season inside and out before roasting or smoking. The sugar will build color on the skin, so keep an eye on your heat toward the end if you are running hot.
Breasts. This is where most waterfowl ends up. Season heavy, because a lean cut carries more rub than a fatty one before it tastes over-seasoned. On a hot grill, go on late rather than early so the sugar builds rather than scorches.
Upland birds. Pheasant, grouse and quail are white meat and leaner still, and the citrus plays even better against them than it does against a goose. Keep the heat moderate and the cook short.
Everything else. Anything built for a wild goose has no trouble with a farm-raised chicken. It is also genuinely good on fish and on roasted vegetables, which is not a line we would write if it were not true.
For more on adapting our poultry range to wild birds, see How to Season Wild Birds.
Smoke it, grill it, or sear it hot.
More guides, recipes and gear for the whole season live on our Hunting and Processing page.
