Duck Prep...

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
So, you go to oven roast a duck....and the next thing you know, the smoke alarm is twanging off the wall, the cat is cowering under the bed, all the guests are quietly coughing into their hankies, and you're reaching for the nearest bottle of anything to swig..:alc:

I like duck in the oven, I just hate the drama that comes with it. When I do roast a duck, I use a roasting pan that has a raised grill so the grease can drip into the pan. However, before I even get started with that, I prick the entire breast and thigh area with a meat fork several times. Pouring boiling water over the duck helps some of the fat melt and ooze out the holes (kind of like Alli, that weight loss pill:oops:) and it provides you that sought after crisp skin.

Happy Ducking!
 

High Cheese

Saucier
I make shallow slices in the skin if it's real fatty. Otherwise, I never really had a problem. I cook it on a rack or on a bed of veg just like chicken. What kind of duck do you buy? I find Peking readily near me.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
Muscovy here....

I hesitate to slash because I don't care for the presentation then...

However, if I'm plating in the kitchen, I suppose I could slash away, eh??
 

High Cheese

Saucier
To me, ducks aren't the prettiest birds whole.

Sometimes I'll use a sheet pan on the bottom rack to redirect the heat around the sides of the pan and in from above. Convection-like. Keeps my veg from overcooking. It might keep your pan from getting to hot to where the fat smokes.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
Duck is ugly....like goose. Although, when you think of it, that big puffed out breast that chickens & turkeys now have is a product of species manipulation.

But they do taste good, don't they..
 

High Cheese

Saucier
Yes. In fact, I got a hankering for duck now. Maybe I'll use that raspberry chipotle sauce on a coupla duck breasts....
 

buckytom

Grill Master
i love duckies, but i'm not allowed to make them in our house anymore. the cats and dw have forbade it.

i even have to check the wind direction if i want to grill one.

lol, now that i think about it, screw the neighbors, i guess.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
if i ever try to make it again indoors, i'm going to borrow one of the BIG fans from the scenery guys at work. ya know, the one's they use to imitate a windy day on a set.

hmmm, i wonder if i have to pay an i.a.t.s.e. guy to operate it.

knowing their union, i'll also have to hire the guy with the big metal "thunder" sheet, too.

that would be cool.
 

Miniman

Mini man - maxi food
Gold Site Supporter
I love roast duck

Haven't prepared it any specific way, just bunged it into the oven. Not had a moke problem, well apart from the time when we put it in on a timer and the timer didn't work. The duck cooked for 4 or 5 hours, very well done skin, but the meat was quite tasty.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I used this recipe as a guide to roast a duck for my father and me last Sunday. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roast-duck-with-port-garlic-sauce-4528#

I know that all the TV chefs cook their duck breasts to medium rare, I just cannot consider medium-rare poultry. So I cooked it to 165 in the breast and it was perfect for us.

I just brushed the skin with soy sauce, and salt and peppered. I skipped the rest of the rub.

We didn't care for the sauce at all - thankfully, I served it on the side. I used a mixture of dry marsala and a dry red wine instead of the port.

The skin wasn't real crispy, and I'm all about the skin. But the meat was moist, tender and delicious.

However, next time, I think I'll do it on my Weber kettle on the rotisserie again - that turned out beautifully well!

Served with a mix of wild and white rice, and home grown wax beans.

We only ate half, so I froze the bones and the leftover meat to make duck soup with the rice mixture.

Lee



Roast Duck with Port-Garlic Sauce (Epicurious)
Yield Serves 4
Ingredients



  1. For sauce
    • 1 5-pound duck, fresh or frozen, thawed (neck, heart and gizzard reserved)
    • 1 medium onion, quartered
    • 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
    • 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
    • 4 1/2 cups water
    • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
    • 6 large garlic cloves, sliced
    • 1 cup ruby Port
    • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  2. For duck
    • 1/3 cup soy sauce
    • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    • 3 large garlic cloves, pressed
    • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme


      Preparation
  3. Make sauce:
    1. Cut off duck wing tips at joint. Combine neck, heart, gizzard and wing tips in large saucepan. Add onion, carrot and celery to pan. Add 4 1/2 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Strain stock into medium saucepan. Boil stock until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes.
    2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add sliced garlic and sauté until golden, about 2 minutes. Add Port and boil 5 minutes. Add reduced duck stock and boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 8 minutes. Mix remaining 1 tablespoon butter and flour in small bowl. Whisk into sauce and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)
  4. Make duck:
    1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Trim excess fat from cavity of duck. Using fork, pierce duck skin in several places. Place duck, breast side up, on rack in large roasting pan. Brush soy sauce over duck. Mix mustard and pressed garlic in small bowl. Brush mustard mixture over duck. Mix salt, pepper and thyme in another small bowl. Sprinkle spice-herb mixture over duck and in cavity. Roast duck 45 minutes. Turn duck and roast, breast side down, 30 minutes. Turn duck and roast, breast side up, until duck is deep golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes longer. Transfer duck to platter. Serve with sauce.
 

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ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
DW dislike any pink in her fowl - of any kind.

I've coped by roasting at lower temperatures - lets the heat soak through to cook without causing the poultry to shrivel up and become dry....

doing duck at 400'F is okay for a pro chef who does it 20 times a day. but the timing is tricky for the home cook, mefindeth.

crisping the skin I do post-roast. remove bird, jack up oven to max, when hot put bird back in and stand at the ready, do not walk away - watch and pull it / rotate to get perfect skin.... as the roasting pan/rack have cooled a bit while the oven comes up to temp, you get very little smoke because the skin is done before the pan is hot enough to smoke off any drippings.
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
Duck is the only fowl I like rare as it should be.

I will endeavor to go duck hunting this year - there are several recipes I want to make. I only have to bag three, at least. We'll see.
 
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