Duck!

Qbert

I was gifted with a Lrg BGE for Christmas and love it. I was wanting to try duck and was wondering the best way to cook it? Spatchcock? I also would like to see if 2 ducks at the same time was possible? Any ideas about raised grills etc. Also want to catch the fat for frying taters.

YB

Qbert,
This should help.
Larry
[ul][li]djm's ducks[/ul]

Topo Gigio

Qbert, I haven't tried it myself, but have been collecting posts for when I do. Here are some ideas. I don't know the originators and I apologize for not given the proper credit to them:[p]I prefer it cooked in the 325-350 range. The crisp fatty pieces of skin are my favorite part of any bird, especialy duck, and low & slow turns the skin to flavorless, chewy, wet leather. [p]I like the beer butt method: on a sitter over a can of beer. Use a turkey sitter though, the duck will fit just fine and a chicken sitter doesn't fit over the can. Give the bird a generous rub of whatever you like and set it either in a sturdy drip pan or a foil drip pan over firebricks or a pizza stone. Cook at 325-350 and take it up to 165 internal, let the bird rest for 8-10 minutes before carving, the internal temp will come up to 170-175 without over-cooking this way.[p]
400 degrees for 1 1/2 hours - breast temp was 175 when I pulled it[p]Start off in the cooker at about 225 indirect for about 45 minutes to an hour, then bump up the temp to about 325-350 but not much higher than 375. When you raise the temp brush the bird with a simple mixture of melted duckfat from the drip pan and some dark corn syrup or light corn syrup, equal parts will be fine. This will duck a wonderful color much like you would find in the market. The darker corn syrup with be darker of course, so use whichever you prefer. Actually you can sub some of the sugar in the brine with corn syrup and get some great coloring as well, but you have to let the bird soak in the brine, not inject and do not rinse. Keep in mind we don't have a high salt content in the brine, so not rinsing is no biggie. As far as the internal temperature to remove the bird from the cooker, I'll leave that up to your preference, but I like 165 and allow for some carryover cooking time.

GG

I used the beer butt method at Christmas and the duck came out eggcellent! [p]Let us know what you decide.[p]Gil

Clay Q

Qbert,
I'm cooking duck this weekend. Going to make it spatchdrake duck. I marinate overnight in Chinese marinade(Lee Kum Kee), rinse and wipe it dry then I hang duck up in the garage to dry out further. I do this only in the winter when the garage is colder than 38 degrees. Drying out helps make a nice skin. I'll be smoking with whole star of anise and slices of ginger thrown on the lump at the start of the cook. I use platesetter legs up, drip pan on platesetter, duck on grid. Dome temp 400 degrees.
Oh yea, don't over cook- 160 degrees internal for me.
Happy New Year,
Clay Q

ToyCollector

Qbert,[p]I pasted in a post I did on the addicted to bbq site.[p]The ducks are done and eaten ( I have a pic of one, maybe tomorrow for posting). I did one bird at 400*F whole on a small "cooker", elevated, indirect with a drip pan for two hours. Could not do it vertical due to size. Did two spatchcocked direct at 200-230*F for 4.5 hours on a large. Poked all of their skins numerous times with a knife at a sideways angle. Two had rub on them. One of the spatch'd, one whole. No wood used, smoke was avoided at all costs (who was I kidding ).[p]Impressions:[p]1. Duck meat will generate a smoke ring and the outside meat IMO is best. [p]2. Juicy, all of them but the 3rd bird, which was actually the 2nd spatch'd direct one I pulled off. While I cut the 1st spatched, which actually got pulled after the whole bird, (which likely got to 180*F +, I let #2 sit on the grill ). The meat toughened on that one. We are talking 10 minutes and it is close to tennis sneaker material. I had the flame hot at that point to crisp the spatchcocked ones up. A little it seems at that stage goes a long way. These were my 1st ducks on the ceramic cooker BTW. Onlookers, do not be discouraged. They take work to overcook. Took me 3 trys and I finally ruined one due to neglect [p]3. Rubs. Re-rub the bird often. The grease will "pour" out of the fat layer and wash off your original rub. Lotsa rub gives lotsa color and crispness.[p]4. Skin and fat. The bird I did at high heat and whole had the least fat. I technically overcooked it mathematically (time and temp...but pulled it when it looked right). It was actually the best. Skin was crisp, meat was juicy. I started this whole thing wanting to do spatch'd and just threw the 3rd on whole, on my small, as a corollary experiment. This whole thing WAS an experiment. The family was dressed to head to a restaurant just in case. [p]5. The meat and texture can actualy be very similar to pulled pork if done right, and in some regards it's not quite cheap eats but it is. $20 for 3 birds. It is super rich food as you eat it. Lots of good meat in the thigh, a tad of really really good stuff in the wing. Otherwise, it is all nice breast meat.