Help me duck.... please.

UnConundrum

I seem to never have any luck with a duck. My wife loves it, and I had gone out and bought a case of 8# Muscovy ducks. ... Since my failures they've been sitting in the freezer.[p]I took one out last night, as it's time to bite the bullet and try again....[p]Can anyone give me a tried and true beginning to end method for cooking an 8# duck... (I do have a guru if that helps)

Marvin

UnConundrum,
I have always had success cooking a whole duck lo-n-slo. Duck is very fatty, therefore, slow cooking and rendering the fat (dripping through the cooking duck) keeps it moist. Other than salt and pepper, I use no other seasoning because the duck flavor is so good. Punch a lot of little holes through the skin (helps drain excess fat; try not to pierce the duck meat). Put the duck in a V-rack, breast side up in an indirect set-up (over a plate setter with a drip pan, or a raised grill over a drip pan). Cook at 225-250 until the breast temp is about 155, then raise the cooking temp to about 500 until the breast temp is 165. This temp rise will help crisp up the skin, but might not be needed; just look and see if you need to do that, but remember that the duck is not finished until the breast temp is 165. Let the duck sit 15-20 min. then cut off the legs; cut the breast halves of the breast bone (makes it easier to slice). If you want some type of sauce to go with it, a sweet, fruit-based one is the common choice. Enjoy.

ChefDBA

UnConundrum,
I can't give you end to end for the BGE, but here are some suggestions in general. Eithe remove the backbone and then quarter the duck, or remove the backbone and basically butterfly it. Once that is done you need to score the skin in several places, X shapes work well, make sure you just cut the skin, and not the meat. You really need to brine it in order to retain moisture, I know this sounds odd since most duck is greasy, but I'm guessing you don't want grease and would prefer the duck flavor. Make a basic brine and brine it for a good 2 hours. The trick to good duck is rendering the fat out and the best way to do that is to steam the duck. I usually use a steamer basket inside a small bowl inside a pot with about 2 inches of heavy simmering water, just lay it out evenly and steam it for about 45 minutes to an hour.[p]This covers basic duck protocal. Usually at this point most people sear the duck to make the crispy crust, and then finish it slower to doneness. You might want to try a modified TRex method. Get the lava flow going, lay the bird out skin side down and give it about 5 minutes on the skin side, then cool the dome down to about 400 and reapply the duck for another 15 minutes or so. I've never done duck this way, but this is how I would first try it. [p]Hope it works out for you, let us know.[p]Good COoking

djm5x9

UnConundrum:[p]See if this link helps with your technique. The ducks I cook are typically in the five pound range so your "rendering cook" could take a little longer with larger birds. Let us know how your cook turns out.


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UnConundrum

djm5x9,[p]You're 5 minutes too late. I just scored it, and set it in a brine... [p]Well, I have 3 more in the freezer. If I don't like the results, I'll give your method a try...[p]At this point, the plan is a low and slow, but on a v-rack with a drip pan..... But still time to change the cooking method.....if anyone has any other comments.

James

UnConundrum,[p]I'm also interested in cooking duck. There are two Mallards (1 male, 1 female), that have abandonded the nearby lake, and have decided they like the neighborhood better. They sleep in the yard, and walk up and down the street each day. Someone must be feeding them. If they are still here when duck season opens, do you think I can legally eat them? I can't shoot them obviously, because you can't fire weapons in the neighborhood, but these ducks are oblivious to the fact that I might want to eat them, and I get easily get close enough to grab them.[p]On that same note, do I even need to wait for duck season? I wonder if I could just eat them now. I wonder what the laws are on this issue.[p]