te-smoked duck... help?

Unknown

Folks,[p]Thanks first to you all for the recipes and posts that have helped me in the past. I went from no BBQ to a large Egg last summer after checking this website out... the beer-butt chicken, ribs, briskets, etc. have been a blast![p]Tonight's project is duck... Chinese-style, smoked with black tea leaves. Daffy has marinating in a soy sauce /OJ mix since last night. The question is what to do once I get him into the Egg.[p]The smoking mix will be black tea leaves (Lapsang Souchong), white rice and sugar (not sure whether to use white or brown). But how should I do get this stuff smoking?[p]Non-BGE BBQ recipes say put the stuff in a smoker tray. But what should the BGE way be? Maybe I can put the moistened tea, rice and sugar in a foil tray on the lower grid and then stand the fatty bird in a drip pan on the upper grid?[p]All advice welcome. I'll happily report on the results.[p]

Nature Boy

JazzyQ,
I have not used Tea leaves for smoking, but have cooked duck. Next time I want to try a tip I saw on a cooking show, where you puncture several shallow holes in the skin of the bird to help melt some of the fat out. I like to cook duck at 400 indirect. Don't remember the internal temps off the top of my head, but I think it is similar to poultry. 180 in the thigh, clear juices, and you are ready to chow.[p]The marinade sounds awesome, and am curious to hear how the smoking of the tea leaves goes. I am inclined to think wrapping the tea in foil with holes in it, and laying it directly on the coals would do the trick.[p]Enjoy your cook, and your meal.
NB

JJ

Nature Boy,
The puncturing of several holes in the skin of the duck really helps in the rendering of the fat out of it.

Unknown

Brown sugar is what you want, but Graham Kerr leaves it out when he uses this technique on fish. I have tea smoked fish in but not in the egg. I suppose you don't want duck grease dripping on the tea, so I'd put it below and to the side of the duck.[p]Henry

Unknown

Nature Boy,[p]A tasty variant on punching holes in the skin. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and dunk the duck for a couple minutes. Pull duck out and blow-dry for 10 to 15 minutes. The pores on the skin will open up and the duck will appear to be sweating. Throw in oven or Egg and cook at will (be sure to have a drip pan below). Very tasty, crispy skin, no fat. I found this in one of Maria Kazan's (I think) Italian cookbooks.