Duck recipes

Anyone do whole birds? Never had it, and interested. 

Dobie said:

Anyone do whole birds? Never had it, and interested. 

I do duck a couple times a year. Rub the interior w. non-iodized salt every day for 2 - 3 days. Put in fridge. During that time, the skin will dry some, helping it get crisper when cooked. There's usually a good bit of loose fat on the carcass. Cut that off, and render it for frying fat. Then slash the breast and side skin so the fat can render out during cooking. Have a drip pan underneath, 'cause there will be lots of drippings. It absorbs smoke, and so is not so good for re-use.

I like the flavor of duck, and so rarely use much more than S&P on it.

Because of the drip pan, the cook will be at the felt level. You can do them whole. I like to put some fruit in the cavity when I do that. They also spatch well. Unlike chicken, they need to be breast side down for awhile either way to ensure rendering the fat. Start dome 350, and punch up to 450 in the last 10 minutes.

I can get them fresh, or frozen. As usual, fresh seems to come out better.

The past few times I've been parting the bird. Leg quarters and wings for confit. The breasts separated, marinaded in various ways, then cook raised, skin side down so the skin crisps as the meat just gets done. One trick is to put the breasts on bags of "blue ice," meat side down, till the meat just starts to freeze. That way, the skin can get all the heat needed to crisp it, but the meat isn't overcooked.

Love Peking duck, that's our favorite. 

Fried duck strips.