Need help with a duck!

[D Hagens]

 So my babe wants me to cook a duck for us and my parents
I really have no clue as to what to do, like stuffing for a duck?
I need some ideas as I want this to turn out perfect
Oh yeah, here's the quacker 8) 8)
 


 

[Mooseherder]

I have never cooked one but was looking at some recipes from the Food network.
You can probably find a good one there.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/duck/index.html

[WDH]

How about smoking it on a grill with charcoal using the indirect heat method.  That makes wonderful chicken and turkey, and I bet duck would be good too.

[Mooseherder]

That sounds good and seems all recommendations say to keep on a rack.  Problem solved!

[zopi]

Roast duck in a roaster, with a bottom rack...three fifty until the joints loosen (wiggle a leg, when it starts to get loose t is done...) or look up temps amd do it with a thermometer..during the last few minutes of cooking, turn on the broiler to crisp the skin...duck skin is da bomb!
Make a gravy out of the fat and drippings...the only thing better than bacon fat is duck fat.
Come to think of it...if you wind up making alot of duck, save the fat and freeze it...it can be used to make duck confit...a preserved duck...sorta like bacon...

[LeeB]

Just don't cook it too long. It will become tough and taste awful. I get a lot of duck here at work. Once or twice a week. Usually with some type of ginger seasoning. The Asian folks love duck. Had a bowl of duck noodle soup for breakfast this morning.

[Burlkraft]

I am not real fond of duck, so I would feed the duck to the Yotes and get a turkey!

[D Hagens]

Great ideas guys 8)
I'm for sure going to keep it on the bottom rack as that makes sense.
We have a convection oven and it sure makes cooking easier

[Jeff]

I'd feed em the brats and eggos.

[D Hagens]

Blueberry waffles, she hid those from me :D The brats came from the butcher, custom made for us.
The deer come in next week, can't wait as we're running low on venison.  8)

[tractorfarmer]

If I am making duck at home, I prefer an orange glaze. The duck fat, pepper, and sweet glaze compliment each other well. Sometimes the duck comes with an orange packet. But you can make a glaze with marmalade and a fresh orange also.

But roasting with salt and pepper is just as good if you don't like orange.

The only thing I don't like about duck is it's small size. There isn't much meat. I can easily eat a whole duck myself and think you might want at least 2 if you are serving 4 people.

[D Hagens]

The duck came out perfect, took awhile to cook but it was worth the wait.
I really think the next time I do one it will be in the BBQ as this was the first time I've done one in an oven and forgot how much grease comes off of them.
The gravy was good and you're right, there really isn't much meat on them.
Had the brats last night, think I'm going to buy my butcher a bottle of wine

[tractorfarmer]

Cooking duck on the grill might be better, but you still have the same problem with all that fat dripping and catching fire or making a mess in the bottom of the grill. I wouldn't try it on a gas grill as they are harder to clean. And coals don't like to be saturated in oil either.

I think cooking it in the oven would be the easiest way, just remove the fat while you are cooking it.

Watch a video of how they make peking duck in china. It is quite a process. They start by blowing the duck full of air to get the fat to seperate from the meat. Then it cooks for something like a day.

[D Hagens]

tractorfarmer, that's a pretty interesting way that they do the duck, that air thing, never seen that before. A bit of a process to go through but the end results look tasty

Yo Jeff, when you get here, I was wondering if your infa-red grill would have the same problem with flare ups from all the fat dripping on the burners.

[CHARLIE]

My experience is that commercially grown ducks and geese are full of fat. Lots of it!   I used to do a lot of duck hunting and would take an occassional Canadian Honker if he got in the way of my buckshot.  Now, wild duck and wild geese are not full of fat. Pretty darned lean if I say so myself. Of course they taste different than domestic dead ducks and geese.   

[pappy19]

Big, big difference between a wild duck and a commercial grown duck. Commercial duck needs to be cooked whole or split on a grill or baked. Wild duck, well, I just breast them out, slice medium thin, pound, and chicken fry them. My kids go nuts over them as do the neighbors. That's the best way I have found to cook wild duck. Some make wild duck into a stew, which is fine or gumbo, but chicken fried duck breast is mighty good.

Pap

[CHARLIE]

DanG! Chicken Fried wild duck sounds great!  I wish I had thought of or heard of that while I was still hunting them.  I do eat wild turkey that way though and a platter full will be gone before you know it.