Advice on Roasting a Duck

Looking for some advice on roasting a duck? Well then you have come to the right place. Roasting a whole duck can seem a little tricky but if you take your time it can be very rewarding and delicious.

The best way to cook duck is with crispy skin on the outside and succulent and tender meat on the inside. Duck is one of the most succulent meats with lots of flavour and tantalising aromas.

You can keep the duck fat as is it great for roasting potatoes and vegetables with. Another great thing about duck is that it tastes great even when it’s been reheated. You could always cook extra duck than is needed and reheat the extra to make duck wraps or something else for the next day.

Information and advice for roasting a duck

• Pierce the skin of the duck with a skewer or similar instrument. Poke little holes all over the duck. (Remember to rip out all his insides, you don’t want to cook him with all his organs still up inside him)

• Rub salt all over the outside of the ducks skin. Roast ducks love a salty massage and it makes them taste great. The salt will help crisp the skin.

• Make sure not to block up the ducks bottom end as if you bung him up then the hot air can’t circulate. You can put a zest of orange or some herbs up the ducks bottom to give it some more flavour.

• Preheat the oven to 190C / 400F / Gas Mark 6

• Place the duck onto a wire rack like the one shown on the right. You need to use a wire rack as it will drip lots of fat, make sure to place a pan underneath the rack to catch the fat with. The duck fat can be used for roasting your potatoes and vegetables with. The potatoes will taste amazing when cooked with the duck fat.

• The duck will take approximately 4 hours to roast. During the 4 hours that it is cooking for you will need to rotate the duck. Roast the duck for 1 hour with the breast facing down in the pan. Next rotate the duck and roast with the breast facing up in the pan. I am sure you guessed what comes next! Yes that’s right; rotate it again and cook it for an hour then rotate it again and roast it for an hour.

• If you are glazing the duck then brush on your glaze and roast it for an additional 6-7 minutes.

• If you have a meat thermometer then you should be registering 165F as the core temperature.

• Let your duck stand for a little while before carving. You will need to let the succulent little guys juices settle.

Hopefully our advice has helped you to cook a delicious roast duck. I bet it tastes great! Congratulations.

 

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