Smoking a duck this weekend

[Smithy]

I acquired a smoker a few weeks ago and am planning to have fun with it this weekend. So far I've used it once to smoke chicken and a pork loin. Both were wonderful - as unctuous as everyone's promised, and my kind of weekend cookery: putz with it a bit, then walk away while it cooks itself. My only complaint was that the smoke flavor was a bit too intense: perhaps I had too much hickory; perhaps the hardwood charcoal was the culprit.

This is an upright smoker with dual grates and a water pan. I plan to use it on a Very Large rack of pork ribs as well as a largish duck. We have a lot of threads out there - including the eGullet Culinary Institute class on smoking - that I've spent some time studying, but I haven't found discussion of duck yet.

Does someone have any tips for me? What kind of wood would be good for this? Am I tempting fate to smoke both those meats at once? Will I regret not having the duck fat for later? Can I collect it somehow?

How about seasonings, rubs, anticipated time? I think the preferred temperature for this smoker runs around 225F but I can't swear to it.

[Dave the Cook]

I was really hoping someone would respond with a complete recipe and technique, (because I'm essentially lazy and) this is very high on the list of things I've wanted to try since having the hickory-roasted duck at NOLA last summer (yeah, I know there's a recipe in one of Emeril's books, but it says something like "smoke the duck" without any real detail).

Since chickens are about 1/3 the price of ducks around here, that's what I've been experimenting with, even though there are substantial differences. If I were to try it this weekend (and I might yet), here's what I'd do:

• Remove all visible fat and set aside for rendering. Later, you'll retrieve smoked fat, and you can use it adjust the smoke level of the fat, if you wish.
  
• Spatchcock and brine for three hours in a 2:1 salt:sugar solution.
  
• Score the skin so the fat will be able to drain out, and smoke skin side up over apple wood at 225 - 250 F for two to three hours -- to an internal temperature of about 110 F, I'm thinking. You don't want it all the way done, or the subsequent steps will just overcook it.)
  
• Put the duck on a rack and stick it in a 275 F oven until the temperature hits 140 F. Flip it once in a while.
  
• Drain off the accumulated fat and crank the oven up to 400 F. Turn the duck skin side up again and roast until done (160F).
  

All this seems kind of fussy, I know. The obstacle I'm trying to overcome is what happens to poultry skin when you brine and smoke (supermarket ducks do have a lot of fat, but most of it is subcutaneous; hence the brining). Between the two processes, the skin tends to get rubbery, and what's the point of duck if you don't end up with good skin? In fooling around with chickens (especially wings), I've found that the smoke/low heat/high heat combination seems to mitigate the problem pretty well.

I hope that's helpful in some way. Of course, you could just put the duck on the smoker for four or five hours, and it will probably be great! Let us know, please.

[slkinsey]

I have a few thoughts:

What about doing a variation on the technique for tea smoked duck? Steam the duck for 1.5 hours, then smoke it with heavy smoke for 1/2 an hour, then deep fry (or pan fry) to crisp the skin.

Or hot-smoke the duck at around 350 for 1 hour and then no smoke at around 300 for another hour and a half (could finish it in the oven).

I wouldn't recommend a spice rub for the duck, but you could always paint the skin with a glaze -- usually mostly sweet (e.g., maple syrup, cane syrup, corn syrup, honey, etc.) with some salt (soy sauce is good for this) and some spices. Brush the glaze on the skin and air-dry. Repeat several times.

[snowangel]

I'm with Sam on the steam the duck for a while to get rid of some of the fat, but what I've always thought about smoking is that most of the smoke penetrates during that initial period before the meat gets to 140 degrees (but, that could be totally wrong and just an old wives tale).

[Smithy]

I'm with Sam on the steam the duck for a while to get rid of some of the fat, but what I've always thought about smoking is that most of the smoke penetrates during that initial period before the meat gets to 140 degrees (but, that could be totally wrong and just an old wives tale).

←

Hmmm. There should be a way to test that...hmm.

[Pam R]

When I was young, my father would use the Weber kettle occasionally to smoke a duck. No brining, just seasoning the whole birds with some salt, pepper, onion & garlic. A pan in the middle of the kettle - no water in it, just there to catch the drippings. Charcoal around the pan - perhaps a couple of wood chunks. C'est tout. After a couple of hours the skin was crisp and the meat was juicy.

Sorry I can't give you specific temperatures or times - that's not how dad works. My guess is that he smoked them at a higher temp. No additional cooking was necessary.

[Smithy]

I wish I'd seen Pam R's post before starting, and I might have tried that road first.

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. What with distractions, multitasking and equipment failures (mostly distractions) I ended up doing something that was a little like the first two suggestions and a lot like none of the above. The result was fair.

I brined the bird for an hour or two (having poked holes in the skin first), while the smoker was coming up to temperature. Someplace along the way I realized that both my thermocouples had failed (note to self: get sturdier thermocouples) and I'd apparently thrown away my old-fashioned analog meat thermometer, so I had to go by the smoker's qualitative (cool - ideal - hot) hood thermometer, time and guesswork. I don't like lifting the hood more than necessary, since that just lets out heat.

The duck smoked at the "ideal" range (no, I've no idea how hot that is) for 2 - 3 hours. At the end of that time it had a beautiful mahogany color to the skin but a lot of blood-colored fluids inside - I hadn't spatchcocked it - so I moved it into a 225F oven for a while while the smoker went to other uses. At this point distraction and multitasking took over, and the duck stayed in the oven for, oh, probably another hour or two. When I got back to it, I didn't dare try cooking it hotter to crisp the skin.

The result was deliciously smoky, very flavorful, and only slightly dried out: the duck on my dinner plate Saturday night hinted at dryness but was quite tender and flavorful; today's smoked duck sandwich, with mayonnaise and mustard, had no hint of dryness at all. The skin wasn't rubbery but also wasn't as crisp as it should have been.

Lessons: since I'm most tuned in to temperature when I'm learning how to cook something, get the thermometers fixed or replaced. Next time I'll pay more attention to the final cooking time (I always say that ). Next time I'll try the duck directly in the pot in the smoker, and see how well that works. All in all, it was an encouraging first exercise - but I'm glad I hadn't had friends over for dinner that night!

[David Ross]

I smoked/roasted a duck about three weeks ago, very easy. In fact, my method may sound too easy to get good results.

I just bought your basic frozen Long Island Duckling, not organic, not free range. I just thawed it out, no brining. I didn't even season the duck ahead of time, no salt and pepper, no cajun rub, no garlic or lemon in the cavity. Just duck.

I trussed the wings and legs and then ducky went into the smoker. I have a big old smoker that looks like an oil drum turned on its side. The fire box if off one end of the smoker pit. I used a combination of charcoal and hickory wood chunks. I kept the temperature at about 200-225, very low. I put ducky in the smoker pit and put a can of water next to him. I like to put a bit of water in the smoker to create steam, which seems to keep the meat moist as it smokes. The dark finished color of the skin comes purely from the smoke. I smoked ducky about 3 hours, then I finished him in a 300 degree over for another hour and a half. You'd think the poor thing would have been incinerated, but the meat was still moist and tender and the smoke flavor was very distinct.

Here is a closeup of the smoked duck. The skin was nice and crisp, the meat very juicy.

Here is the finished duck dish, sliced breast, duck leg, and served with spinach and cornbread.

[FoodMan]

Very nice David! I might give it a shot this weekend. Based on your result I plan to skip brining, but maybe do a rub of sorts on the duck. I like that you ended up with a nice crisp skin.

[FoodMan]

I did smoke the duck this past weekend using the suggestion from David as a starting point. So here's what I did:

1- Butterflied the bird

2- Rubbed it with Seville orange salt and molasses and let it rest in the fridge all night

3- Made a glaze (based on the Emeril duck I had at NOLA) with espresso, Nocino, honey and some Worcestershire sauce and reduced till thick

4- Smoked the duck for about 2.5 hours (right along with a pork shoulder) and then brushed it with the glaze and cooked it in the oven at 375 for another hour. I glazed it again halfway through the hour and finished it under the broiler for extra crispy skin.

You'd think with all that cooking the bird would be dry. Actually this ranked high up there with the best duck I've had. It was juicy, smoky, salty and sweet. Even my wife who does not care for duck ate her piece including the skin and loved it. I am planning to make this again and smoke more than one duck this time.

Like I said I also smoked a pork shoulder that day too. I served the duck on top of a very good roasted corn colby spoon bread, and the pork on top of cole slaw.

[David Ross]

I did smoke the duck this past weekend using the suggestion from David as a starting point. So here's what I did:

1- Butterflied the bird

2- Rubbed it with Seville orange salt and molasses and let it rest in the fridge all night

3- Made a glaze (based on the Emeril duck I had at NOLA) with espresso, Nocino, honey and some Worcestershire sauce and reduced till thick

4- Smoked the duck for about 2.5 hours (right along with a pork shoulder) and then brushed it with the glaze and cooked it in the oven at 375 for another hour. I glazed it again halfway through the hour and finished it under the broiler for extra crispy skin.

You'd think with all that cooking the bird would be dry. Actually this ranked high up there with the best duck I've had. It was juicy, smoky, salty and sweet. Even my wife who does not care for duck ate her piece including the skin and loved it. I am planning to make this again and smoke more than one duck this time.

I'm glad it worked so well for you. Now I'll try your recipe.