Cooking Duck Breasts: Tips and Techniques

[iriee]

score the skin side with a sharp knife first. (making x's). this helps to render the fat when you cook the breast. the best way to cook it is skin side down in the saute pan on low-medium heat. this enables all the fat to cook out and develop a nice crisp skin.about 8 minutes,,,then flip and cook 2-3 more on flesh side. let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. in the mean time you can make a quick sauce in the pan with a spash of port or red wine with shallots and a chunk of butter. MMMMMMMMMMM!

[cbel964]

hey sounds like my kind of dinner.

crispy duck and easy to make!!

Thanks a bunch, when I try it I will report back.

[elyse]

On pain of death, do NOT throw out that duck fat. Save it for potatoes or anything else you want to saute in a little grease. Yum.

Or send it to me.

[Schneier]

On pain of death, do NOT throw out that duck fat.  Save it for potatoes or anything else you want to saute in a little grease.  Yum. 

Or send it to me.

French fries in duck fat is da bomb.

[Brad S]

Be sure when you score the breast you don't go into the flesh.Also,When I turn the breast,I remove most of the fat (for something else)an finish in a very hot oven for a couple minutes (depending on what type of duck i'm using,Muscovy,Moularde or Pekin) I like to marinate it in molassas,ginger,minced green onions and a little soy,this give the skin a beautiful mohagony color.

Friday,I Roasted some corn cobs and scraped them off and did a saute of macoun apples with the corn,shallots,rosemary and thyme and a deglaze of vermouth and demi,sliced the breast on a thin bias and plated with crispy leeks and the corn ragout.Nice flavor color and texture.

[Al_Dente]

On pain of death, do NOT throw out that duck fat.  Save it for potatoes or anything else you want to saute in a little grease.  Yum. 

Or send it to me.

French fries in duck fat is da bomb.

You said it man. Or get some fingerling potatoes and roast them in the fat.

[Al_Dente]

Friday,I Roasted some corn cobs and scraped them off and did a saute of macoun apples with the corn,shallots,rosemary and thyme and a deglaze of vermouth and demi,sliced the breast on a thin bias and plated with crispy leeks and the corn ragout.Nice flavor color and texture.

Note to self: must try this...

[Brad S]

Friday,I Roasted some corn cobs and scraped them off and did a saute of macoun apples with the corn,shallots,rosemary and thyme and a deglaze of vermouth and demi,sliced the breast on a thin bias and plated with crispy leeks and the corn ragout.Nice flavor color and texture.

Note to self: must try this...

I think you will enjoy it.

I served it with a 98 Ponzi Pinot,worked great

[ExtraMSG]

Instead of pan sauteeing it, use your broiler. It has the advantage of allowing you to cook the skin side first while letting the fat baste the breast. Put it about 8 inches from the element (door cracked open so the broiler won't turn off) and broil it about 5 minutes a side. Then put it about 4 inches from the broiler and crisp it up the rest of the way, maybe another 4 minutes. You want it to be no more than medium. Times are tough on this sort of thing. I'd suggest using a meat thermometer.

My most basic duck breast dishes are generally served with polenta and a sweet wine sauce, like reduced port finished with demi-glace or butter. But I always buy whole poultry and make stock from the carcasses, reduce it, and keep the fat on top to seal it and use for sauteeing stuff. Then I have the demi-glace for sauces and the like.

But you can just reduce a port wine or something similar (I like port because you can get away with a cheap one), add some dried fruit, dried morels, whatever, and reduce it with some brown sugar until it's a nice consistency. Maybe crumble some blue cheese over the top. The polenta would probably be the toughest part. It all goes so great together, though. That was my first duck breast dish I ever made, grilled duck breasts with port wine sauce and morels over polenta and I go back to it often (wife loves it).

[Placebo]

I just had duck breast for dinner mere moments ago. Scored the skin and then pan-seared it as described in earlier posts. Deglazed with triple sec, added duck stock and a couple sage leaves to the pan and reduced to make the sauce. Served with string beans in padella (i.e. blached and then finished ina pan with olive oil, crushed garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper).

Deeeelicious. Even better, I still have 2 duck breasts left in the fridge (got 2 ducks the other day, removed the legs for confit which will be made this weekend, the breasts fir eatin and turned the rest into stock).

[mitmondol]

why not bake a whole duck?!

In a 300F oven.

Stuff the bird with peeled, sliced quinces.

Pour melted butter over the bird and roast in the oven for 10 minutes or so.Pour a little white wine on top ( 1/2 cup or so) , and roast, basting, for about an hour (or less).

Increase the oven heat to 500F and roast until skin is crisp, about 5-8 minutes, depending on your oven.

Serve with a risotto, made with the giblets of the bird, and braised red cabbage.

It will serve onle 2.

[ExtraMSG]

I'm against cooking a duck whole. Unlike chicken and turkey, the breast meat should not be cooked past medium or it'll generally get tough in a hurry. Best to cut up the duck and cook the pieces separately, imo. The legs/thigh pieces can be cooked a multitude of ways and come out excellent -- simmered in fat, sauteed, fried, steamed and baked, roasted, etc. But duck breast really is best broiled, grilled, or pan sauteed medium rare.

[mrbigjas]

I had duck at a dinner here in Philadelphia where the guy basically pan-fried it, but on a really low temperature for a much longer time, say 15 minutes or so, which rendered out much more of the fat than is usually rendered, and the skin was much crisper than it usually is, but the duck remained cooked medium rare. It was excellent.

I've since used the technique on chicken breasts, but since they don't have as much fat of their own, I've done it in an oil/butter mixture. mmmm sauteed chicken with chicken skin chips on top.

[Blake]

I would try a confit.

Remove as much of the fat as possible and combine that with clarified butter (...you're better off with all duck fat but I don't think you have enough......) sufficient to cover the meat in a nice thick saucepan. Bring the temperature of the oil to 275ºF and maintain for about 40 minutes. Don't let the temperature get over 300ºF.

Shred the meat and roll it into a crepe with sautéed shredded zucchini and whatever seasonings strike your fancy.

You can also make several of these 'tacos' and cover them with a Mornay sauce and broil until nicely browned.

Blake

[Blake]

Something else that is kind of neat is to bring the oil temp up after removing the duck and deep frying the shredded zucchini then using it in the crepes.

Blake

[Brad S]

I don't recommend using the breast for confit,unlike the legs and thighs,the breast will be very tough after curing and simmering.

A 2 1/2 # duck will yield enough fat to confit it's legs and thighs.

I'm sure the technique of confit has been discussed in detail on this site.

[cheftoad]

I wouldn't turn the breast over - cook it skin side down the entire time.

Season, sear in a hot pan, drain excess fat (reserve for side dishes). Place entire pan in hot oven (assuming it has a metal handle). Cook until meat springs back a little when pressed on. Remove from oven. Let rest five minutes. Throw it back in the oven a minute or two to reheat then slice bias-cut (diagonally) thinly. Deglaze, make sauce, whatever...

[Dave the Cook]

I wouldn't turn the breast over - cook it skin side down the entire time. 

Season, sear in a hot pan, drain excess fat (reserve for side dishes).  Place entire pan in hot oven (assuming it has a metal handle).  Cook until meat springs back a little when pressed on.  Remove from oven.  Let rest five minutes.  Throw it back in the oven a minute or two to reheat then slice bias-cut (diagonally) thinly.  Deglaze, make sauce, whatever...

I agree. It takes a surprisingly long time for the breast skin to get really brown and crisp. This method lets you keep heat on the skin while cooking the second side.

But I'm confused by the "warm up" after resting. Doesn't that just set the juices off again?

[Brad S]

I wouldn't turn the breast over - cook it skin side down the entire time. 

Season, sear in a hot pan, drain excess fat (reserve for side dishes).  Place entire pan in hot oven (assuming it has a metal handle).  Cook until meat springs back a little when pressed on.  Remove from oven.  Let rest five minutes.  Throw it back in the oven a minute or two to reheat then slice bias-cut (diagonally) thinly.  Deglaze, make sauce, whatever...

I agree. It takes a surprisingly long time for the breast skin to get really brown and crisp. This method lets you keep heat on the skin while cooking the second side.

But I'm confused by the "warm up" after resting. Doesn't that just set the juices off again?

I respectfully disagree,

90 percent of the redering in done in the pan skin side down,however,turning the skin up in the oven will actally make it more crisp by being exposed to dry heat IMHO

[Dave the Cook]

Fair enough. I've never turned it back up after it's in the oven. I'll try it. I was really only underscoring cheftoad's implication that the skin takes longer than one might think to reach a state of perfection, especially if your reference point is a chicken breast.

To come completely clean, I do both sides on the stove top -- skin down, then up -- then put it skin down for the last stretch. The thing is, there's still fat being rendered, so the skin is very well lubricated, and immersion frying is a dry-heat method.

[Brad S]

Dave, If i'm cooking Pekin breast I do it all stove top as well,Moulard and Muscovey I finish in the oven as it takes a few minutes more to cook.

Cooking it stove top I agree about a last turn for a moment to "re-crisp" the skin.

When I studied with Madeleine Kamman,she would score her breast and then lay them in a cold pan with a touch of water,we then would slowly render the fat (the water evaperates)and the fat is much cleaner to put aside for confit and you have gotten rid of more than half the fat.

Edit to ask how deep fat frying is dry heat ?

Edited October 29, 2003 by Brad S (log)

[Dave the Cook]

When I studied with Madeleine Kamman,she would score her breast and then lay them in a cold pan with a touch of water,we then would slowly render the fat (the water evaperates)and the fat is much cleaner to put aside for confit and you have gotten rid of more than half the fat.

Good idea. I never thought of doing this with the breast alone.

Do you use the water trick when you're rendering the rest of the skin for fat? I agree it makes for a very clean result, since the temperature is well controlled.

[Brad S]

When I studied with Madeleine Kamman,she would score her breast and then lay them in a cold pan with a touch of water,we then would slowly render the fat (the water evaperates)and the fat is much cleaner to put aside for confit and you have gotten rid of more than half the fat.

Good idea. I never thought of doing this with the breast alone.

Do you use the water trick when you're rendering the rest of the skin for fat? I agree it makes for a very clean result, since the temperature is well controlled.

Yes I do,

I was fortunate enough to learn confit from Christian Bertrand former Chef de Cuisine for 13 years at Lutece.After all the ducks were buthered he would always start his redering in a small amount of water,this prevented any chance of initinally burning the base and ruining your fat.

[fyfas]

So I'm reading a recipe, a "Test Kitchen" if you will in the new issue (January 2004) of Fine Cooking magazine... titled "Cook Duck At Home, It's Easy".

In the article they specifically say not to use a non-stick pan and I'm wondering why.

I've both non-stick and regular saute pans (Calphalon Commercial and All-Clad) and I've cooked duck breasts before without problems. I understand the idea of scoring the skin but not the meat so the duck fat will render. I almost always grab a non-stick skillet; can't really say why. What is happening in the pan and what is to be gained by not using non-stick ?

[Dave the Cook]

I don't have the recipe, but my experience with non-stick pans is 1) the crust that forms on browned foods is different (it's smoother, and therefore less interesting from a textural standpoint); and 2) it's very difficult, if not impossible, to form a fond in a non-stick pan. (Clearly, these points are related.) If the recipe calls for a pan sauce or for converting the fond into some sort of braising liquid, you'll miss out on that if you use a non-stick pan.