Duck: The Topic

[gfweb]

22 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

A thought comes to mind...what if you cooked the duck sous vide for those five hours, then crisped the skin?

 

I do duck breast this way. I think more like 3 hrs...have to check ...at about 133F.; and then score the skin and crisp it up in the Darto.

 

Foolproof.

[quiet1]

Favorite method for slow roasting? I’m finding recipes with times from 1.5 hours (? How is that slow?) to 7 or so.

[David Ross]

I've never tried sous vide, although I recently got a circulator. I'll have to try it.

[Anna N]

11 hours ago, gfweb said:

I do duck breast this way. I think more like 3 hrs...have to check ...at about 133F.; and then score the skin and crisp it up in the Darto.

 

Foolproof.

Curious to know the size of the duck breasts you were doing this way.

Edited December 24, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Ann_T]

We are having duck for Christmas dinner again this year.

 

 

My favourite method for roast duck is Ina Garten's.   I've been using her recipe since 2006.

The recipe is on my blog.

 

[gfweb]

22 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Curious to know the size of the duck breasts you were doing this way.

 

About the size of my hand..6 or 7 inches. 

 

I just checked the sv conditions.  136 F for 2.5 to 3 hours

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, gfweb said:

About the size of my hand..6 or 7 inches. 

 

I just checked the sv conditions.  136 F for 2.5 to 3 hours

Hmmm.  A curious way to describe the size. I run into two distinct sizes and treat them quite differently. There is the small Pekin breast (rarely more than 8 ounces) and the much larger Moulard (often up to a pound or slightly more). Lengthwise I don’t think they differ too much. 

[lindag]

25 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

We are having duck for Christmas dinner again this year.

 

 

 

My favourite method for roast duck is Ina Garten's.   I've been using her recipe since 2006.

The recipe is on my blog.

 

I've never cooked a duck and your photo is tempting me; does it matter which type you use?  

[Ann_T]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

I've never cooked a duck and your photo is tempting me; does it matter which type you use?  

 

Linda, I don't know.  In the past I have brought frozen ducks from  a company called Brome Lake Ducks.   They refer to their ducks as "Pekin Duck".   They are always available here frozen and they are from a place in Quebec.

This year I am using a fresh duck from a producer over on the mainland in Chilliwack BC.    They also refer to their ducks as Grade A "Pekin" ducks. 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2017 by Ann_T (log)

[liuzhou]

17 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

They refer to their ducks as "Peking Duck".

 

They probably mean Pekin duck. That is a particular breed. Peking duck (Beijing duck) is the renowned preparation or dish.

Edited December 24, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

 

They probably mean Pekin duck. That is a particular breed. Peking duck (Beijing duck) is the renowned preparation or dish.

 

Sorry, that was my mistake.  

[gfweb]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Hmmm.  A curious way to describe the size. I run into two distinct sizes and treat them quite differently. There is the small Pekin breast (rarely more than 8 ounces) and the much larger Moulard (often up to a pound or slightly more). Lengthwise I don’t think they differ too much. 

 

Its a Moulard

[robirdstx]

16 hours ago, gfweb said:

I do duck breast this way. I think more like 3 hrs...have to check ...at about 133F.; and then score the skin and crisp it up in the Darto.

 

Foolproof.

 

Do you start with a cold pan? How long does it usually take to crisp up? Thanks!

[gfweb]

5 hours ago, robirdstx said:

 

Do you start with a cold pan? How long does it usually take to crisp up? Thanks!

I score the duck fat side and put it in a really hot pan. 

As long as fat is melting the duck breast beneath doesn't cook more. Which is nice. 

It takes 5minutes at most. The curve of the breast requires you to tilt it with tongs so that it all renders and crisps. 

[jnash85]

I want to try the roasted duck from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook, but I would rather break the duck down prior to cooking. I have other plans for the legs, and I need to use the carcass for stock. The cookbook calls for trussing the duck, and cooking it in a 375F degree oven for 16 - 17 min. Should I have any issues doing the same thing but only roasting the breast on the bone? I don't want to sacrifice a duck just to find this out...

[kayb]

Speaking of duck...I've never bought a duck in the grocery before. At Kroger t'other day, I looked just out of curiosity, and found one in the freezer case at the "sale" price of 3.99 a pound for a whole duck, about five pounds' worth.

 

Is that a decent price for duck? I passed, partly because I don't need to put yet something else in the freezer, and partly because I thought I'd check at the local Asian market, which I have not yet done.

 

This one did not testify that it was a moulard, or what. Just a duck. I'm used to cooking wild ones, and have little experience with the farmed variety, other than what I've ordered in the past from Hudson River Foie Gras or iGourmet.

 

[jnash85]

I’ve seen those ducks at Kroger. Never bought one. There is a local coop that carry’s higheR quality meats that I was going to purchase from. 

[heidih]

Most of the frozen duck in mainstream stores in the US is Pekin - those big white goobers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pekin

 

They are fat and relatively meaty - not comparable to wild from my understanding.  

 

The $4/pound may be average but I'd hold out and try the Asian markets as they move more of them so should have cost advantage.  Same with quail.

[kayb]

1 hour ago, jnash85 said:

I’ve seen those ducks at Kroger. Never bought one. There is a local coop that carry’s higheR quality meats that I was going to purchase from. 

Don't think any of our local growers offer duck. I'll ask my beef/pork/chicken people.

 

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

Most of the frozen duck in mainstream stores in the US is Pekin - those big white goobers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pekin

 

They are fat and relatively meaty - not comparable to wild from my understanding.  

 

The $4/pound may be average but I'd hold out and try the Asian markets as they move more of them so should have cost advantage.  Same with quail.

 

Thanks. Think that's what I'll do. I need to make a run to the big international market in Memphis anyway.

 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, jnash85 said:

I want to try the roasted duck from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook, but I would rather break the duck down prior to cooking. I have other plans for the legs, and I need to use the carcass for stock. The cookbook calls for trussing the duck, and cooking it in a 375F degree oven for 16 - 17 min. Should I have any issues doing the same thing but only roasting the breast on the bone? I don't want to sacrifice a duck just to find this out...

 I cannot imagine roasting a whole duck for only 16 or 17 minutes. I did a little googling and found this.  It suggests that that is an error in the first printing of the book. Maybe someone else can chime in here.   I have cooked a lot of ducks in my life but not at Eleven Madison Park. 

 

I suppose I should get up off my aspidistra and look it up in the copy of the book that I have!  Soon. 

 

So the ducks are Muscovy and they are aged for up to 14 days.  The roasting directions in the copy I have are 375°F for eight minutes and then rotate the duck and return it to the oven for another 8-9 minutes. 

 

 Just doesn’t sound right to me. 

 

Here are instructions from some of  those who raise these ducks. 

 

 Good luck. Let us know what you do and what you find out. 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[Okanagancook]

Ducks take a lot longer than 17 minutes at 375F....more like an hour.

I just did a whole duck on my BBQ on indirect heat at 325F for 2 hours.

 

Why not just cook the breasts if you have other plans for the legs.  T. Keller's method:  score skin; moderately low pan for 25 to 30 minutes; turn for another few minutes.  Fat gets nicely rendered and the meat will be perfectly cooked.

[nickrey]

The ducks are dry aged for a minimum of 10 days. See here.

 

This means that the duck needs much less time to cook as you are not cooking out the water that has been removed.

 

Someone trialled the recipe here and found that the meat was rare but tasted medium rare, which seems appropriate. 

 

Bottom line, if it's not significantly dry aged, don't try the recipe as it is.

 

We had this duck when we went there in 2015 and it was absolutely delicious. Sorry about grainy picture, it was dark.

 

 

 

[jnash85]

Thanks for all the replies. Lots of good info here. I will report back after this weekend. 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, nickrey said:

 

Someone trialled the recipe here and found that the meat was rare but tasted medium rare, which seems appropriate. 

Rare is of course quite subjective but I would call that result raw and not like the photograph in EMP. 

 

 But I wanted to add that anyone who is prepared to attempt the recipes in EMP has nothing but admiration from me!

Edited April 5, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[jnash85]

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Rare is of course quite subjective but I would call that result raw and not like the photograph in EMP. 

 

 But I wanted to add that anyone who is prepared to attempt the recipes in EMP has nothing but admiration from me!

 

 

I have done a couple over the years. There are some doable ones. This one is my best one, although I got in a hurry and didn’t sear the pork long enough.