Roasted until the skin is golden and crispy, and the meat is moist and juicy, duck is an excellent and traditional alternative to turkey. If you’ve never attempted to cook duck before, fear not. Preparing and roasting duck takes just a few hours and it is easy to do.
Easy Crispy Roasted Duck
Prep time: 10 minutes • Cook time: 2 1/4 hours
Place oven rack in middle position to accommodate the bird.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Ducks have an insulating layer of fat just beneath their skin to keep them warm and to provide buoyancy while they are in water. However, this layer of fat is not very appetizing, and ideally should be melted away during the cooking process. A perfectly roasted duck will have very little fat remaining and a golden, crispy skin.
To prepare the duck for roasting:
- Remove all packaging from the duck and take the bag of giblets (if included) out of the body cavity. Discard, or reserve for making stock or gravy.
- Using shears or a sharp knife, remove any excess fat from the body cavity and neck. Discard.
- Rinse the duck in water, including the cavities. Gently pat dry with paper towels.
- To allow excess fat to drain off the duck while cooking, gently prick the skin of the duck with a fork, being careful not to pierce through to the meat.
- To truss, fold the neck skin under the body.
- Place the duck breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan and pour the boiling water over the duck. NOTE: Pouring boiling water over the duck before placing it in the oven, allows some of the fat layer under the skin to melt a little prior to roasting and also tightens the skin.
- Allow duck to cool. Remove from roasting pan, drain any water from body cavity and pat dry with a towel. Leave remaining water in the roasting pan.
- Season duck with ground pepper and salt. Return to roasting pan.
Did you know? The popular Chinese dish of Peking Duck is prepared by boiling duck in water, hanging to dry, coating the skin with a maltose syrup and then roasting until the skin is crisp and reddish brown.
Cooking Directions:
Place pan on middle rack in oven and cook duck, breast side up for 45 minutes. Remove from oven. With oven mitts, turn duck over (breast side down), and return to oven to cook for another 45 minutes. Again, remove from oven and drain any excess fat from cavity. Position duck to breast side up and return to oven to cook for a further 45 minutes, or until skin is golden brown and internal temperature has reached 165°F (check with a meat thermometer placed in thickest part of thigh or breast). Remove from oven and drain any fat from cavity. Transfer duck to a cutting board or platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving/disjointing.
