Duck on the PBC

[MBMorgan]

Planning to cook a duck (or two) on the PBC soon so I've been digging around for some PBC-specific info. On the PBC web site there are two duck cooking videos. In one, Noah cooks a whole duck in a very conventional manner ... rebars in place, hang the bird, then walk away for about three hours. In the other video, Steven Raichlen cooks the duck for a similar amount of time but leaves one of the rebars out. Raichlen is not exactly a newbie, so I assume that it was intentional ... presumably to get the PBC temp to be higher than its "normal" 290(ish) deg F average cooking temp. Any idea at what temp a PBC will likely stabilize with one rebar missing?

Mike

[Bob's BBQ]

My brother in law did a chicken and a duck on his PBC for Christmas. Both whole birds. Both hanging with the re-bars in. Took about 3 hours. The duck was the best I ever had. Some people there who said they didn't like duck loved it. The only probe he had in was in the bird so I don't know what the cooker temp was.

[MBMorgan]

That's good to know. My PBC tends to cruise along at 290 for the first few hours (which is totally normal) ... but 290 is at the low end of the poultry-fat-rendering-and-crispy-skin temperature range. I'm hoping that pulling one of the rebars will get it closer to the 325-335 temps that I prefer for such things.

Thanks,
Mike

[jecucolo]

Something I have discovered about the temperature of the PBC. I use the charcoal lighter fluid method. I found on my last cook the more lighter fluid I use the higher the temps. I found this out because I think I have been squirting more and more fluid on the briquets so I get a good light. The last time I did a chicken the temps were in the 400 degree range with all the holes plugged. It stayed that way for a long time. So you can really control the temps by regulating the way you light the charcoal. Needles to say I am going to back off on the fluid. Now I need a method of measuring the fluid before putting on the charcoal.

[Jerod Broussard]

MBMorgan Getting the right temp for poultry is just a slight lid crack away. I have mine cracked most the time with one rebar out when doing a turkey. Sometimes I take bother rebar out and just levitate the turkey, but that rarely works when I am not watching Ghost Busters.

[MBMorgan]

Thanks, Jerod ... mucho obligado ... (and never cross the streams!)

Mike

[MBMorgan]

Finally (for a variety of reasons ... none of them good), I got around to cooking a single duck on the PBC on Valentine's Day. The bad news is that the only duck I could find on short notice around here was already injected with a saline solution ... therefore eliminating the opportunity to dry brine for a day or two to precondition the skin. The good news is that it forced me to find an appropriate salt-free dry rub ... and I just happened to have plenty of Meathead's Memphis Dust on hand. MHMD turned out to be about the best thing I've ever had on duck ... and it will now be the gold standard around here for such things.

Unlike the duck, the cook was pretty unremarkable:

> Ambient conditions: temp 45 F; wind calm; 6300 ft. elevation
> Lit the charcoal using 40 Kingsford Original briquettes in a small Weber chimney. Apparently the small chimney isn't as efficient because it took a full 30 minutes in the chimney followed by 10 minutes lid off & rebar out ... then 10 more minutes lid on & rebar out (what Kathryn ( fzxdoc ) would call a 30-10-10 lighting process).
> Started the cook with one rebar out and the PBC settled quickly at 380 degrees ... so I plugged one open rebar hole and the temp stabilized very rapidly at 350.
> Only one 5 lb. (4 lb. after trimming and tossing away everything in the cavity) wasn't much of a load on the PBC and it's IT started coming up VERY quickly. Total cook time was approximately 70 minutes at which point I pulled the bird at approximately 145 degrees then held it in a 140-150 oven for an hour or so while finishing the rest of the meal (I had expected a much longer amount of time to be required in the PBC.

The results were mixed: The duck was probably the best tasting I've ever had. The skin, however, was too rubbery. Next time, I'll find a better (muscovy?) unseasoned bird and spend a couple of days prior to cooking working on getting the skin right.

[Spinaker]

looking good. I'd cook it hotter to fight that rubbery skin.

[MBMorgan]

Yeah ... next time I'll just leave well enough alone and let it cook at 380 with one rebar out and no holes plugged.

[Spinaker]

Let her roll man. Best thing you can do with the PBC. Sounds like a good plan. MBMorgan

[MBMorgan]

fzxdoc ... Kathryn ... Another data point for you. I don't, however, consider this a good cook ... skin much too rubbery.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, @Mbmorgan!

K.

[Bob's BBQ]

That bird looks delicious. We had the same results - great taste but rubbery skin. Next time we'll crack the lid and let her run a little hotter. I'm learning a lot about the PBC since joining the forum thanks to all of you. Have any of you noticed a difference in the rest of the duck when you run hotter? Crispy skin but dryer for instance?

[(John S)]

I tried a duck on my PBC and experienced the dreaded rubber skin. I failed to perforate the skin either by poking or slicing (mistake) and tried to crisp things up by raising the temperature towards the end of the cook. BIG mistake! After sitting there rubberizing the skin for a couple of hours, the charcoal basket accumulated about a gallon of duck grease. I cracked the lid and experienced the "PBC Chernobyl effect". Instant greasy flame condition. I'm not sure if a consistently higher temperature from the beginning would help this or not. This can be a problem with the PBC generally when cooking thing that drip a lot on the fuel. It can interfere with the charcoal burning properly resulting in temperature control problems and can create burnt oil stick residue on the food.

[MBMorgan]

(John S) ... I'm still scratching my head over the rubber skin issue, too. Here's a link to a Steven Raichlen video in which he cooks "tea smoked duck" on the PBC.

http://www.pitbarrelcooker.com/video...-smoke/#tsduck

He leaves one rebar completely out which, in my PBC, seems to result in a steady-state cooking temp in the 350 - 380 degree range. In the written instructions for his method, he says that cooking time will be "2-3 hours" but in the video he says that cooking time will be "3-4 hours" ... big difference. He makes no mention of what the IT of the duck is when he pulls it.

I'm thinking that the next time I cook duck, I'll slice the skin, dry brine it (salt only) in the refrigerator for a day or two, and then just let the PBC do its thing with one rebar out and pull at a slightly higher IT ... maybe 155? If that doesn't do it, I'll try again with the added step of parboiling the duck skin in the same manner that is used for Peking Duck (ladling boiling water over the duck prior to doing anything else).

If all of that doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to run over to one of the local Asian markets and buy a freakin cooked duck ... or learn to love skinless smoked duck ...

Edit: Just found a link to roasting a whole Maple Leaf Farms duck where they boil the duck for 10 minutes after piercing the skin ... but before roasting ... something to consider:

http://www.mapleleaffarms.com/how-to-roast-whole-duck

[(John S)]

I'm beginning to think that the PBC is just not the way to go for crispy duck skin. I may give it one more shot. Run one rod in diagonally so the duck is hanging right in the middle, two holes open, shim the coal basket up a quarter of an inch for better airflow and use Kingsford Competition and keep the fire extinguisher ready!

[MBMorgan]

I'm beginning to think that the PBC is just not the way to go for crispy duck skin. I may give it one more shot. Run one rod in diagonally so the duck is hanging right in the middle, two holes open, shim the coal basket up a quarter of an inch for better airflow and use Kingsford Competition and keep the fire extinguisher ready!

I think the secret is in the prep work to render as much fat as possible before letting the PBC do its thing. I'll try again fairly soon ...

[(John S)]

Oh yah! That piecing/boiling step looks like the ticket! Definitely going to try that.
Thanks Mb!

[MBMorgan]

No problemo ... and it's Mike. Good luck with your next attempt (and with mine 😎).