I am planning to use apple and cherry for wood flavors.
Dry brine overnight with Morton's seasoned salt and a touch of fresh ground black pepper.
The glaze will be a hoisin sauce, fresh orange, fresh ginger and fresh thyme reduction.
As far as the skin goes, I was hoping the sugars in the hoisin sauce mixture would help crisp the skin after I crank the Bronco to maximum output...
Then again, I've been wrong before...
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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I've never smoked a whole duck, only breasts, but I've heard the fat is very valuable and you don't want to waste it dripping into the fire. Hard to collect & save it in a barrel smoker though.
On the Bronco there is a diffuser plate that rests on a lip in the barrel I should be able to put a drip pan on. The plate is above the charcoal tray and below the food.
I tried smoking a duck once on a WSM on a concrete patio. Took some industrial degreaser and a power washer to get rid of all the fat that dripped out of the duck and onto the concrete. What a mess.
How can a 3 lb. duck give off 2 gallons of fat is beyond me. IF, and that's a big IF, I'll skip the wood smoke and make sure to have a large vessel below the bird to save as much of the grease as possible. Duck fat is wonderful for cooking but I don't think wood smoke flavor is what I want when frying potatoes and such.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Grilla Grills Pellet Pizza Oven
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
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Score it thoroughly with a razor, dry brine it overnight, rub thoroughly with MMD, hang and cook at 350-375F. I didn’t typically add wood in the PBC. And the skin was always great. Easy-peasy!
The plan now is put some smoke on it at 225°F to about 110° internal temp. Rest the motherducker while cranking up to 350° ish then re-insert said ducker to about 150° internal temp\crispy skin. Whichever comes 1st.
Glazing with hoisin\orange mixture near the end of cook.
If you're hanging it vertically to cook that's already a great start. I would do the whole cook over 300 though, say 325. I think if you don't spend enough time over 300 then the duck will be cooked before enough fat renders out - which will in turn prevent skin from being crisp in a good way.
The other top thing I'd recommend is separating the skin from the duck before cooking (don't remove it, just create a gap which seems to help the skin crisp unburdened by a thick layer of fat attached underneath). There's a photo in that article - just work your fingers under the skin everywhere, the trick is to avoid poking holes in skin while you do this. (Subsequently pouring hot water over it to tighten it up is also a remarkable phenomenon to observe, but I think more optional - esp if you already have rub you don't want to wash off!)
Lots of good advice here especially about scoring the skin. I've always used cherry wood and use my
​​ rotisserie attachment. Your glaze sounds great. I have also used cherry and blueberry glaze. Have a great cook, enjoy.
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